SeaWorld

We went to SeaWorld today. It was a beautiful day and we walked until our feet were aching. The weather was beautiful today which was good because almost the first thing we did was go to the Dolphin Show and sat in the "guaranteed to get soaked" zone. They didn't lie we were totally soaked. Krystal got pictures of that because she has a waterproof camera. We also took in Shamu's show and saw manatees, rays, sharks, sea stars, fresh water aquarium, salt water aquarium, polar bears, seal lions, seals, penguins, etc.




We were at SeaWorld for 8 hours today. Then on our way home, Becca wanted supper and Krystal didn't want to go out to eat until she showered. We all looked pretty bad from getting wet so much today. I had the idea to pick up food and take it back to our hotel. There is a mall across the street from our hotel. We went to a Chinese food place call "Pick Up Stix" and got chinese takeout. It was really good and really reasonably priced.


Tomorrow we are going to the Zoo.

San Diego

It is now Friday morning. Yesterday, we drove down to San Diego. We stopped in Carlsbad on the way down at The Flower Fields. This is 50 acres of flowers. There were flowers everywhere. When we went in, they gave Rebecca a passport. You walk around and there are 8 different stations. At each station you get a stamp in your passport. When you have all the stamps, you can go to the gem mining and for one dollar you empty a bucket into your mining screen, submerse it in water and shake it all around. When all the sand has filtered through, you are left with some polished rocks. Rebecca loves rocks and collects them so she really enjoyed this. Here are some pictures of The Flower Fields.





There was an outlet mall next to The Flower Fields and so we went there and had some lunch at Ruby's Diner. It is a 50's style diner and now Krystal wishes she was born in the 1950's. Then we drove the rest of the way into San Diego and checked into our hotel.

We are just finishing breakfast and plan to head out to SeaWorld today. Later.

Wicked was Wicked

This is just a quick post to let you know how today was. We arrived in Hollywood just after lunch today. We parked at this enormous complex called Hollywood & Highland Complex which had underground parking as well as shopping, restaurants, theatres, etc. Graumann's Chinese Theatre is a part of this complex. I had heard that Hollywood Blvd. is not a very nice place after dark so we parked there because it is underground secured parking and they also have a shuttle to Pantages Theatre.We walked down Hollywood Blvd. for a while and looked at the stars. We also went into a couple of souvenier shops. Then we went over to Ripley's Believe It or Not, which was actually quite interesting. We went back to the Hollywood & Highland Complex and bought our shuttle tickets, had lunch, went into some of the shops, looked at the Hollywood sign, had ice cream and hung out. We did not go and see the footprints at Graumann's Theatre because the sidewalk was blocked off and covered up with a blue carpet. When we caught the shuttle later in the evening and drove past this area there were hundreds of people. One of the people on the bus said that it was the movie premiere of Will Ferrall's new movie "Blades of Glory". Just as we drove past Will Ferrall was standing right on the sidewalk heading towards the theatre. We had a perfect view!! Then we went to the Pantages Theatre and saw Wicked. It was amazing. We all loved the show. It was extremely well done. The show was phenominal and so was the Pantages. The Pantages was built in 1930 and was home to the Academy Awards from 1959 to 1969. Krystal took some pictures in the lobby which I will try and post tomorrow when I have a proper internet connection at our hotel in San Diego. Later days.

Disneyland and California Adventure

Well, we went to California Adventure yesterday. It was much less crowded than the previous day. We spent the morning and part of the afternoon there. Then we went to Downtown Disney and had a late lunch at the Rainforest Cafe and did some shopping. I took the packages back to the hotel while the girls went back to California Adventure to go on the Tower of Terror.




Then I joined them at California Adventure. We saw the High School Musical Pep Rally, which Rebecca really liked. If you have been to California Adventure then you know that there is a giant ferris wheel there. Each branch of the ferris wheel has three compartments, two that move back and forth and swing as the wheel goes around and one in the middle that is fairly stable. Last year I greatly enjoyed the stable compartment. It shows a great view of the Park and ...is stable. This time I let the girls talk me into going on the unstable compartments. Anyone who knows how much I dislike heights when I feel insecure then you know that this was a great accomplishment and I am now very brave.




We stayed at California Adventure until it closed at 8 pm and then decided to go back to the hotel for a swim and hot tub and call it an early night rather than go back over to Disneyland.

This morning we went to Disneyland. We stayed there until around 1 pm and then headed over to Tortilla Jos for lunch. While we were having lunch it began to pour rain. We were looking outside wondering how we were going to get back to our hotel when we were done eating as we were dressed in shorts and tank tops and did not have jackets with us. Amazingly, by the time we were done eating, the rain had passed, the sky was blue and the sun was shining. We went back to the hotel anyways. Rebecca and Krystal went to the pool and I drove to Target to get Rebecca some medicine. Now that Krystal's eye is better, Rebecca has a very nasty cold. It is now just after 5 pm and we are going to go back to Disneyland. We will re-enjoy our favorite rides and watch the fireworks. This is our last day at Disneyland. Tomorrow, we hit Hollywood.

