DisneyLand Day 3

We had so much fun at Disneyland it is hard to capture it in a blog post.  But I'll try.

I thought this boat ride was fun because Tucker and Penelope got to sit up on the top of the boat.

We also got to meet Arial.  While talking to her Peter Pan and Captain Hook ran past.  We didn't get a picture of them because they were literally chasing each other.

I loved the scenery at Disneyland.  All the buildings were very decked out.  It made the whole thing more of an experience and not just rides set up at a regular park.  Here we are taking a water break.  We shared one water bottle and filled it up whenever we saw a fountain.  Good thing no one was sick.  It would have been a pain to carry around more than one.

We watch Sleeping Beauty a few days before we went, so the kids were a little scared of the Evil Witch when we went into the castle.  Once they went though it though they said that it wasn't really scary.

They took their chance on the sword in the Stone.  But none in our family could pull it out.

Then we headed over to ToonTown.  I thought this was going to be one of the best parts for the kids, but it was really quite packed.

I wanted to get a picture in front of the camera shop.

We hung out there for a while and then went and re-rode a couple rides and that was our day.  Leon was awake the whole time but fell asleep on the short walk back.  I thought this picture summed up how we were all feeling.

Both times we have gone to disneyland were very different.  We will probably go again someday and I'm sure that will be a whole other experience in itself.

DisneyLand Day 3

On our last day I took a couple pictures at breakfast.  The kids loved the all you can eat continental type breakfast.  I thought it was good too but it was a little stressful trying to help everyone get all the food they wanted and eat myself.  Between making hot chocolates, oatmeal, waffles, and grabbing the other breakfast food it got a bit crazy.

Once we got in we headed staright for the Peter Pan ride.  Everyone says the line for that is long so we should go there right away.  Even with doing that we waited for about an hour!  I'm not sure it was worth it.

Here is a picture of part of the line.  Several times at Disneyland we had to leave the line with one child to take them to the bathroom and then squish past all the people to get back in line.  No one said anything but I'm sure some people were wondering why we were cutting the line.

We took a selfie while waiting.

I can't remember the name of this next ride but I do remember the kids thought it was fast.  Tucker and Penelope had to go together on a lot of the rides because many were for two people and Bob and I would be paired up with Scarlett and Leon.  It worked pretty well.

The finding nemo ride was fun.  The kids were scared before hand because they knew it went underwater.  Once it started they loved it.  I think this is the deepest submarine I ever want to go in.

We rode this little train ride and I wanted to post about it because it wasn't great.  I think it is one of the older rides.  I wish I knew more about it before we wasted our time.  Their is only one train and the line goes very slow.  The ride itself was just ok.  If there is any sort of line, I would say to pass on this one.

We also spend more time on this day meeting princesses.

The girls met Merida from brave and said she was their favorite. It was cute because she got down on their level and talked to them like a friend.  She whispered a secret to them and was making a pinkie promise with them.  The girls told me later that she said they could be secret sisters because of the matching red hair, shhh.  It made them feel special and not like they were just there to take a picture.  I'm sad I didn't get a picture of the pinkie promise.

One more Disneyland post to wrap things up.

Pool Fun

When we are not at Sea World or the Zoo we  stay at the condo and go swimming in the pool.

 We are usually the only ones there and the kids have fun getting all their energy out.

 I usually play with them a little bit then sit in the hot tub then lay in the sun.  It is pretty great, I can even pick up the wifi from our condo on my phone so we usually stay for 2-3 hours.

 Leon and Scarlett usually wear life jackets unless I am helping them.  I try to get Scarlett to swim more on her own but she has more fun with it on.  Penelope wears hers quite a bit too.

Leon came over and laid in the sun next to me and Bob the other day.  It was so cute.

Here is a video of Penelope swimming.  I don't really make them practice swimming very much.  The only thing I do is make Penelope swim across the pool one time each time we go.  I figure they are learning enough just playing around in the water.

San Diego Zoo

Since we live within walking distance to Balboa park and because we really wanted to we got a San Diego zoo membership.  What better way to homeschool than to go to the zoo at least once a week?

It has been so great to just go for a few hours in the morning.  Many of the animals are more active in the mornings and we don't have to worry about a school schedule.  We avoid Saturdays and it is never busy.  In the past when we've gone to the zoo it takes all day.  But being so close we just pop over whenever we feel like it.

 Bob hasn't had a chance to go with us yet but he really wants to so maybe next time.

The zoo is pretty big, it is rated the second best zoo in the world!

They also had a skyride I wasn't sure if we would be able to go because they are sticked about the 4 per gondola limit but luckily Tucker is old enough to ride alone.  It was a little weird to send him without me, but I thought I'd better send him first because I didn't want us all to get on and them him chicken out on the other side.  He didn't end up being scared though.  We can ride free with our membership so we went a few times.

Side note: We learned about pulleys in homeschool and this was a perfect way to demonstrate how they work.

I took this view picture from the air.  I love it because you can see the bridge I run across every morning.  Isn't it pretty?  You can also see our condo.  It's small but right downtown.

Sea World

While in San Diego we got passes to go to Sea World.  We can go as many times as we want but Bob has to work a ton so he can't go with us most of the time.  Luckily he went with us on our first trip.

Because Bob was there I wanted to focus on the rides.  Without him I can't really go on a ride and leave the too small kids alone to watch.  This roller coaster was so fun!  There was no line so we both rode on it two times.  Tucker even did it a couple times.  He was scared but we bribed him.

Everyone got wet on this next ride, especially Scarlett.  I kind of felt bad for her.

Not as bad as I did for Leon though.  He was the only one too small for the ride and he really wanted to do it.  There was no way I was going on this next ride.  I can't do the spinning ones or I will feel sick.

Watching the underwater animals was fun for the kids.

We also went to a few of their shows.  This is Bubbles, she is so cute!

We also did the skyride.  This won went up high and over the water.  It was a pretty view.

The animals there really are amazing!

I have definite mixed feelings about Sea World.  I can see all the good they are doing for the animals and they learn so much about the species that helps the animals in the wild.  But on the other hand these animals aren't really doing what they are meant to do.  They don't have a natural life.  Even though I'm conflicted we have a lot of fun there and will be going often.