GCV Part 6: The Beach at Ventura

After leaving San Diego we drove up Pacific Coast Highway on our way to Anaheim. We decided to stop in Ventura, at the beach for a while. Once again, we were chasing tide pools, and once again we were a little too late. But we did enjoy playing in the water as the tide came in.

It was just a public beach, but the landscape was beautiful!

The kids had so much fun standing in the water and letting the waves come get them. I was a little worried that they might get pulled out to sea, but Levi and Caleb assured me that they wouldn't let anything happen to any of the kids, so I trusted them...

They played for a long time until Ethan nearly DROWNED! while Levi TOOK A PICTURE of it! (BTW Levi, now that we are all home and safe, I would kind of like a copy of that one) So we decided it was time to get back in the car and head for our next destination: DISNEYLAND!!!

GCV Part 5: San Diego Temple - and the best Mother's day EVER!

After our exciting day at Sea World we took the kids home, fed them, and put them to bed. Then Levi and I went to the San Diego temple to take a few pictures. Unfortunately we were a little too late, and by the time we got there they had closed the gates for the night. We did get a few through the fence, but not any really quality shots.

SO we started back to the house, but just as we were about to get on the freeway we noticed an amazing view of the back side of the temple. We pulled off in a little shopping complex and hiked down a little hill and up the street past a large water meter that looked startlingly like a hobo, to get a perfect shot. We started setting up our tripods when all of a sudden the lights when out! WHAT? I thought they weren't supposed to turn the temple lights off. Haven't you ever heard about temples being a beacon in the night, guiding you to safety and all that business? How are you going to find the temple with the lights out? No safety and salvation for the people of San Diego, I guess. So we packed back up and started hiking back to the car when we were nearly run down by a crazy drunk lady on a motor scooter. She stopped to ask us all about our cameras and tell us stories about her camera. She said that she had never seen the temple lights turned off in the whole three years she had lived there. (They must have known we were out there, and they were just trying to mess with us.)

The next day was Mother's day. We had to check out of the beach house, and I was so sad to leave. I loved it there. We found a church nearby, and went to sacrament meeting. After that we went back to the temple so the kids could wander around. I try to take any opportunity I can to let my kids see different temples. I feel like it will help them know how special I think the temple is, and I'm hoping that if they fall in love with one it will make them that much more determined to be married there. And this one was for Adia. She is our little princess, and the San Diego temple is truly a palace. She loved it! It is her new favorite. She was enchanted by it.

Yes, I took a million shots of it. I just can't decide which is my favorite. (feel free to vote:)

And then came my favorite part. The part that made this the best mother's day I have ever had. This was by far my favorite day of the entire vacation. We had some visitors. Even though we haven't seen them in several years, both kids seemed to know them right away, and ran up and threw themselves into their arms. It was our Nana and Papa! These are Ethan and Adia's birth grandparents. You might remember me talking about this before, but in case you don't, we have an open adoption. That means that we stay in contact with our kid's birth family. We write letters, talk on the phone, stay in touch through blogs and facebook, and on the rare occasion that we are nearby we visit in person. I know that this is not for everyone, but for our family, it's something we value more than just about anything.

Papa Steve and Nana Laura are the ones who placed Ethan and Adia for adoption and they are the ones who chose Troy and I for their parents. I can't even imagine the heartbreak they went through in making the choice to do that, and it sometimes still catches me off guard to realize that they healed my broken, lonely heart by giving me and actual part of theirs. I admire them so much more than they will ever know.

We visited and got reacquainted. Nana Laura taught the kids the names of all the native plants growing around the temple. She taught them about harvesting the seeds to plant later, and we brought some home with us to plant as a reminder of our special day. We talked about how the kids are doing, and how their family is doing, and they answered Adia's five million questions about her Hispanic heritage. (she learned that she actually knows just about as much Spanish as Papa Steve does, but interestingly enough that made her every bit as happy as if he would have taught her the whole language. She just wanted to connect on that level, and I think that did it for her.)

Look how much alike they are! I love it!

When it was time to go they walked us to the car. We said goodbye, and they got the kids all buckled in. They turned to leave, and I turned to get in the car, when suddenly Laura was at my side. Through tears she expressed her love for the kids, and for me, and the struggles she has had, and finally, after all these years the acceptance, and contentment she felt knowing that they were loved more than life itself, and she had made the right choice, even though it was the hardest choice to make. I expressed to her just what her sacrifice meant to me, that she had given me the most wonderful and precious gift, one that I treasured more than any other. I told her how much I loved those sweet babies, and how much I loved her and Steve for making me a mother, and we embraced and cried in a moment that can only be understood by two women who share the same heart.

GCV Part 4 Sea World!