Disneyland

Well, I finally woke the kids up at 10:30, mainly because I was getting bored. They got ready and we headed over to Disneyland. The early morning clouds had burned off and it was wonderfully warm. We did some rides, had a pineapple whip and then did some more rides. The crowds were huge. I don't think I have ever been at Disneyland when it was as crowded as it was today. Around 3 oclock we left and went and got lunch (at Dennys) and then we went back to the hotel and had a swim and lay around by the pool. At 6 oclock we headed back to Disneyland for a while, made a little trip over to California Adventure so the girls could go on California Screaming (a rollercoaster) and we went on the giant ferris wheel. Then we had to hurry back to Disneyland for the evening fireworks. We went on a few more rides and then Krystal wanted to go back to the hotel. We told her we would be right along behind her but by then the crowds were down and Rebecca and I ended up going on a bunch of rides. We didn't get back until midnight and Krystal was already asleep. We were very tired and our feet hurt so we went straight to bed.

Krystal had been having a lot of problems with one eye. It started in the Calgary airport. It was very red and watering and she thought maybe she had something in her contact. She tried taking her contact out and putting it in again but that didn't help. Later she put some eye drops in because she thought maybe her contacts were dry. By the time we got to our hotel after travelling all day her eye looked awful. Really red and swollen. We went to bed and unfortunately this morning it didn't look any better even after resting it all night. She didn't put her contact in that eye today so she could only see out of one eye and she was a little self conscious about the way her eye looked. We went into one of the stores in Disneyland and she got some sunglasses. The lady in the store suggested that Krystal had pink eye. I will say that be this evening, although it was still a bit red it looked like it was much better. Hopefully by morning it will be okay and she will be able to wear her contacts without any further problems.

Tomorrow, California Adventure will be our main focus. Post to you later.

DAY ONE - TRAVELLING

Well, I am sitting here in our room in the semi-darkness. It is about 9 am but I don’t know when I will post this. Shawn had told me that I need to pay $5.00 per day for internet at this hotel but it seems like there are several unsecured wireless networks but I can’t figure it out. I’ll ask Krystal later and if we can’t work something out then I’ll have to break down and pay.

Any way our trip down yesterday was very long. We left Edmonton at 3:00 pm with no problems and flew to Calgary. We landed in Calgary and walked past many stores and restaurants in search of our bags and US Customs. We only got lost once and a very nice Calgary volunteer in a white stetson pointed out where we needed to go. The kids both wanted to eat but I said wait until we get through Customs and then we’ll have about 3 hours before our next flight we can eat then. We cleared Customs with no problems and then discovered that the only places to eat now that we had passed security again were Tim Hortons and Harveys and they both had massively long lines. Both girls wanted the chicken strips combo at Harveys. I only had $20.00 Canadian and the sign said it was $6.29. We took out some paper and figured out that if we each had a combo it would come to exactly $20.00. I stood in the line for 20 minutes. When I got to the front of the line I told a guy with very limited English skills that I wanted 3 of the chicken strip combos. He said 3 or 4 piece. There was only one combo listed on the menu board so I replied the one that is $6.29. Then the conversation went like this:

Him: Don’t mind the price.
Me: What?
Him: It’s old price.
Me: What? ( I was having a hard time understanding his accent and broken English)
Him: price old.
Me: What is the price?
Him: Price different.
Me: What is the price?
Him: price different.
Me: Well you must know what the price is. What does it cost?
Him: (unconvincingly) 30 cents more.
Me: Well I only have $20.
Him: price different
Me: The price should be what is says on the board. I don’t have enough money.
Him: price different.
Me: Forget it!!!

I admit I was angry. I had waited in line a long time and was not feeling well and I was very hot. I went back to the girls who still wanted chicken strips and did not want to eat at Tim Hortons. I know I could have ordered them chicken strips anyway…I could have ordered myself something else or I probably could have used direct debit, but I was not thinking clearly. Maybe it was jet lag (I KNOW I ONLY FLEW 42 MINUTES TO CALGARY, ALLOW ME MY EXCUSES OKAY?).

Anyway Rebecca went back and stood in line for 15 minutes and ordered the chicken strips for her and Krystal. By this time I didn’t even want to eat anymore. They shared their chicken strips combos with me and Krystal went and got me an Ice Cap from Tim Hortons.

Here’s the funny part. When Rebecca came back to the table I looked at her receipt and the chicken strips combos were …$6.29 EACH.





Anyway we caught our plane to LA and arrived about 10 minutes early but then had to sit on the tarmac for 35 minutes because there was some problem and our gate wasn’t available and they had to find us another one. We got our luggage. Our large suitcase was the second last to come out and we were getting a little worried as everyone else got their luggage and left but we eventually got all our luggage and caught the shuttle to the rental car office. We had to wait a really long time at the car rental office as our clerk went outside to try and find us a car. We had reserved a convertible and the clerk next to her said she had tried to find one on her computer and couldn’t. Our clerk went outside to look. I was thinking I had reserved this months ago and they better have my car. Luckily I only thought this and didn’t say it. She came back and said she had found us a brand new one with only 3000 miles on it. Then she said because we were so patient she took an extra $20.00 off our rental. The truth is we were too tired to do anything so of course we were patient but lesson learned. I even complimented here.

