San Diego!

Bright and early Tuesday morning my alarm went off. I needed to be 100% ready, Morgan ready, and packed by 6:00am so we could leave for the airport. When Donna and Charley arrived to pick us up we were just about ready. We loaded up the CRV and headed in a very crowded car to the airport. Sometimes it feels like I am traveling with 7 kids rather than just 1 with all the stuff we have to bring. In all we had: 3 suitcases (one for each of us), two backpacks for carry-ons, a bag with the braces, the carseat, stroller, and walker. It was crazy trying to get through the airport to check-in with all that stuff. Thankfully the check-in counter wasn't crowded and within a few minutes we had downsized our load to just: 2 backpacks, the braces bag, the carseat (on a rolling cart) and the walker. We then headed for security which is always fun with all our stuff. Each time we travel it seems to be a different thing that stops us at security, but without fail we are always stopped and pulled aside. Sometimes its Morgan's braces she is wearing, the meds, the carseat, or in this case it was the walker. Once we were pulled aside they swabbed the walker. For whatever reason it 'failed' the swab test so that meant I got to receive the nice pat down treatment. That was fun...especially when the lady said "I am just going to feel around your waist line now" and then she wasn't sure where to feel seeing as how I don't really have a waist right now. She was trying to find the waist of my pants, however, I decided to go the comfy route that day and was wearing a pair of maternity jeans. Anyway, after all that fun we were finally cleared through security and proceeded to our gate. Thankfully the rest of our trip over to San Diego went well. Morgan was a champ like always on the plane and just played quietly on the i.pad the whole time.

Once we landed in San Diego we made our way to baggage claim and then started the fun challenge of getting the: 3 suitcases, 2 backpacks, braces bag, carseat, stroller, and walker on to the bus to the rental car with a 4 year old who can't stand on her own and only 2 adults. It was an adventure. Once we finally got our rental car and figured out how to get all that stuff to fit in a tiny F.ord Fo.cus we headed to get some breakfast. It was then off to Ta.rget for some bottled waters and thankfully a Sta.rbucks. We then took off to spend the next 5-6 hours at Sea Worl.d while we waited for David and the rest of the gang to arrive in San Diego.

As soon as we entered the park Morgan was in heaven. Right at the entrance were all kinds of 'characters' or animals available for photo opts. Morgan just loves people in costume!

Morgan and I posing with Pete the Penguin.

After that we thought the best thing to do would be to introduce Grandma to the rides. Since I can't go on any rides Morgan was very excited to torture, I mean introduce her grandma to all the rides.

The first ride of the day, Elmo's flying fish.

Then it was on to Oscar's Eels.

After that we just started walking around and checking out the different animals. We stopped in and said hi to the polar bears and the penguins. Then we headed to the Pet show. Morgan LOVED this show. She is so infatuated with animals, especially dogs which there were plenty of in this show. Her favorite part though was after the show was over when they invited the kids in the crowd to come up to the stage to pet some of the animals.

Morgan and I waiting to pet some of the animals.

Morgan getting to pet one of the dogs.

Can you tell she was in love?

We then headed back towards the Sesame area in hopes of seeing some of the characters for a photo opt. As luck would have it we walked up about 2 minutes before Elmo, Cookie, and Zoie were due to be out. It was perfect timing too because there was only 1 other group in line at that time. All the characters were finishing up a performance and that's where the crowd was currently at. As soon as the show ended the line grew in a hurry. We were able to get right in to meet them. Morgan loved it! She even got a special escort by Elmo when it was time to leave. The only accessible way out was through the entrance which was crowded with people. Elmo offered to clear Morgan a path. He then waited at the bottom of the ramp for Morgan and gave her another huge hug goodbye!

Morgan with Zoie, Elmo, and Cookie.

After that we wandered around some more and caught the Sea Lion show. By the time that was over the guys were getting close to the hotel and Morgan was pretty wiped. In fact, while we were walking out she fell asleep in the stroller. Unfortunately she did not transfer from her stroller to carseat, so her nap was VERY short. After making our way to the hotel we met up with David and took a few minutes to relax. That evening we headed out to dinner just Donna, Morgan, and I with Georgia and her family. The guys were having to take the boys to dinner and then their game. Morgan was so exhausted during dinner that Donna took her back to the hotel early. By the time I got there she was in her pjs and nearly passed out. I slid on her braces and by the time I was finished she was completely out. Having Donna there as a built in babysitter was great. It allowed me the chance to leave Morgan at the hotel sleeping and go watch the game that night.

