Hello Uncle Joe!

I told myself, "No trips to LA this year!"  

And then I wavered and waived but eventually caved...again:).

It all started with my dad who was going to a conference in New Orleans and stopping in LA on his way home.  I ran the idea of visiting Joe with Jared and he said he couldn't go with busy season.  I was sad.  So then I asked about taking both kids, solo mission.  He reminded me of Hannah's temperament and needs and that she's not the most flexible.  Ok.  Then I ran the idea of taking just Hudson.  We decided it wasn't the best because Jared was working crazy hours and Grandma Ev couldn't come watch Hannah because she was "on call" for Tiffany's baby (my fourth niece, so exciting!).  Sadly, I said no.

Then I got an idea to ask Lexie, the kids preschool/daycare teacher.  Since I have to pay for every Wednesday, and Hannah goes every other Wednesday, she offered to take her for the Monday and Tuesday of the trip for free (she is so flexible, it's such a blessing!).  Yahoo!  All the stars aligned!  Yes Jared had to get off early to pick up our Hannah Bean but she was taken care of!  Hud bud and I were off to visit Uncle Joe!

Since I only work 2 or 3 days a week, I ended up taking one day off and we were outer there without a worry.  My dearest other mom, Linda Bolster, subbed for me.  So fun!  

I worked a Thursday and hopped on a plane to LA.  

Hudson could not contain his excitement to see Uncle Joe and the feelings were mutual:).

They picked us up at the airport late we drove halfway to San Diego for the night. 

That morning we woke up and headed to the San Diego Zoo Safari Park.  A friend had text me the day before about a living social deal for this zoo so it was nice to have one inexpensive day:).  This park is actually a conservation and houses a lot of the San Diego Zoo's animals for breeding, when they get ill, and so on.  The unique thing about this park is they have private Safari's all over!  You can feed giraffe's, have a close up of the cheetah run, and so much more!  

My parents told me to leave the stroller in the van but I knew better.  King Hud rode blissfully all day in 96 degree weather.with.no.breeze.  It was hot!  Like the Safari, ha ha. 

We headed to the African Woods where we saw an Okapi.  I think this was my favorite animal because I had never seen one before.  Half zebra, half cow.

Then it was off to the Lion Camp so we could visit the lion cubs.  It was like Simba and Nala:).

Here's mamma!

One of my favorite parts was the Africa Tram through the African Plains.  At first you could see the whole tour's track and I thought it was going to be lame but I was very wrong.  They take you all over the field exhibits and show you everything from rhinos to giraffes to cranes to zebras where you can connect with them on a closer level.  It was so neat!

Then it was off to the Gorilla Forrest.  Hudson sure enjoyed the viewfinder:).

I can't see them mom!

This gorilla is quite popular and made the news!  In her arm, she is holding her newborn who was delivered cesarian.  I believe it was the first gorilla and baby to live during one.  I thoroughly enjoyed watching her carry the baby, just as humans do.

At 5, Hudson is this big next to a gorilla:).

Hudson is really into reading maps.  He and Pops were our leaders!

They had a neat Lemur walk-through exhibit that was an enclosed cage featuring ring-tailed lemurs.  Hudson loved their black and white tails.  They would lay on the walkway and you couldn't pet them so sometimes you had to walk over or around them.  They were neat to see up close.       

In the African Outpost, they had a cheetah run.  They train the cheetah with this dog.  I didn't know this but cheetah's are very timid animals so if they see the dog run or do something, they think it's ok and do it themselves.  

The dog first ran the 330 foot long track.  

We'll just say she putted along the track:).

Then the cheetah ran chasing a mechanical lure with his favorite toy!  You couldn't hear hardly anything until all 4 of it's feet hit the ground at the same time!  The cheetah ran it in around 5.6 seconds.

She was rewarded with a snack and some water.  They only guarantee one run.  If the cheetah feels up to two runs, they run him again.  

Walking back to the starting line.

The cheetah did run twice that day but his second run was over 6 seconds.  You can tell he is slowing down here by where his feet are positioned.  

That was amazing to see and I learned so much.  The person operating the mechanical lure has to be very careful not to go too fast or too slow, otherwise the cheetah won't run.  I guess than can run up to 70 miles in 4 seconds.  AMAZING!

Hudson riding a rhino:).

We also watched a Frequent Flyer show where live birds soared right over us.  This park breeds Condor's and has quite a few.  If I remember right, there are only 400 alive still today.  San Diego Zoo continues to breed and keep these endangered birds safe.

Towards the exit, there was a pancake turtle that we learned about.  They have soft, flexible shells.  It was so interesting.  Hudson thought he was crawling away to the flowers:).

2014

Joe said this was his favorite zoo ever.  We think it's less touristy and they have fun safari options.  However, for younger kids, I like the traditional San Diego Zoo because there are more animals to see and a greater variety.  I didn't mind the walking, because you walk everywhere, but everything at this zoo was really spread out.  However, the cheetah run was pretty fantastic!  That was a top highlight for the whole family!

That day we moved to another hotel in the bay area. I loved waking up to the ships and hearing the national anthem play.  

On our second day, we toured the USS Midway.  The is a naval ship in the San Diego Bay area.  We started out in the hanger.  

Hudson has been saying lately he wants to be a jet pilot.  I asked him if he realized they went fast.  LOL.  He doesn't love speed. But alas, here he is, flying a jet...okay playing with switches.

Then we went up to the flight deck.  That is just amazing!  We then toured the Admiral and Captain's Quarters along with some "Ready Rooms" like the map room and a room full of switches!

Just call him "Chief" 

Lots of switches

Last Captain of the USS Midway

Then we toured up high on 2nd, 3rd, and 4th decks Hudson was able to sit in the captains chair!  We learned that planes were taking off and landing every 45 seconds during the day and every 60 seconds at night.  That is a crazy amount of planes!

