Happy 30th Birthday!!!

Three decades! Now that is OLD! I turned thirty over the summer and I decided I wanted to celebrate my birthday in a way my Dad would be proud...DISNEYLAND! My mom joined us on this wonderful trip to Southern California. We flew into San Diego and stayed there three days. We went to Mission Beach, San Diego Zoo, San Diego Safari Park, and Sea World. We had so much fun! I hadn't been to San Diego since I was little and so this was Khylee's first trip there! Definitely a place we will go to again!!

San Diego Safari Park and San Diego Zoo

The San Diego Safari Park was amazing! I cannot wait to go back! The landscape was beautiful! It felt like we were really on the safari. The animals are able to roam like they would in their natural environment. We got to watch a cheetah run. (He ran so fast that my camera couldn't even capture it). We saw many animals that we had never seen before. Khylee was in awe! The San Diego Zoo was just as amazing! Both days were very relaxing and enjoyable. 

Sea World

4th of July at Sea World

We also did a lot of sightseeing this trip. We went to Mission Beach in San Diego, Newport Beach, Rodeo Drive, the Santa Monica Pier, searched for movie stars homes, and the LA Temple. Of all the times I have been to California, we never really did much sightseeing. This time, we took our time and enjoyed the things we wanted!

Rodeo Drive

Mission Beach

Khylee discovered a new favorite restaurant...In and Out Burger! She LOVED it! That is the ONLY place she wanted to eat. We did try a few different places, but we definitely ate here the most. 

Khylee LOVES to swim! If she had her choice, we would have spent every waking minute in the water. We tried to swim everyday we were there! She had been taking swimming lessons before we left, but really started mastering it on vacation. She is getting to be a brave little swimmer. She loved jumping in, swimming underwater, and doing flips. The pool entertained us for hours!

Disneyland

Disneyland is always fun and it was no different this time! My mom made sure that we all got buttons stating that it was my birthday! Khylee was so proud to wear it all day! She really wanted to make my day special. We made sure we got out picture with Mickey on my birthday as well! I mean, why go to Disneyland for my birthday and NOT see Mickey!!

This was the first time we had been since the new Car's Land had been built so we were very excited! The lines were definitely long in the middle of July but the rides were worth it. We really liked the Car's Land Racers! 

Of course, we had to stop and get ice cream from Main Street! It's such a fun atmosphere. Khylee LOVES ice cream as much as my mom and I so it doesn't take much to convince us to stop! 

Khylee and I had just watched Brave and she was so excited to meet Merida! I will take that excitement because Khylee would much rather ride the rides than stand in line to meet the characters and take a picture with them. Probably because we have done it SO many times, but still, I love seeing her with the characters. This trip we didn't take too many pictures with them though. 

We had such a memorable time. As hard as it was to turn 30, I am glad I was able to do it with Khylee and my mom at Disneyland. I couldn't have asked for a better birthday celebration.