USS Midway

Ashley told us about how much fun they had visiting the USS Midway, so we made sure to stop in while we were in San Diego.

We got there a few minutes before it opened so we walked around the dock to see all the ships.

 

USS Midway we would like to come aboard.

This is Air Force Caption Joe. We met him while waiting in line to enter the boat. He liked my boys so much that he took our family on a private tour of the boat and shared many interesting stories with us.

After our tour with Captain Joe we walked around some more and listened to the different stories and facts that they had posted around the boat. You would simply type in the number on your headset and it would tell you what you were looking at.

I don't know how the service men could live in such tight quarters for such long periods of time. I would have went crazy.

 

Jason and Lincoln in the Brigg.

If Talan listened to all the stories and filled out a worksheet he could earn himself a set of wings.

Oh No Captain Talan is steering the ship.

One of the many planes aboard the air craft carrier.

 

Talan is ready for take off.

Probably the closest I will ever get to flying a plane.

And if I was ever to fly the plane we just might be needing these ejection seats.

Lincoln having a turn flying the plane.

Lincoln was more excited to fly the helicopter. He love helicopters and almost always has one with him.

 

Jason and Talan up on the fight deck.

I was laughing so hard, Linx picked up this phone and said "Hello, Sodor?"

Good times at the USS Midway.

Lincoln was so excited to go into this helicopter he walked over to the window and keep asking me to take his picture.

Running down the runway trying to take off. Who cares about the sign that says 

NO RUNNING ON THE CARRIER.

We couldn't get in the air so we just took another picture.

Good thing Jason was never in the service, he would have a sore neck from having to bend over all the time.

Proud to be Americans.

Talan was awarded his wings.

Lincoln also got his wings with a little help from dad.

Lincoln thought that balancing the wings on his head was much more fun than having them pinned to your shirt.

Captain Joe introducing us to some other volunteers that work on the boat. After some more stories and places that we should go see while we were in San Diego Captain Joe gave us permission to go ashore. 

We had such a great time on the USS Midway. It took us about 3 hours to see all the boat and learn about what it did. I am so thankful for all the US Service men and woman who do so much for our country. 

San Diego Zoo

On day 3 we decided to hit the world famous San Diego zoo.

The zoo is so big we had no idea where to start and everyone wanted to see something different.

So we consulted the giant map to see what our best route would be.

 

We decided to start off with the bus tour you can see 70% of the zoo in about an hour. Works for me.

 

Of course the boys wanted to sit on top of the double decker bus, but we chose to sit on the wrong side and all the animals were on the other side of the bus. Oh well.

We had to stop and get our smashed pennies.

October was the perfect time to visit the zoo it was cool and all the animals were out and active.

 

Lincoln playing on the digger and gathering up some dino bones.

With such small crowds at the zoo the boys got to have turns doing all the interactive exhibits.

This elephant had huge tusks. It was fun to watch because her trainer was out and trying to get her to go into the barn so that the Dr could examine her. You would have to have a lot of patients to work with elephants.

For some reason Lincoln wanted his photo taken with this bird.

 

He also wouldn't leave until we took his photo with him looking through this guys legs. We were laughing so hard, he is such a character.

Talan working on unearthing some dino bones.

How many kids does it take to lift an elephant?

This zoo staffer told us all about dinosaurs and even let Talan give the giant fossil hand a high five.

 

 We had to make many stops while Lincoln jumped off things. This kid loves to climb up on things and jump off.

The two cutest seals I know.

Lincoln was in 7th heaven when he saw this helicopter.

 

I didn't think any other kids would get a turn in it because Lincoln was not getting out.

Row, Row, Row your boat.

Talan took this cute photo of Jason and I in front of the flamingos.

The temperatures were so cool that this cougar was up and sitting at the front of his cage people watching.

 

They were walking this wolf right down the sidewalks of the zoo.

 

The boys were pretty excited when they found out the wolf's name was Koda.

The boys taking the lion for a ride.

We had so much fun at the zoo. The temperature was just right and there were very few people. All of the animals were active and it was fun to watch them actually do something. Our families favorite was the gorillas, they put on quite a show. The little one kept teasing all the adults and it was so fun to watch. I would say that it was the best zoo experience I have had.