Just call him "Captain"

We ended the day with lunch and a jet plane simulation from Desert Storm.  Hudson was resistant at first but ended up loving it!  I loved touring this ship and learned so much.  It is so neat to see a piece of history and have veterans explaining how marvelous this ship was.

That night we tried to go to Old Town, an authentic hispanic area with fabulous food.  But it was quite busy!  Finally we asked someone what was going on.  The traffic director said "It's Cinco De Mayo weekend sir."  Duh we all replied!  LOL.  So we ended up eating elsewhere.

The next day we had a casual morning where we toured Coronado Island.

Gorgeous isn't it?!  The beach actually has golden flakes in it.

At first Hudson was a little resistant of the water...

But then we couldn't keep him out of it.  He got fully wet and loved it!  I actually had to set a boundary that he couldn't go past me in the water because he was having so much fun!

The best part was this:

Sibling time

Hud loved it so much, we had to pull him away.  He loves the beach:).  

This is what the beach does to my boy

Well actually it's the late nights:).

Then we headed to LA to visit Uncle Joe's pad.  We finally were able to meet his kitten, Master Chief.  We have heard so much about him!

Pops had fun loving/wrestling him.  Master Chief actually drew blood on Pops, twice.

Hudson loved playing with him:).

Then it was back to our third and final hotel.  Each night Hudson would beg to swim.  He's growing up!  He used to be afraid of the water (well he still is with me!) but now I can't keep him out of it.  This summer is going to be way different!

Our last full day in LA we went to Disneyland; the most magical place on Earth.  I seriously could visit every day and feel the magic!

We headed to get our Cars Fast Pass and then off to Bugs Land in California Adventure.  He wanted to ride the Chew Chew Train but he wasn't too impressed.  He's getting so big:(.  

Flick!

I told the fam before we went in that the only character I'd wait to see would be Daisy.  Well low and behold when we entered in to the magical kingdom and there she was!  I was ridiculously excited!

Favorite Memory!

I had heard that we needed to visit the Silhouette Studio on Main Street.  I thought a 5 year old silhouette would be adorable!  Hudson looked at the pictures in front of him and the lady behind him cut out his silhouette with scissors.  Crazy old school but what talent!

Hudson Age 5

Then Uncle Joe had to take Hud on his favorite ride, Star Tours.  

Then it was time for our Fast Passes for the The Cars ride.   

So we took a little pic in Radiator Springs. 

We then jumped over to Bug's Life and did some Bumper Bugs!

We even tried something new this year, the swings!

We all did it and Hud loved it!
Since California Adventure was closing, we hopped over to Disneyland for the last hour.
We rode one of my favorites, Toad's Wild Ride.  Hudson was a bit tired:).

But the good news is he loves the ride now!  5 is so much better than 2 at Disneyland!!!

@ 2 and not loving Toad

Hating Dumbo....

5 and can't get enough!

We ended our evening with the brother's favorite, again.  After all it is all about "Uncle Joe", right?!
Star Tours, last ride of the night.

Joe kept saying this the best day ever!  I think Star Tours twice in one day was the icing on his cake:). 

Have I mentioned how alike Joe and Hudson are?  It is crazy?  Seeing the two interact together, it brought me back to Joe's childhood.  I was the big sister and he was the annoying little brother.  Hudson has so many of Joe's mannerisms and I'm enjoying this time around:).  So fun to see them connect in so many ways (although I could live without their annoying sounds).   

We were exhausted and so tired after our full day with no naps or breaks!  We did another fun and new thing this year and saw the Aladdin show (during nap/break time) in California Adventure.  It's a real play with real actors.  It was very entertaining and well done.  The Genie was very funny and gave us some appropriate adult laughs as well:).  It's like the Opera stage for little kids.  Perfect!

The next morning we went to Goofy's Kitchen in the Disneyland Hotel for a character breakfast.  Hudson enjoyed the race car outside while we waited.  Now he wants to be a race car driver.  Hmmm.  You know those go fast too, right?!

For some reason this breakfast was more money and it wasn't as organized.  We did see a few princesses, Hudson was quite excited.  LOL.  We also so Rafiki, Chip, Dale, and Pluto.  Princess Jasmine was his favorite:).  

Uncle Joe ended his morning with us.  We took him to his work so we could meet his coworkers.  His work is on a set with some Disney Jr. shows.  It was fun to see a piece of "Hollywood."  We met his coworkers that we hear so much about and watched as Joe put the finishing touches on Hudson's book.  My brother is the sweetest, thoughtful brother (well this trip he was!).  He made a book titled "Hudson's Grand Adventure" which was like a treasure hunt to all these different places.  Knowing our itinerary, he added a story line and we had to fulfill the story with a pollard pic.  These below are a few left over that fit in the book:).

It started off with

"In the summer of the year 2014 in the month of May King Hudson Henry Haak the 1st traveled to the land of SoCal to meet up with a distant relative known in the area as "Uncle Joe."  It went through our "grand feast" to "the mighty beast known as the "mini van" to the "workplace of the great Uncle Joe."

I found this poster outside on the set at Joe's work and had to get a pic with dad.
Of course Pop's is like Mr. Ed, right?!

Then we took Joe home where we relaxed for a bit before we headed home.   Pops reunited with Master Chief and since he didn't antagonize him, they ended on a good note:).  Few, friends at last.

We had so much fun!  We loved our adventures but most of all we love our Uncle Joe!  After all, this is why we visit!  He ended the book with "A grand adventure was had by all" and it was:).  

We love you Uncle Joe!  Your twin can't wait to be with you:).  Thank you for the thoughtful book and adventures this trip.  It meant the world to Hudson and I.  Until next time!