San Diego Trip

Our squadron trip to San Diego was very busy and so much fun. Kaia had a great time seeing all the new sights and playing with her friends. After two days of fun, her new favorite words (which we heard all the way home) are, "ocean", "beach", "sail boat", "yacht" (I taught her that one), "sand", "Shamu", and "Reese and Mia" (two of her friends). The weather was gorgeous and it was so great to see some GREEEN instead of the lovely Las Vegas BROWN that we see each day. It has been 10 years since I have been to Coronado Island and I forgot how gorgeous it was!


Day 1 - The Zoo
This was our first trip to the SD Zoo and it was HUGE. We barely got half of it accomplished. Kaia enjoyed all the animals and loves making their noises as we passed their cages. She really wanted to feed the giraffes but the line was soooo long.

Thiele Family at the Zoo!

The Beach
This was Kaia's first beach experience. We weren't sure how she was going to react. It was quite windy and chilly at the end of each day but that didn't stop her. The second her feet touched the soft sand, she took off running. She loved it so much. She laughed and played. She threw the sand, kicked it, and loved seeing her footprints in it. She was very brave and ran into the tide as it rolled on shore but after a fall (in which daddy caught her - see pic) she quickly became more cautious and would run into it but as it approached her, she would run away from it. She was so upset each time we had to go inside and would cry and say "more beach pleeeeease".

A lot of my pics are blurry because I was experimenting with some lighting issues but some of them are so cute I posted them anyway :)

Day 2 - Sea World - Breakfast with Elmo
Oh my goodness, holy pandamonium!!!!! Kids screaming in excitment, crying in fear (or lack of patience like our kid), laughing, jumping up and down, fighting to get to characters...it was CRAZY!!!!
We knew Kaia was going to be excited to see Elmo but we didn't know she was going to act like a love struck rock star fan. As soon as she saw him, she had to go to him immediately. The problem was that we had to wait in line. She lost any patience that she had and just reached out to him and cried. Her poor little face was so red and she had tears and snot running down her face as soon as it was her turn to see him. The first go round she acted some what shy with him but the second time we went up there, she had many hugs and kisses for Elmo. It was quite a sight to see. Our $20 breakfast (which we hardly were able to eat with all the excitement happening) was horrible but seeing her get so excited was worth every penny!!!





At the beginning of this video, Kaia is saying "hug, hug". Anytime she would see a character that is what she would say!!

Sea World
It was so fun to be at Sea World again. It has been a while for Kristian and I. Kaia really enjoyed the shows and she liked the sharks too. She did so good in the backpack all day, especially considering she rode in it all day at the zoo the day before. She would see anything that resembled a whale and would constantly shout out "SHAMU"!

The Beach
After day 2 we decided we had to live somewhere close to the ocean. We have a 100% BEACH BABY - she loved every minute of it and couldn't have been any cuter out there!!!!

Hanging with her pals
When we weren't out at theme parks or at the beach, Kaia enjoyed spending her time with Reese and Mia. The lodge was perfect for the kids. It was all open and had plenty of room for them to run and play while the mommies got to sit and chat a bit..