The next day we were all up by 7 and heading downstairs for breakfast. The guys had an early game that morning and we were going to be taking off to spend the day at Lego.land! Morgan was so excited. She didn't really know what Lego.land was, but from her experiences at Disneyl.and and Sea Worl.d she knew she was going to like it.

We took off with Georgia, Lucas, her parents, Matt's parents, and the 3 of us.

Our first stop was the boat ride. Morgan and Lucas decided to hold hands in line. They were too cute together.

I love the look on Morgan's face here. She was just so excited to be experiencing Lego.land with her best buddy.

After the boat ride we headed to the Bo.b the Bui.lder 3D show.
Morgan was so excited to wear her 3D glasses.
She was so funny, she kept jumping at all the different things that popped out at us.

Morgan and Grandma then checked out the flying airplanes.

The highlight of Morgan's day came next when we found the jousting ride. It was a ride on a horse that went around a fixed track. Morgan had to go all by herself, which made me very nervous, but she did great.

Ready to take off on her horse.

Off for her ride.
All the other kids riding were just smiling sweetly as then went past.
Not my child.
Morgan was shrieking at the top of her lungs and yelling "giddy-up!" and "yee-haw!"

Getting her picture taken with Princess Lily.

Morgan felt it was time to introduce Grandma to her first roller coaster ride.

She and I then got to enjoy a quick "safari" ride together.

Then it was back to the horses for another go round.

I promised Morgan that if she was a very good girl and stayed dry all day she could get a prize on the way out. Not only did she stay dry that whole day, but all three days we were at the parks. I was just so proud of her. On our way out we headed into the big toy store so she could pick her prize. Can you guess what she picked?

Of course, a Lego stable complete with two horses!

The next day we were all up bright and early again. This time we were getting ready to head to Sea Wor.ld with the whole gang and we wanted to get there right when it opened to try to beat some of the crowd.

Again, we couldn't enter the park without stopping for a photo. This time Morgan took her picture with the penguins and Lucas!

She then spotted the otter and had to go say hi.

We then headed for all the rides while the lines were short. This picture is funny because it almost looks like the two Grandmas are riding together without kids.

Morgan and Grandma getting ready to take off on the flying fish.

Waiting for Shamu to start.
Donna went ahead while we fed the sea lions and saved us seats.
They were perfect because the kids could see everything and they were center stage.

We then of course had to go say hi to Elmo again.

Morgan and Lucas were so excited to see Elmo and Cookie.
Again, Morgan was given a special escort out by Elmo.

We spent a few more hours at the park catching the dolphin show and the pet show again, per Morgan's request. By 3ish we were all pretty tuckered out so we gave the guys a call. They were getting ready to head to Belmoun.t Park, down by Missio.n Beach. We decided it would be fun to meet up with them and hang out by the beach for a bit. By the time we made it down there about 30 minutes later a very thick fog had moved in. If you stood at the end of the boardwalk you couldn't even see the ocean. It was hard to see more than 20 yards ahead of you, but Morgan still took advantage of the time down there to catch a few rides on the carousel.

First it was Grandma's turn.

Then Mommy, and finally Daddy's (I can't seem to find the picture of her and David together).

While the boys had time to explore and play at the park David snuck away with us to have some dinner at a place nearby. While eating I looked over at Morgan and saw this:

She had completely passed out while eating and it was only 5:45. Surprisingly she stayed asleep the rest of the night and slept till about 6:00 the next morning.

That morning we were all up early again. We filled our tummies at breakfast, finished packing, and prepared to leave. Thankfully Georgia and her in-laws both said they would take a few of our things home for us so we sent two bags of luggage and our stroller with them. Since we were leaving that day we wouldn't need the stroller and I figured I could just get my bags this morning from them. It made getting on the rental bus and through the airport SO much easier. I am so grateful to them. We opted to keep the walker with us so Morgan could get down and walk around while we waited for the plane. I am glad we did since after getting through security (today it was the meds that stopped us) we found out we had a 3 hour delay. Since we had arrived early for our flight (like recommended) we now had a 5 hour wait! Morgan thankfully was yet again a fabulous little girl. We took walks around the area, ate some lunch, played the i.pad, and just waited patiently until our plane was finally ready to go. As we taxied out to the runway Morgan crashed. She slept the entire flight through take=off, landing, and getting off the plane. It wasn't until we were almost to baggage claim that she woke up so excited to be back in Tucson.

When we finally arrived home Morgan's first words were "where's cookie?" She didn't care that it was after 8 at night, she wanted to ride her horse. I let her ride for a few minutes while I got settled. We then enjoyed a late night snack of cereal, brushed teeth, and read some books. She was out a little after 9 and woke up this morning ready to play with all her new horses! It was a great trip, but we are all thankful to be home and relaxing today.