The sea, the beach, the rain

If you haven't figured it out by now, I'm married to a man that is full of surprises... and I mean that in the best way possible. When I least expect it, and sometime when I least deserve it, he does something special just for me. So, when a few weeks ago when he mentioned that I should keep this particular weekend "free" I had to wonder, "what does he have up his sleeve now?" I'm not the best at surprises and when you throw in an element of complete vagueness, I have a hard time staying sane. But I could tell that that particular one was a good one and a pretty special one. I kept my concerns, comments and curiosities to myself and rolled with it. LITERALLY, PACKED A BAG ON THURSDAY NIGHT WITH NO CLUE OF THE DESTINATION.

To my absolute delight, we ended up at one of my favorite cities and favorite destinations on earth. Beautiful San Diego and enchanting Sea World. Only a few who have know my more than two decades know my true love of marine life. Yes, like most dream-filled teen girls, I too wanted to be a marine biologist at one point in my life. And, I took it pretty seriously. Add in my then and present-day love of science and I'm a complete nerd for Sea World.

As luck would not have it, out of all the weekends to book the trip in this long, dry winter, we happened upon a weekend where it RAINED. But we grinned and rolled with it, and ended up having a wonderful time despite being a little bit damp all day. Of course, any day that starts out with a coffee that looks like this, from Peet's no less... can't be all bad.

Though a lot of the exhibits were closed for the day due to inclement weather or construction, we still had plenty to see and do and had a very full day. 

This is about as close as I will ever get to these nasty sharks... thank goodness for 4 inch glass. 

You can't tell, but this little sucker had two sets of eyes. Creepy!

He looks ticked... I don't think he wanted his picture taken. ;)

And, of course, the star of Sea World... SHAMU and friends!

It was a wonderful weekend and brief escape from our valley. Despite the rain, we had a great time. Though people constantly tell us things like this are our "last hurrah" before baby arrives, we're determined to make time for each other and for our marriage to thrive. I'm looking forward to many more adventures, with and without little baby C.