Well thanks to Krystal’s awesome navigational skills, we made it to the hotel. By the time we checked in it was after midnight (1AM) in Edmonton. I put Rebecca to bed and Krystal and I took a quick walk outdoors because Krystal was hungry (it had been 8 hours since we ate). I got her a quick snack we headed to bed an hour later.

It is now Sunday morning and both girls are still asleep. I think I will let them sleep. This is our first day in Disneyland but it is open from 8 AM to midnight today. We won’t last 16 hours there so I will let them sleep awhile and we will go this afternoon and evening. The weather does not look great today anyway. It is very overcast and cloudy. We received a complimentary paper today but when I looked at the forecast it is in Fahrenheit and I have no idea what that is in Celsius so I will just wait and see.

This has been a really long post but then again I am sitting watching people sleep so typing is definitely more interesting. I will post later today if these girls ever wake up. Bye.

California Here I Come

Well I am packing. The girls and I are heading off to California in two days (on Saturday afternoon). This should be an adventure. We are renting a car at the airport and so I will have to drive on Los Angeles freeways from LAX to our hotel near Disneyland. Shawn has written out exact directions for me with ariel pictures so I guess if I get lost I can rent a plane and figure out where I should be. I hope to post often while we are away so stay tuned.

Kim

KRYSTAL IS

Krystal was using my computer the other day. I love that she is amazing and quirky. This is a list that she made. It made me laugh so I am posting it.

Krystal once swallowed a panda.
Use the force; Krystal does.
When you say “No one’s perfect,” Krystal takes this as a personal insult.
Krystal once had some left over playdough. The end result was Chuck Norris.
In a nationwide taste test, 4 out of 5 people prefer Krystal to Pepsi and Coke.
Krystal puts grease on handlebars.
In order to communicate with other people, Krystal invented language.
Krystal can speak Braille.
They say a meteor wiped out the dinosaurs…Krystal doesn’t like lizards.
If earth was an apple, Krystal would be the best tasting part.
Krystal knows how to recite the alphabet sideways.
Once a cobra bit Krystal's leg, after 5 days of excruciating pain, the cobra died.
Chuck Norris’ tears cure cancer, Krystals’ cure death.
A handicap parking sign does not signify that this spot is for handicapped people. It is actually, in fact, a warning that the spot belongs to Krystal; and that you will be handicapped if you park there.
Krystal can touch MC Hammer.
Krystal knows Victorias Secret.
Krystal created Halo-and sold it to Microsoft.
A unicorn once kicked Krystal, that’s why they no longer exist.
Sally sold seashells down by the seashore. How many shells did Sally sell down by the seashore? None, because Krystal called her stupid and broke all her seashells.
Krystal can divide by zero.
You know the dead sea? Krystal killed it.
Lying is not in Krystal's vocabulary. Truth forms itself around whatever Krystal says.
In the first Jurassic park, the tyrannosaurus rex wasn’t chasing the jeep. Krystal was chasing the tyrannosaurus and the jeep.
When they say that looks can kill, They’re talking about Krystal.
The song “simply the best” was written as an understatement about Krystal.
Even if it looks like chicken, smells like chicken and tastes like chicken…if Krystal says it’s pork. It’s pork.
Everybody loves Raymond, Except Krystal.
Krystal wears custom made shoes with ‘Krystal’ imprinted on the bottom. That way, if someone asks for her autograph, they will get it permanently signed on their faces.
Krystal invented the GIF format for pictures, originally it stood for “Gosh, I’m Fabulous,” and the pictures were all self portraits.

WICKED

Well, I haven't posted for quite a while. Since the end of January we have been going through quite a time at our house and it was consuming a lot of my time and was not appropriate for posting. We have resolved the situation and now I am focussing my energy on something else...namely our Girls Trip to California.

I now have the airline tickets booked, a cool car booked (a convertible) and our hotels in Anaheim and San Diego. The hotel in San Diego will get us discounted tickets for the Zoo and SeaWorld when we get there and Rebecca and I are going to pick up our Hopper Passes for Disneyland today (EVERYONE PAYS THE KIDS PRICE).

You are probably wondering why this post is called WICKED. Well Krystal and Rebecca have been listening to songs from the Broadway musical "Wicked" (mostly the song Popular..listen to it if you get a chance) for some time now. I went online and found out that Wicked is playing at the Pantages Theatre in Hollywood when we are there so today I bought 3 tickets. I had to pay more than I planned because the two cheapest ticket values were sold out and I had to change our plans to visit Hollywood from Sunday to Wednesay but it is done. I think it will be great fun and Krystal called me "AWESOME".

Hope everyone's day is going well.

Kim