Airplanes Galore

During Tim and Dodie's visit (which we had a wonderful time!), we toured the Pima Air and Space Museum in Tucson, Arizona. This museum has 5 hangars, WWII barracks, a space gallery and tons of aircraft outside, including President Kennedy's airplane. It houses over 275 aircraft and spacecraft, so there was a lot of ground to cover. Carson enjoyed looking at the airplanes, although I think he enjoyed running around in the large, open hangars even more. =) For Jason and I, it was neat to see the planes used during WWII and to see how the aircrafts have involved throughout the years. Here are some pictures from our visit.



Carson playing around in the kid's area.




Carson and Grandpa Heffel


Jason playing around a little as well. =)


The simulation ride Jason and I went on. We had to choose between 3 themes: Time Travel, Racecar or Airplane. The lady informed us that the Airplane ride was less jerky, so of course Jason and I go for Time Travel. We really didn't think we would move that much, but I'm surprised we didn't throw our necks out! It was very similar to the Back to the Future ride at Universal Studios. Even with all the jerking around, we had a lot of fun and were thankful we decided against Carson joining us.


The Hoppicopter. I would not have wanted to be the first person to try this device out.

The Lockheed SR-71A Blackbird (I had to look that up. =)); it was amazingly long.


This was how Carson walked around looking at all the airplanes; I'm surprised he didn't run into anything.




Father and Son


President Kennedy's ride. I must say, it was super small and the furniture looked like something you would find at your grandma's house. I think it's safe to say that the plane our current president rides around in is way more elegant and spacious. Oh how the times have changed.


Most of the airplanes were outside. We didn't even see half of them because of a little boy I know who got burned out. =)


Carson playing around in a space play area.

Our latest construction project

One day I jokingly asked Jason if he would build Carson a sandbox. I say jokingly because Jason isn's really known for his carpenter skills. =) I was even more surprised when he went out that day and bought the supplies to build one! After the sandbox was complete, I decided to stain it to liven it up a little. And here is our finished product! Carson seems to be enjoying it and it gives him one more thing to do outside, since that is where he spends the majority of his time these days. I will have to post pictures of him in action soon.

Dinner with Daddy

One night last week Jason was in charge of dinner while I was at my hair appointment, and of course I came home to table full of McDonald's wrappers. =) Here are a couple of pictures Jason took of Carson playing with his happy meal box. Who needs a toy when you have a box to play with?!

First Trip to the Beach

I was so excited to take Carson to the beach, but then when we arrived in San Diego, I realized it was chillier than I had expected it to be. However, that didn't stop us from stopping by Mission Beach one day on our way home from Balboa Park. I had packed sand toys and beach towels and all that kind of beach stuff, and then we ended up not using any of it because of our spontaneous stop, but for some reason I think Carson would not have cared either way. He loved running from the waves as the tide came in, as well as picking up rocks and seashells and tossing them back into the ocean. Who needs toys when you have rocks and seashells? =) Even with the cool weather, there were still a lot of people laying out and swimming at the beach. I didn't understand it until we had been running around and playing for a little while, because once you are there and you have the beautiful ocean in front of you and the warm sand at your feet, you kind of forget about the briskness and just relax and have fun.

Carson walking towards the water. He didn't know what to think of all the sand at first; I don't think he knew that much sand could exist in one place!


First view of the ocean. I think he likes what he sees.

Jason urging him to step into the water. It didn't take much to get Carson in.


Running from the water.







Time to take off the jacket and really get wet. The water actually didn't feel as cold as we thought it would. He actually fell in a couple of times; good thing mommy had an extra set of clothes and a towel in the car!

Mission Beach, San Diego

Our Day at Sea World

One place Jason and I both really wanted to visit while in San Diego was Sea World, so this is where we went on Saturday. We didn't bother to look at what time it opened and showed up at 9 am. Then we saw a sign that said the park didn't open until 10 am. On the positive side we didn't have to wait in any lines to get in or to get tickets, and we were one of the first ones in the park. The morning ended up being really overcast and chilly, but it soon warmed up and walking around kept us warm as well. We spent the whole day there taking in all the animals and rides, and it ended up being a really great day!

Family picture, except we cut off half of Carson's face. Oops!

Carson enjoying the views. I think if it had been a longer ride, he would have went to sleep because it was right at nap time.

This is how high up the ride went.

A couple of aerial views of the park.


Cloudy San Diego

We ended up missing Shamu's show, and when we went to look into the killer whales tank, they were practicing for their next show in a back pool area. Luckily, a nice lady directed us back to the pool area and we ended up getting a behind the scene's look and our own little show! Here are a few pictures.

A really beautiful white whale.

The people in wetsuits looked absolutely freezing out there!

Penguins, one of my favorite animals.

A gondola ride over the harbor. Carson wasn't scared at all up this high above the ocean. I, however, was a little nervous!

I like this picture because in the background it looks like a shark is coming for Carson.

The shark tank had a really cool glass tunnel we walked through, so sharks were swimming all around us, even above our heads. Jason and I kept singing the Jaws theme and tickling Carson at the end, then Carson would do it back to us.

Sharks!

Manatees - the sheer size of them was amazing!

On Elmo's fish ride at the Sesame Street play area. Carson was super excited when he saw Elmo had his own ride at SeaWorld. He had to take mommy and daddy each on a ride. He even picked out his own fish. However, he wasn't too thrilled with Abbey's spinning teacup ride.

Climbing at the Sesame Street play area. It was huge!

Playing in the water fountain; it was a little cold, so we decided it was better he didn't actually get wet.

Making music...

Jason and Carson on a really huge obstacle course. I think Jason and I had a little more fun at this area!

A seal. We even got to feed them fish,

Pretty flamingos...

Carson found more ducks to follow. Once again, the highlight of his trip!

He also found rabbits.

Large turtles....

Carson and I and some fish.

One of the largest magnifying glasses I've ever seen.

Carson watching fish and turtles swim around.

Jason picking up a starfish at the tide pool, and Carson taking a feel as well.

Dolphins

Jason and Carson in the 'danger zone', aka the splash zone. Luckily the dolphins decided to play nice.

The sting ray tank. They would swim right by you hoping people would pet them. A few of the friskier sting rays thought it was fun to splash the viewers as well. Of all the animals at the park, the sting rays were one he wasn't too sure about, so he decided against trying to touch one.

Otter

A Clydesdale Horse - they were HUGE. Carson loves "horsies". Even if there is just one horse, he still feels the need to add an s at the end.