It also was Hydroplane racing at it's finest! Prior to Bayfair we had only watched Hydroplane races in Seattle at Seafair or on TV. For those of you who don't know what a hydroplane the definition follows: A hydroplane (or hydro, or thunderboat) is a type of motorboat used exclusively for racing. One of the unique things about these boats is that they only use the water they're on for propulsion and steering (not for flotation)—when going at full speed they are primarily held aloft by a principle of fluid dynamics known as "planing", with only a tiny fraction of their hull actually touching the water. If you are really interested in learning more check out the hyrdoinsider for all the specific details. Hydroplanes were a new thing to me when Anthony and I married. They have been raced on Lake Washington in Seattle for years but I had never heard of them. It is very hard for me to explain the experience let's just say AWESOME! The boats race on fresh and salt water and can race at speeds of over 200 miles an hour. They use jet engines so they are loud, but that is part of the appeal. The race course at Mission Bay was right in front of us, it was so close that during the races the kids couldn't even be on the beach. We all loved it! The kids even picked their favorite boats. 
Kierstin picked Graham trucking because their colors were green and yellow like the Oregon Ducks. Noah picked Oh Boy Oberto because it was red and the logo had a shark face on the boat. Anthony & I picked the Miss Beacon Plumbing for Jonah because it was the only booth that had a shirt small enough to fit him. It was fun to watch them cheer for their boats. One of the coolest things about hydro races is visiting the pits where you can see the boats up close. You can also see them repair the boats or just observe all the mechanics checking over all the parts. This year Boeing created a green hydroplane. It runs on coconut oil. What a cool concept! Fun and ecofriendly at the same time. Unfortunately, they didn't race the boat because they were afraid the salt water might ruin the new engine they had just built. Lucky for us they had it on display and Kierstin and Noah were able to sit in a real hydroplane cockpit that was raced by Chip Hanauer. We also had a chance to get all of the drivers autographs along with Chip Hanauer and Steve Reynolds both racing legends. Race on!
After a 2 hour car ride south from Disneyland to San Diego we got to Sea World. We were sad to leave our friends behind but they had to go home and we were going to see Pappa Nels. We started the day by stopping off at Sesame Street's "Bay of Play". It was really cute but after Disneyland it was quite under appreciated. The kids enjoyed the rides but they were really spin offs of the tea cups and dumbo. They had a great water play area and a SUPER HUGE climbing structure that was great to run off the extra energy in. Anthony took the Kierstin & Noah on a ride similar to Splash Mountain called Journey to Atlantis. They got soaked! However, they all said they would do it again!
The 
kids were super excited to see all of the Marine life, but especially Shamu. We watched the dolphin show from a distance while we were eating lunch. We saw penguins, dolphins (that look like baby killer whales), sharks, etc. The highlight of the day was the killer whale show. It is incredible how they can train these HUGE animals to do all those tricks. Noah decided that he wanted to work with whales when he grows up. I told him that would be an amazing job and to go for it. We all learned the sign to make Shamu splash and then we got splashed. Fortunately, it was only a small splash.
Star Wars? For me it started when I was a kid, I even had the lunchbox and I am pretty sure I wanted to be Princess Leia when I grew up. Anthony's OBSESSION with Star Wars was way worse than mine, actually I can't even describe it. The throne room music was the recessional music at our wedding and my brother (the ring bearer) even put on a Darth Vader costumer to walk back out. Needless to say it has been a common theme in our family for a very longtime. So it was a must that we do the Star Tours ride and visit the Star Trader store while at Disneyland. The ironic things is that we saw Star Wars characters at Disneyland and even got their autographs but we never saw Mickey Mouse. After a long wait at the
Autotopia ride we were heading over to toon town to go to a Princess Fair for Kierstin when we saw this long line around the stage where they hold the Jedi Training Academy. I thought it was the line for the next show and thought that we had better get in line. I got in line and asked Anthony to go check it out. While he was seeing what was going on several people got in line with new purchased autograph books and started opening them. When Anthony returned to the line he informed me that the line was an autograph line for Darth Vader, the Jedi, and Darth Maul. Noah was beside himself! He didn't have an autograph book and what was he going to do. At this point a 
Disney employee came and closed the line to anymore people. Noah was clearly distressed now and was starting to worry. Luckily for him mom came to the rescue with a Sharpie. I told him to just have them sign his Star Wars Lego shirt. He was taken back, let them write on my clothes! That is a HUGE no-no mom! I insisted that it was ok, but he made me promise to promptly buy him a new shirt as soon as we were done. It was a done deal! See for yourself, but I think it worked out nicely. And all the boys got matching Star Wars shirts.
The first ride of the day for the girls was Indian Jones. Kierstin said, "I am never going on that ride again." It was actually an amazing ride that was full of adventure and lots of bumps! The boys took a "Jungle Cruise". Noah said "it was good, but can I go on Indian Jones now?" Such a boy! The entire 3 days were so incredible that I can't take the space to describe everything, but I will try. The kids thought that the Tiki room was "freaky", they liked the birds singing but when everything else in the room started singing it was a little weird. Pirates of the Caribbean was Jonah's favorite ride and overall a big family favorite. Jonah liked it so much that he didn't get mouse ears, he got a "Captain Jonah" hat. Noah's MOST favorite thing about Disney was meeting the Star Wars characters. (See separate post.) His favorite ride was the Matterhorn. Kierstin's least favorite part of the trip was the "Tower of Terror". She had herself so freaked out by the ride before it even started that I am surprised she actually got on. She was TERRIFIED!!!!! See photo graphic evidence. She even used her own money to buy the t-shirt that says, "I survived the Tower of Terror." She wore that on her first day back to school. However, some of her favorite rides were the fastest ones in the park. The California Screamin' roller coaster was by far her favorite ride but she insists that Space Mountain is a VERY close second. Anthony loved just taking HIS family to Disneyland and being there with good friends. He loved taking the "big" kids on the Big Thunder Railroad during the day, but nighttime his favorite. Personal favorites for me included being my family and friends at the "happiest" place on earth. Forgetting the outside world existed and just enjoying the moment. All the rides! I recommend this to any family wanting to have memories that will last a lifetime.