The next day we went to Sea World. We started out the day with the "Journey to Atlantis" ride. Adia had been excited about this one since we checked out the website months ago. She was in my car and I thought she would explode as the ride came into view before we even got into the parking lot. She waited anxiously while we went through the security check line, and then the entrance line, and then while Levi and Cassie looked at the map for what seemed like FOREVER trying to decide on a course of action. Finally we were on our way... but then we saw a giant man eating lizard on display, and we had to stop and listen to the worker tell us all about it. She was starting to get a little antsy at that point. And then we walked through a open aquarium where you could pet the sea stars, and hermit crabs. She kept looking at me to save her, but I was trying to stay with the group, so I encouraged her to wait, we were almost there. And finally we were headed in the right direction. We could see the entrance to the ride. We were almost there, her hopes and dreams coming true... and then Levi saw a creepy crawly exhibit full of spiders and lizards and scorpions and frogs, and we had to stop there first. I don't know if Levi was TRYING to make her head explode or if he really just didn't realize what was going on, but I saw that some of the spirit was going out of her eyes, so I insisted that we head there next, no distractions. Michael, Ethan, Caleb and I all decided to go with her, so we got in line and waited. Finally it was our turn. Adia and Michael (Who both claimed that they weren't scared a bit - except just enough to need each other to scream with) rode in the first car followed by Ethan and I (because he was getting a little more nervous the longer we waited) and Caleb brought up the rear. As we waited in line we had climbed clear to the top of the ride without really realizing it. So when we started the ride there was no where to go but down! There was no build up like you usually get with a roller coaster, it was just a straight shot down into a pool of water at the bottom.

Like this. It doesn't look nearly as scary as it actually was. With no preparation before hand Ethan had had enough! He was ready to climb out! He even told me, "this is where I get out, I'm not going any farther, and you can't make me." And maybe I couldn't make him, but fortunately the seat belt and safety bar could make him stay in place, and off we went on the rest of the ride. It was full of twists and turns and drops and splashes, but because he was now expecting it, he decided that it wasn't so bad after all, and by the time we finished he was loving it! It was everything Adia dreamed of as well. They take a picture of you as you make the first big drop, and it was hilarious! Michael and Adia had their hands in the air, screaming with a look of excited terror on their face. Ethan had a look of ACTUAL terror on his face as he twisted and tried to get away from the sheer drop off we were facing. It was the best, I wish I would have bought the picture.

After making one child's dream come true and giving the other child nightmares for life, it was time for the dolphin show to start, so we walked to the other side of the park just in time to get a great seat in the splash zone.

The show was pretty cool, if just a little bit too "artsy". And we enjoyed watching the dolphins as well as people dive and jump in the water.

Finally, it was the moment we had been waiting for... THE SPLASH!!! We watched it come our way...

Close and closer, we could hardly wait! We watched a man in the section next to ours get completely SOAKED! And they kept splashing in the same place over and over, so finally dripping from head to toe - I'm serious, the guy was wet - he moved over to our section. The joke was on him though because just as he got settled in his new dry seat, they came our direction....

AND HE TOTALLY GOT IT AGAIN!!! It was so funny, possibly top five favorite moments of the day.

The show was really amazing, and the kids loved it, even though we didn't get splashed as much as we had hoped for. After that it was time to eat, so we walked to the other end of the park to find a place to eat. After that Levi and Caleb were headed to the "Sting Ray" or something like that, so Cassie and I took the kids to the bathroom, the shark exhibit, and a couple of other places, before meeting back up at the whale show. Levi and Caleb got there first and secured a seat front and center where we were SURE to get wet. We settled in for the show, and it was pretty cool, even if it was a little too "earthy" for our taste. At the beginning there was a baby whale, which was fun to see. The whales did all kinds of cool tricks, and the kids absolutely loved it! The only problem? We didn't get a DROP of water on us! I'm not even kidding! We were all pretty disappointed about it.

We wondered around a little, came up with a plan, and rode a few more rides. The only problem was that we didn't plan very well, so we walked WAY more than we rode. It wasn't our favorite place, but we would probably go back again.
We did have a bit of a scare at the end of the day. Levi and Caleb went to ride another ride, and left Cassie and I with the kids. There was a play area that we told the kids  they could play in. The only problem? We didn't realize how big it was. Around the corner there was a huge jungle gym maze thing, and it didn't take long for them to get scattered, and we had no idea where they were. Cassie stood lookout with the two little ones who we did have a handle on, and I went looking for the other three. I finally located them and told them that I would wait by the entrance. Ethan came out, but Michael and Adia never showed up...
One thing that we had all been really concerned about was the kids getting lost. Before we left we brainstormed some ideas about ways we could attach our contact info to the kids so that they could find us in the event that we lost them. Finally I came across an etsy shop that sold tattoos with contact information printed on them. I wasn't willing to pay the price they were asking, so I looked up online, and found tattoo paper for sale. I ordered some printed "If I'm lost please call" and then our cell numbers. We slapped those babies on the kids each morning, and went over the rules... "If you get lost find a police officer, or a mom with kids and show them your tattoo..." We had a ton of people ask us where we got the tattoos. Who knew it would be such a hit! We did have one crazy lady who thought it was a REAL tattoo, and wondered what we would do if the number changed... :)
Anyway, back to the kids. Finally after not finding them for a long time Cassie went around a corner and saw them right in the act of using the tattoos. I was not so proud that they hadn't followed instructions and gotten lost, but very proud of them for knowing what to do and being brave enough to do it.
After that we figured it was about time to head home for the day, so back to the beach house we went!