Spring Break 2010

Brian had a week off in March during the University's Spring Break. We had been talking about going to San Diego to go to Sea World because they have the "Here's to the Hero's" program, where they offer free admission to any Sea World or Busch Gardens park to military members and their families. Since we are so close now and don't know where we will be heading next year, we decided to take Spring Break and have a family vacation to San Diego.

We got to see Sea World, the San Diego Zoo, Legoland, the San Diego Wild Animal Park, and the beach. I think our favorite of all the places was the Wild Animal Park. Sea World was very neat also! We were disappointed with Legoland and probably wouldn't go back, at least until Brayden was much older! He was too little to go on most things, but he seemed to enjoy playing at the water park there and seeing all the cars built out of legos! He did love the boat ride he got to go on there.

It was a very fun trip and we had a great time! I will add pictures and posts from each place, so you can enjoy our fun as well! I have some videos, but look for those later in the week, as I need to find the cord to connect the video camera to the computer!

San Diego Zoo

Our first stop in San Diego was the San Diego Zoo! After the airport, we got our rental car, headed to the navy base to get lunch and get a few things at the PX and then headed to the zoo. Brayden loves going to the zoo and seeing all the animals, especially the giraffes! We had to make sure we found the giraffes. The zoo is very big, so we didn't get to see all of it since we arrived midafternoon. We did make it to the giraffes, the petting zoo, the bird aviary, the kids area, and several other animals! The San Diego zoo supports our active duty military with free admission to the zoo and 10 % off for family members, so if any fellow service members are ever in San Diego, take advantage!!


Brayden hanging out in his wagon....over the course of our trip, I think 50 people must have asked where we got this foldable wagon! It is AWESOME!!Thanks YaYa!
I believe you can find them on Amazon.com


Looking at the birds!


Mom trying to hold onto Brayden as he tries to escape to get to the giraffes!
So much for a nice picture!


Petting goats at the petting zoo


Brayden was exhausted after his busy day! He hasn't slept a night since without his giraffe that he got at the zoo!

Cheyenne Mountain Zoo

The entire time we were in Colorado, we had been wanting to take Brayden to the Cheyenne Mountain Zoo. We must have had it planned 4 times and it rained everytime. We were even going to take Xander while his mom and dad were at work. Finally, at the end of our trip, we made it to the zoo! Brayden loved it, as he thinks animals are the best! He got to pet a wallaby, it jumped right up to him and was in an area where you just walk amongst the animals! Brayden wanted to walk rather than ride in the stroller...there are lots of hills at this zoo and it wore him out! He fell asleep before we even got out of the parking lot when we left! A very fun day!

The end of Vacation

On our way home, we stopped so Brian could fly fish one last time. Brayden got to play in the sand and was happy as could be!! We had a great vacation and hope to get to go back one day!

Waterfalls

We took a short hike to this waterfall. This is valled Bridal Veil Falls. We got pretty wet when we were at the base of it!

After we saw the waterfall, all Brayden wanted to do was get out of his stoller and go play on the rocks and in the water!

Here is a video of Brayden at the base of Yosemite Falls. Sorry about the background noise (that's what happens when you are at the base of a roaring waterfall!!!) He loved the rock and screamed when we made him leave (that's not on video, however!!) Enjoy!

Views of Yosemite Valley from the top!

We drove to a place called Glacier point where there were incredible views of the Yosemite Valley! Brayden loved walking around!

On the way back to the valley, we stopped right after a tunnel for these views!

Giant Sequoias

On our second day, we went to the Mariposa Sequoia Grove. We took a tram tour through the grove. Brayden slept most of the way, but did wake up at the very end!! The trees are amazing. The are huge. I learned that the sequoias are cousins to the redwoods!