A Kelley-fornia Adventure, Part 4: San Diego!

Day 5:
It was time for us to leave Anaheim and make our way down the coast to gorgeous San Diego.  I was beyond excited, simply because my kids had never seen the ocean before.  It's so easy to take for granted if you live close to it, but it's definitely worth appreciating.

We didn't get too far out of town when we started to see this:

I just love how the water blends into the sky, with no beginning or end.

We pulled over at a scenic area to get a couple pictures.  We were also fascinated with the birds.

We stopped in Torrey Pines and spent time on the beach, which I will write about in my final post.  We were so eager to get to San Diego.  We headed straight to Seaport Village for some lunch.

We loved seeing all the boats,

military ships,

and fancy yachts!

We also browsed the stores,

made wax creations in a candle shop,

and checked out the cool kites.

Finally, we were able to check into our hotel.  We had requested a bay view room and that's exactly what we got!  We were able to open our patio door and walk directly out to the beach.

Immediately, we all changed into swimsuits and went outside to play!  Look who loved building sandcastles!!!

Preston also helped him while Kaitlyn and I collected seashells.  It was actually starting to cool down, so we didn't stay outside too long.  It was time to head to dinner in the famous Gaslamp Quarter.

We love going to Hard Rock Cafe when we visit different cities, even though we have one in our own area.  The food was delicious and plentiful!!!  Plus, we always enjoy checking out the music memorabilia.

We were exhausted and the kids fell asleep immediately.  Craig and I headed to the patio to enjoy the sounds of the night.  Shortly afterwards, we had our own firework show!!!  We found out Sea World is across the bay and they have fireworks almost every night. Thank you, God, for such blessings.

Day 6:
It was time to head to the famous San Diego Zoo!

We saw all the typical animals...

...and had some fun too.

In our usual Kelley fashion, we spent a long day at the park, taking in as much as we could and left with hearts full of memories.

We enjoyed the beautiful water and scenery again that evening.

Then, it was off to bed for one more night of sleep in beautiful California.

Hotel Accomodations and zoo tickets in San Diego were made possible with the help of Heather Newton at Shipsmart Travel Inc.

A Kelley-fornia Adventure, Part 3: California Adventure Park!

Day 4:
Another fun-filled day at a Disney park awaited us.  This time it was at California Adventure Park.

I immediately loved the decor of the park with it's nod to an older America.

We headed straight to Radiator Springs Racers...and so did a lot of other people!  It was about an hour wait in line, but so worth it.  It was an awesome ride with many surprises.

This park is not nearly as big as Disneyland and much less crowded.  We also found that a majority of the rides seemed to be geared to younger kids.  Although there were still thrill rides and lots of adults enjoying them, there were also some very ssllloooowwww rides.

We rode on...

Luigi's Flying Tires

Mater's Junkyard Jamboree

The Little Mermaid

...and more!

We got to see more characters and actually got to meet them this time!!!

The Green Army Men from Toy Story

Flik from A Bug's Life

Phineas and Ferb

We were also able to see the Pixar Parade twice while we were there with lots of cool characters.

Look, I found a sign with two of my favorite things!!!

We stopped in Clarabelle's Hand Scooped Ice Cream for dessert in the afternoon.  Everyone else had ice cream in a cone.  I got a hand dipped ice cream bar covered in Mickey confetti's.  And it was the BEST ice cream bar I've ever had!!!

We saw Donald Duck walking away from his post at one point.

Then we saw Mickey Mouse!!! We hadn't seen him at all yet, so we were super excited!!!

We were even more excited that we got to actually get a picture with him!!!

Aaaannnndddd.....remember the hat that was given to Preston by his great-grandfather?!  Mickey signed it!!!

As soon as Mickey left, we ran into Pluto!!!

And he signed Preston's hat too!!!  Now the hat is extra-extra-special.

Ahhh, the magic of Disney.  Even grown adults get excited to see someone dressed up as a beloved cartoon character!

We had another amazing day together, celebrating lots of firsts.  We loved finally seeing in person attractions that we've only seen on TV or online.

What we learned:  1) California Adventure is a much more low key place. We probably wouldn't visit again anytime soon.  2)  Clarabelle's has the best ice cream bars!!! 3) It's easier to meet the characters.

Once again, we were so exhausted by the end of the day after being there for 10 hours!

The best part of the day was meeting Mickey Mouse and seeing Preston's excitement when his hat was signed.  Great memory!!!

Vacation is far from over.  Next on the itinerary-San Diego!!!!

Hotel accomodations in Anaheim were made possible with the help of Heather Newton of Shipsmart Travel Inc.

California Adventure Park Tickets were made possible with the help of Abbey Mings of Vacations Gone Goofy.