Universal Studios, Sea World and the San Diego Zoo

Yep, we've been busy since we got here last Thursday. We finally made it here a little late on Thursday but we did make it. When we got to the airport my boarding pass said that we leave at gate C4 so we got there a few hours early and we sat and sat. Apparently sometime while we were sitting there they switched our gate to C12 and replaced the flight at C4 with another flight going to California at the exact same time. I knew we were flying into John Wayne airport and apparently our flight said to Orange County and the flight that replaced the one at that gate was to Long Beach. Needless to say I didn't get the info on the switch and didn't realize that it was going to the wrong airport until it was too late. No big deal though even though Emma started crying because she was scared. We got on the Delta phone and she booked us on a flight a few hours later. Finally we made it to California. That night we went online to check out any deals that we may be able to get on the local attractions. We decided to get the southern California City Pass. It lets you go to Sea World, San Diego Zoo, Universal Studios and three days in Disneyland for a low price. The next day while Dan was at work we went down to the beach to waste some time until he got off at noon.

Digging for sea shells

More sea shells.  It was a beautiful day

Emma made a slide down the sand

When Dan finally got off work we headed up to Universal Studios. I know I've heard about the traffic here many times but it's amazing to actually experience it. You are driving along and then everything just STOPS so you crawl along for a while thinking there must be a giant wreck coming up and then nothing. You finally just start moving after a while. No one uses blinkers and they will squeeze in front of you if you making you slam on your breaks if you leave the tiniest bit of room in front of you which forces you to be on the bumper of the person in front of you just to keep from being cut off every five seconds. Anyway, we made it to Universal Studios.

The girls are getting so big

Hannah and George

Off we go on the tour

Cool!

The girls being interviewed by Billy Bush

Dan and Nancy

Awesome view!!

After we finished we decided to head down to San Diego for the weekend.  It was a LONG 2+ hour drive, in traffic, in the dark to get there but it was worth it.  The next morning we headed over to Sea World.  We caught most of the shows in Sea World and the girls thought it was so much fun.  Who doesn't love Shamu.

The girls and a whale

Hannah was scared in the polar bear cave

I LOVE this picture!

So many penguins

There was a flock of flamingos wandering the park

Emma was scared on the sky tower

Dan was hot so he stuck his face in the fountains

The girls in the bounce house

Shamu

Me and Emma didn't want to get wet so we stayed up high

These two crazies were all the way at the bottom

Hannah was so wet but so happy

The next morning we headed over to the San Diego Zoo.  I can't believe how big and amazing it is.  It really does put the Hogle Zoo to shame.  Anyway, we had a fun time seeing all of the animals but didn't end up staying all day because we knew we had a long ride back up to Newport Beach and the girls were a little tired of walking.  We tried to rent a stroller to push both of them but they were all gone when we got there.  It really is so big that you do need a stroller for the little ones or you should pay for the bus tour that goes around the park.  It still was a lot of fun and it was exciting to see how big everything was.

The girls got friendly with a gorilla

Dan was getting tough with the gorilla

At the petting zoo

Too cute!

These tortises were ginormous

Dan thought this gorillas bum was funny so he took a picture

They both got monkeys to take home

After we made it back to Newport Beach something amazing happened.  Take a look at this picture -

:)

Yes, that is me eating pizza.  How is this possible you may ask? (Or not, you may be confused if you don't know all my problems)  I was looking online trying to find any local gluten free food and there was a pizza chain close by that makes gluten free pizza called ZPizza.  I was so excited I told Dan we had to have it for dinner and because he loves me he said it sounded good to him.  I still can't believe I had pizza last night.  That made my day!!!  I will be posing more of our adventures soon!!!