October | 2017 | Brendan and Trevor's Story

The boys had a fall break from school, Bill had a few days off of work, and we got free SeaWorld tickets through their Waves of Honor program for veterans. So we went to San Diego!

We tried something a little different. Instead of taking the trailer or getting a hotel, we rented a private condo near imperial beach. It was a super cute little place! It had a garage on the main floor full of beach gear we could borrow. It had two bedrooms upstairs. It worked out great!

Friday, October 6th –

Sea World, here we come! (They actually have the big entrance sign roped off now where their photographers can take your picture and sell it to you)

First stop – petting bamboo sharks. The boys were so amazed that they could pet sharks!

If they had their way, the boys would have stayed right here the whole day. Climbing nets, bouncing pillows, bridges – they loved it.

I dragged them to the dolphin and whale show. They just wanted to get back to the obstacle zone.

Their first time seeing any kind of whale.

The exhibit had too much noise for Brendan. But he LOVED LOVED LOVED the helicopter simulator ride through the arctic. He had to go on it twice. He says it was his favorite thing at the park. Only just a little better than the obstacle course thing.

Feeding stingrays

Trevor said they were so big and cute, he just wanted to jump in and give them all hugs.

Sharktooth!

I wasn’t able to take pictures when we went on the big log ride/roller coaster. It was quite a big first roller coaster ride for them. They liked it at first, but then Trevor got scared. It was so fast and loud. He said he felt like he was going to fall out. The ONE day I would consider buying the photo that they take of you during the ride – their camera system was not working!

Brendan did so much walking with no stroller and we were there the entire day. They had a blast. Of course, they got to pick a souvenir.

And a cutie in a cute new t-shirt

Saturday, October 7th –

The street outside was filled with cars for a show Saturday morning. This thing arrived early and quite loudly.

It was only one block to the water from our place

The sun was warm, the water was chilly. It was a perfect day!

There were some big waves!

Running from the waves all day!!

Brendan’s way of escaping the water

Enormous pieces of kelp

Some buried treasure

Feeling a little sandy

We spent the hottest part of the day back at the condo relaxing. Then we went back to a beach restaurant for some dinner. And dessert!

The sculpture at the entrance to the beach.

They call it the “golden hour” for a reason! The boys were in their clothes and they were not supposed to get wet. The joke was on me.

Trevor really loves to throw sand and water

Little tiny sliver of sun left, hidden by big waves

An eerie fog started to roll in

The sand was like a mirror

The boys were cold and wet, but they slept so well that night!

Sunday – October 8th –

We spent Sunday at Balboa park. The boys got in free to the Air and Space Museum, so we went back again to check out the new exhibit

Big plane, little boys

“Be The Astronaut” was an interesting addition to the museum. Maybe a little much for their age, but still cool.

The boys do not really remember being here two years ago

They remembered this part, but thought it was cooler then.

Brendan will build anywhere

In another part of Balboa Park, there are extra enormous fig trees growing. One is protected by fences to preserve it, but this one is open to explore.

I am talking HUGE. See the boys?

Last time they were kind of little. This time, they crawled around for a long time. It was a fascinating root system.

Bill and the boys are in the trunk

Really cool!

Trevor thought the dirt hill was a good slide.

Monday, October 9th –

Ah, the road home. We took the “northerly route” and passed by the Cabazon Dinosaurs. I can’t even remember how many times I have been here and I have yet to pay admission and see what is actually in the rest of the exhibit. Mr. Rex is 65ft tall. With a paid ticket, you can go into his head and look out his mouth.

The Salton Sea. This place is strange, and has an interesting history. It’s worth a Google.
What looks like white sand is actually made up of pulverized fish bones from all the dead fish over the years. It is crunchy and strange and nothing like you would expect.

Lucky for us, it was actually a rather windy day so the smell was not so terrible.

Bones are everywhere.

The “International Banana Museum” is about as big of a joke as the sea.

Instead of a cute place where someone has built a big collection of banana stuff, there is a crabby old guy that runs the liquor store next door. He bought the bulk of the collection on ebay in order to try to start a roadside attraction and bring people into the depressing area. There really is not much else to stop for on this stretch of road.

There is an eclectic collection of banana stuff.

Initially, we were told that the guy was tired of making banana splits that day and that he would not make any more. There was a nice woman running the counter that convinced him to make some for us. Who runs a banana museum and refuses banana sales to customers?!

It was good ice cream.

Next stop on the route home was the General George S. Patton Memorial Museum, a.k.a. the “tank museum”. Trevor was waiting for this for the whole trip.

The face Trevor made when we found out that the tank yard was closed was so heartbreaking. They are doing some construction in the yard and making big improvements. But this kid was just devastated. The employees felt so bad, they said we could tour the indoor part, and then we could go out to the back lot and explore the tanks that were not really “display ready”. It was definitely an “at your own risk” adventure.