Let's Go Fly a Kite

"With your feet on the ground you're a bird in flight, with your fist holding tight to the string of your kite." Mary Poppins

A Walk in the Park

It's hard to believe, but the whole time we lived in CA, I never went to Balboa Park. It's beautiful, it's huge, it's amazing! We went there three times in a week, and didn't come close to doing everything.

Here we are at the San Diego Natural History Museum- Braden is opening and closing his jaw, along with the jawbone of the saber-tooth in the case. Roaaaar!!!

They have extensive gardens throughout the park. Trev and I found this giant cactus in the desert garden

This is the Spreckels Organ Pavillion. We stumbled upon a school group demonstration and were lucky enough to hear a short concert. The organ can be heard all over the park- we just followed the sound.

This little hummingbird was buzzing around us in the gardens. He's kind of hard to see, isn't he? I never thought of hummers as being camouflaged!

We also checked out the San Diego Museum of Art, and the Model Railroad Museum. The only problem is that almost everything costs money- when we go back, I'll probably try to save by getting a day pass. We'll be going back for sure!

Splish Splash

We all went to Seaworld for the very first time this week, and I have to say, it was all I expected and more! We had a super time! A HUGE thank-you goes out to the Anheuser-Busch Corporation for their Here's to the Heroes program, which allowed us to attend the park gratis! I have so many great memories and pictures, but I wanted to mention just a few of the highlights. So, I asked the boys what their favorite part was. They each listed 3 or 4 things!! Here were some of the ones that were mentioned more than once. We were only 3 feet away from these flamingos as they were being herded through the park streets.

I love this shot from lunch- a "Shark" headed toward the Shamu cookie!

The Shamu show was amazing! We took our chances and sat in the Splash Zone, but ended up staying mostly dry. Even in my pictures it's hard to get a feel for just HOW BIG these killer whales are! The show is a exciting and dramatic, which is a contrast from the dolphin show, which is full of comedy and light-hearted antics. It was also a favorite with us all.

One of the most unique things that happened was when we attended the show starring a couple of seals, a sea otter and a very large walrus. Maybe the walrus was new, or maybe there was just a creative difference between the trainers and him. Either way, he decided the show should include more audience participation. He hoisted himself out of the water and over the glass. At first we didn't even realize that it wasn't part of the show, but when the snappy dialogue stopped and extra handlers came out, it became obvious that the walrus was off-script. In the end, he was escorted right past our 2nd row seats, out of the arena. I suspect he was headed for some remedial training.

We had a fantastic time. I think Seaworld will go down as one of our all-time fun family days!

Long Time, No Blog

We've been off the radar for the past week. Did you miss us? (Don't answer that!)

We've been off Seeing and Doing in Coronado, CA for the past week. Let me tell you, there are worse places to suffer. More on that later- I've barely had a chance to upload my pics. In the meantime, enjoy this picture of these beautiful iris that I found in my garden, upon my homecoming!

Also, in the meantime, I wanted to tell you about a book I read while I was away. I picked up a package from the mailbox on my way out of town- it was from my Aunt S. and Uncle P. in Virginia. In the package was a book: Never Surrender: A Soldier's Journey to the Crossroads of Faith and Freedom by LTG (Ret.) William Boykin. It was recommended to them by my cousin and her husband, who served in (and retired from) the U.S. Army Special Forces. On the recommendation of four people whom I respect, I began to read it. I couldn't put it down. I found it fascinating and enlightening as he described his life and career, including being a founding member of Delta Force and commander of U.S. Army Special Forces, and detailed how his faith in God sustained him through it all.

It's a very good read!