Ferry ride from Coronado Island

We took a ferry ride from Coronado to San Diego Port and then back to San Diego. It was a fun way to see down town San Diego. Coronado is a neat place to visit too. I wish we had more time to explore Coronado. It would have been neat to tour the battleship too. Maybe on our next trip.
The Norton's getting ready for our trip back to Coronado.

Lukey Luke

Millie

Lizzie

There were quite a few sailboats and yachts in the San Diego Bay.

Phil the Sea Lion sunning himself.

A Navy ship that you can tour in the bay.

We pulled in to dock between two cruise ships. They were massive.

People were boarding this cruise ship.

U.S. Coast Guard boat

Naval Security, the Prowler

Spring Break - Phil's BBQ

Chris and I enjoyed the baby back ribs. Yum.

The yummy onion rings, served with ranch dressing.

Camilla and Luke had some boneless chicken. Also very tasty.

Chris enjoying a rib.

Camilla enjoying her lunch.

Luke loving his root beer.

Lizzie trying to get her hands on some BBQ.

If you know Chris, you know he takes his BBQ/meat seriously. He knows what he likes and he can cook it too. We lived in Texas, so we have eaten a lot of BBQ (in too many hole in the wall type of places). One night when we were headed to dinner, we passed Phil's BBQ. Now, most places in this area had an obvious wait outside of their doors, but at Phil's, the line came out the door, down the front of the building, and wrapped clear around the other side of the building. Of course, Chris thought he needed to check them out, so the next day, we ventured there for lunch. Luckily, we arrived when the line was just barely out the door, so our wait wasn't too long.

At Phil's BBQ, you order when you first walk in. They give you a buzzer and you wait to pounce on a table, as you see someone clearing out (much like the Cafe Rio concept). Thankfully, we were able to pounce quickly. Our server, Kenny, was energetic and upbeat and apologizes for not having the table cleaned off quickly enough (we did kick the people out of their booth, what were we expecting?). Our food was done relatively quickly, and was brought out by one of the managers. He saw that the chicken we ordered was for the kids and said that if the BBQ sauce was too hot to let him know and he would bring out another order without the sauce (very accommodating). The sauce was great, so we didn't need him to do that. We were all very happy with our meal (Chris and I enjoyed the baby back ribs and the kiddos had some chicken). Chris declared it about the best barbecue he has had, so that is high praise. Next time, we will likely try something else (the roasted chicken, the brisket sandwich, the pulled pork sandwich, lots of choices). So, if you find yourself in San Diego, we highly recommend Phil's BBQ, and if you find yourself in AZ, I highly recommend Chris's BBQ!

Spring Break - La Jolla Children's Pool

On Saturday, Chris was invited to play golf with some clients. He got to go play at Del Mar Country Club (a place where Phil Mickelson is a member). So, the kids and I hung out at the hotel for the morning. We walked along the bay behind our hotel, but it was really too windy to be out there for too long with Lizzie. After Chris returned, we headed up to La Jolla. On our way there, we stopped by the San Diego Temple (although they don't have a visitor's center, so we didn't get out). We then headed to the Children's Pool Beach in La Jolla to go see the harbor seals. There is a wall built around a little area of the beach and the seals come and sun themselves there. It was really quite fascinating.

Luke didn't want to pose for any pictures. This was as good as it got.

A bunch of seagulls (or eagles as Luke called them) out on the rocks. Camilla and Luke enjoyed chasing them.

There were some big waves. We saw a few people out body surfing.

A Harbor Seal sunning himself.

This looked like a momma seal trying to get her baby up on the beach.

I couldn't believe how many seals there were.

San Diego - Sea World

Spring break 2009 meant a trip to San Diego. We left on Thursday morning and arrived in San Diego around 3:30. That night, we met up with friends, Danny and Andrea Heid, who were also in town. We played at the park and went to dinner in Old Town San Diego. It was nice to catch up with them. On Friday morning, we headed to Sea World for a day of fun. The picture above is from the end of the day as we were headed out of the park. Thankfully we brought the double jogger stroller to haul all of our stuff. We actually made it through the park without buying a meal (thanks to a late breakfast and snacks we "smuggled" in). We had a great day seeing all sorts of animals and shows. Luke and Camilla both liked the Shamu show the best.
Chris with Chris the Clydesdale

A pretty ranunculus (I thought these were so pretty, I bought a bunch when I got home)

A Bird of Paradise Flower

Chris sneaking in a little work while waiting for us to go through the Arctic Exhibit.

A Beluga Whale

Camilla in an "ice" cave. Luke was too scared to go in.

This is an "Argentine" penguin (comes from Chris's mission).

This is the best photo Chris could get of us from his basket. The maximum number of people per basket was 4 (and they counted Lizzie), so Chris and Lizzie rode in a separate basket. The ride took us out over the bay. It was quite windy, but we were able to see a lot of the park.

Lizzie and Chris enjoying their ride.

We even found a few bunnies in the park.

Lots of pink flamingos (Camilla will tell you they are pink because they eat shrimp).

This was from the sea lion/seal/walrus show. (The show where Luke spilled an $8 soda. The refill was only $1.69)

Shamu (this was our first show)

We did not sit in the "splash zone," but we did enjoy seeing Shamu and friends splash.

Luke waiting to see Shamu

Camilla waiting to see Shamu

Kelly and Lizzie awaiting Shamu

Starfish and other random fish from the aquarium

Camilla picking up a starfish. Believe it or not, I also picked up that starfish. Camilla and I also touched a sea cucumber (which felt like a wet, squishy marshmallow).

Lizzie all ready for a day in the wind and sun. She rotated from the stroller to the carrier. She was quite a trooper. She was enjoying the tide pool in her own way. She did not touch a starfish.

Luke, Kelly, and Camilla at the tide pool.