San Diego

We got home last night after spending 8 hours in a plane. 8 hours and no meltdowns from Ally or us. But we had a wonderful time in San Diego with my Uncle Phil and Aunt Suzie. My mom was there for our first day and went to the zoo with us.

Ally was super excited to see the gorillas

Ally and Grandma Barbie

The photo above was taken on the 1st night we were there - Ally was not sure what to think of Gruncle (Great-Uncle). But below was taken the next night and you can tell they got to know each other better.


We rode the ferry to Coronado Island and had a picnic lunch.


On our last day we went to Seaworld. The Shamu show was GREAT.

Ally loved it - she was attentive during the whole show, and only cried when we got wet. Yes, we got splashed by the whales, since Gruncle chose seats in the Splash Zone.

SeaWorld is affiliated with Sesame Place and now has a Sesame Play area where we could ride rides and meet the characters. Ally rode her very first ride and met Elmo and Big Bird!

One of my favorite pictures from the trip, my Uncle Phil, Ally and I all on the same level.

This trip was amazing. My Aunt & Uncle rented a place in downtown right near the water, so we watched cruise ships dock everyday and heard the trains all night. We saw lots of planes and helicopters and cars and buses. Ally was fascinated with all the different forms of transportation and towards the end of our stay when she heard the cruise ship horn she would say boat and the she knew the train whistle.

Its also really incredible to me to share Ally with people I love. Ally is becoming so grown up and it makes my heart melt to see her give my Aunt and Uncle a hug and say their names. Her speech is just blossoming - new words everyday and Becky and I are just thrilled to observe Ally learning new things.

To be honest I was a little scared of this trip. Ally has been acting 2 lately with tears when she doesn't get her way and tantrums when we say no - I think everyone knows what I mean...the 2 year old DRAMA. But there were no meltdowns in public (or private) and other than a short attention span at meal time Ally was so well behaved we were proud, but proud in an amazed sort of way - we were proud of Ally, but she was so good it was hard to believe we did anything to accomplish that - I felt ( and still feel) so lucky and blessed to have such a wonderful family.