RULE NUMBER 17

Gem's meal at The Fishmarket

Adam's meal at The Fishmarket

Journey to Atlantis

Us at Seaworld

Adam patting the stingrays

Flamingos

Rainbow fish

Shark tank

Seals at feeding time

Superman Seal!

Us waiting for the seal show

Beluga Whale

Beluga Whale

MASSIVE walrus

Polar Bear taking a nap

Penguin Enclosure

Penguin Enclosure

View of San Diego from our hotel room

Holiday Inn San Diego

Local San Antonio cowboy

Adam concentrating on the game

Spurs V Miami Heat

Adam before the game

Gem before the game

San Antonio Riverwalk

RULE NUMBER 17

From Cowboys to Californians

Hi again,

So...last time we wrote, we left you in San Antonio with only 1 day left. We spent the day enjoying the warm weather and relaxed before heading out to the big game - SAN ANTONIO SPURS vs MIAMI HEAT. Adam wanted to get there early so we jumped in a cab and arrived when the gates opened. The stadium is huge and pretty amazing to see. The teams were finishing warming up when we arrived so we wandered around, grabbed a drink and bought a couple of SPURS items (2 of them being a bib and jumpsuit for the baby!). Funny fact - they serve beer and margaritas at the game! I don't think many other American towns would offer margaritas at a sports event. I'd been hanging for a hotdog so we grabbed one each and took our seats. They have heaps of entertainment leading up to the game with loud music and animated graphics everywhere. I won't go into the game too much but it was sooooo much fun! Spurs beat Miami by over 20 points, the crowd was going wild. Personally, it was so cool seeing Adam experience something like that. He's followed the Spurs for a long time and to see that action live was a dream come true for him :)

Not even the hour long wait for a taxi after the game could dampen the spirits.

After getting home at 12:30am, we crashed and got up at 6:30am to catch our flight to San Diego. After a quick stop in Dallas on the way, we arrived at lunchtime and picked up the car - it's a Chevy Malibu and very comfortable. We made our way to the Holiday Inn on the bay - it's a very cool retro 50's style hotel that's been renovated so it's nice and comfy. Very Rat Pack. We chilled out for the afternoon before grabbing some take away pasta for dinner. While having a glass of wine (Adam only) and getting some fresh air out on the balcony, a young marine dude who was 2 balcony's up starting chatting to us. Love moments like that....a fresh, clear night looking at the city lights and meeting a nice local. We retired to bed after that ready for a new day of adventures.

One of the main reasons we came to San Diego was to visit Seaworld....and that's exactly what we did today! Arriving at 10:30am, we grabbed our tickets and entered the amazing theme park. Where to start? We visited the shark tank, the penguin enclosure, the arctic exhibit (which includes polar bears, walrus's and beluga whales) and then grabbed a bite to eat. Next up was the hilarious Sea Lions Live show which I LOVED followed by the seals enclosure where you can feed them. We grabbed a little tray of fish ready for the wide open mouths of the sea dogs. They actually bark at you like dogs! Unfortunately I had a fish stolen right out of my hand (very close to my face) by the biggest seagull we've ever seen! After that, I gave the fish to Adam and let him do it. Following on from this we checked out the freshwater creatures, patted some stingrays up to a metre across, watched an otter eat a prawn off his belly as he floated around (I might try that with a pizza) and finished up with a rollercoaster ride. Adam had to do it alone of course. The second time round he was chatted up by 3 teenage girls. He still has it people! We had a really great time and we're so glad we did it. We also walked away with 2 stuffed toys thanks to my beautiful hubby Adam. He insisted we get a walrus and seal for the baby - very cute.

We should have been put off by all the beautiful sea creatures we saw today....but we ended up going out for some seafood tonight! Down the road from our hotel is a place called The Fishmarket. It was super busy and another great meal to finish off a wonderful day in California. FYI - Adam had panko crumbed fish, chips and coleslaw. I had a cashew crusted rainbow trout with vegetables and rice.

Time to sleep now...we head off on our road trip up to L.A tomorrow. We'll report sometime during the week with our new adventures.

Lots of love

Ads and Gem xx

SEA LIONS LIVE (careful of volume suddenly going up halfway through)