It's 1:00 AM and I just finished putting Elle to sleep! We made the most of our last whole day in San Diego. As promised, we went back to Sea World for another incredible day. This time we took lots of great pictures. We started at the Sesame Street play area which was AWESOME. Ken carried Elle up the rope area and she dragged him through the rest of it.

Then, on to the 4D Sesame Street show. Elle didn't really care for this, but now that time has passed, she's succumbed to Ken's power of suggestion and thinks it was great. The 3D effects were a little too scary for her, especially the chicken popping out of the screen. She did like getting rained on in the theater though.

Next was food for Ken and I since Elle collapsed in the stroller (the morning swim must have tuckered her out). When she woke, she had chocolate ice cream with sprinkles in a cool whale bowl. This goes along with her "really cool whale straw" which she has named Whaley Shamu Weary. Once again, the penguins didn't disappoint. We must have visited at just the right time as they were jumping and spazzing out all over the place (naturally so was Elle).

The Polar Bear exhibit is probably one of the best animal exhibits we've ever seen (check out the polar bear behind us).

More animals, including Manatees and sharks, were interesting as well. Darkness brought two more shows. The dolphins with pyrotechnics and Shamu Rocks. Rain showers, which the weather forecast has been predicting since Tuesday, finally fell around 8:00 and we decided to tough it out. We'd parked the strollers and I had to run back to protect them as much as I could. Elle's got folded and I turned Tag's carseat upside down. Tag was nice and cozy inside the Bjorn and protected by Ken. The rest of us got soaked. It was a fun way to end the trip and Elle didn't mind the wetness at all.

We made it back to the hotel around 9:30 PM. Ken dropped us off and went looking for dinner. Everyone got baths/showers and I'm hoping our coats/clothes will be dry by morning. Packing to go home is so much easier than packing before the trip.

We wish we'd stayed longer. There's so much to do here and the weather has been great. The plane trip isn't that long. We'll be back.

We went to the San Diego Zoo today...it was awful! Crowded, old, many of the same animals we've seen at the Wild Adventure Park or Sea World, but their habitats weren't nearly as nice. Shortly after our arrival with an introductory bus tour around 75% of the zoo, we decide there were only two activities we really wanted to do. First, Elle and I hopped on one of the double-decker buses. I just wanted to see what she thought of riding up high. She liked it and kept telling me that they forgot the windows in the bus! Second, we rode a suspended cable car from one end of the zoo to the other. We lucked out and were able to see the pandas from up high and didn't have to wait in the long line to get to see them.

Next was a short excursion to La Jolla. Mexican food again! (Ken's choice of course).

Today's pics were snapped when Elle decided she was tired and wanted to ride in Tag's stroller (he was in the bjorn), and at dinner when Elle asked if she could hold Tag.

Day 4 started like the others. Lazy morning, breakfast at Starbucks and a last minute trip to Trader Joe's grocery store for snack throughout the day. Then, off to the main attraction...Sea World! After Nate's prediction that Elle wouldn't like Sea World (since the whale in the Dora video scares her) and Ken's concern that the shows would be above her head, we were starting to wonder if this was a bad idea. We couldn't have been more pleasantly surprised. It always helps to start with low expectations.

From the first steps inside the park, all went smoothly, including the weather. Elle was eager to see the penguins, probably because her favorite stuffed animal is "Penguiny", a little animal Nate bought her at the Aquarium. We went through this exhibit twice. Then, we headed to the first show, the dolphins! She was absolutely mesmerized. She sat on Ken's lap smiling, dancing, laughing and thoroughly enjoying herself. From there, we made our way to see Shamu in the whale show. The whales were very cool and, again, Elle was totally into everything. Tag was also a happy camper hanging out in the Bjorn with me. Ken and I were a little turned off by all the conservation gobbly gook (c'mon, we just want to see the animals perform), but some of the technology in the show made up for this. Following this, we saw flamingos and ate pizza before watching our third show of the day, Pet's Rule. Here cats, dogs, a pig, ducks and pigeons entertained us for 25 minutes. Again, Elle was in heaven. At the end of the show, many of the stars were on stage for the kids to pet and meet. Here, Elle took the only picture of the day (she took the camera away from Ken and insisted on snapping photos). She pet a dog and a pig named Rafael (see picture).

It was difficult pulling her away from this area even when all the animals were gone. But, we had to get to the best show of the day, the Sea Lions. The show was pretty funny and the 2 sea lions and otter were entertaining enough, but the highlight for Ken and I was at the end. At the very end of the show, one of the newer trainee animals, the 950lbs walrus made his entrance. After the show was over and all the other animals have gone away, he went back into the water. First he propped himself up against the glass saying hi to his many human fans. After this tired him, he jumped out of the water and over the wall to get even closer. The Sea World staff were fantastic. They quickly cleared the immediate area and lucky for us, we were high enough to enjoy his antics for quite a while. Shortly after his little jump, an official Sea World person announced that people needed to stay clear of their newest trainee and that he'd "bet 5 cents that this would all be on YouTube in 30 minutes!" (we checked and it's not yet). The walrus continued to move around a bit, even climbing a few steps in the stadium before walking out and around the stadium. Apparently he did something similar last week and took a 30 minute walk around the stadium before they could coax him back. This was clearly the best show of the day! We ended the day with the octopus, sea turtule and a promise to Elle that we'd be back before we return home. There's still a lot to see!

Once again, we ended the day later than planned. Elle crashed in bed at 10 and Tag was right behind her.

One more note. Elle's new favorite game - Runaway stroller. We pretend the stroller gets away from us and that she's going to crash. She thinks this is hysterical and constantly wants to play it. Yes, today we had both strollers with us. We knew better than to try to make her walk everywhere. Besides, I think Sea World may be the stroller capital of the US. We fit in well. And some how having each of us (Ken and I) assigned to one stroller and one kid just felt right.