California Adventure Part 1, Oh No!, and Ick

I've been gone, or should I say we've been gone. On our super-fun California Adventure!  Which is why I haven't blogged, or Facebooked, or emailed, or anything!  My super amazing and oh-so hard working husband won a trip at work, so we went!  We took the kiddos out of school and it was totally worth it.  We started out in San Diego, where it was drizzly and cool, but that did not stop any of our fun!  In fact, it was actually better, because there were no lines at Sea World or any other the other places we went.  We went to Sea World the first day and had a fabulous time. See:

We fed the dolphins, which Matthew has been talking about since our last trip to Sea World.  It was amazing.  According to Matthew, they feel like "flubber."

I had to put this picture in because it was Matthew's first time to get to ride a ride all by himself.  OK.  It was the Elmo ride, but still, he felt awfully big and cool, as you can tell.

The highlight of the day for Missy Britches was the Sesame Street show and the follow-up photo op. with the characters.  Usually we have to stand with her and/or pry her off of us for the picture, but not this time.  She loooooved it!!!! We had so much fun!

This is not a new editing technique.  This is not a mistake.  This is a horror.  When packing for our trip, Mike and I had several discussions about which of the cameras to bring with us.  We finally decided on our small point and shoot--it would be easiest to take with us on rides, not so bulky, but still takes decent photos for the scrapbooks, etc.  I love my point and shoot.  Until Day 2.  Somehow in between taking two pictures, it died.  The first picture was normal.  And this is what happened:

I spent a long time on the phone with technical support to no avail.  Something went terribly wrong.  It has something to do with the light sensor and other terribly important technical mechanisms.  If you know me at all (and me thinks you do), you know that I was sick.  Sick. I take pictures almost every day.  I have kept this camera in my pocket, purse, or hand for 3 years.  This camera is what I use so that I won't miss a special memory.  For it to die on the second day of vacation was horrible.  All of a sudden, I was missing out on documenting our memories!  All that day, Day 2 at the San Diego Zoo, I had to use my camera on my iPhone.  Ugg. I'll post those pictures tomorrowish.  At least I had something to use, but I seriously had to have a talk with myself about not letting my broken camera ruin that day of vacation.  That's how much I love taking pictures--and taking pictures of my family being together, having fun, making memories. 

So until tomorrow, I'll leave you with today's after-school activity.  I call this "Ick."