Surf Champs

We finally made it to the US Open of Surfing, and it definitely didn't disappoint!

The event is held in Huntington Beach -- also known as Surf City -- every summer at the end of July/beginning of August. On the final Saturday of the event, we braved the crowd of 100,000 to catch some of the world's best surfers tear up the waves. It's unreal what those surfers can do with a tiny board and water! We found a relatively uncrowded spot near the water and played in between all the action. And when something awesome was happening, we got to see everything twice thanks to the instant replay on big screens along the pier.

After the competition was over, the crowds began to disperse a bit and we enjoyed a gorgeous afternoon at the beach. The weather was perfect and the water was even warm! Oh, it was so lovely. We were all in heaven! Jakey likes to take off running into the water and doesn't mind being knocked over by waves -- I'm convinced that he would walk straight into the ocean and take off swimming if we let him. That baby love, love, loves the beach. He excitedly runs around, plays with the sand, finds seashells, splashes in the water, and loves it when we jump waves with him. Our beach-loving selves can't get enough of it.

Then we jumped out of an airplane.

This one time, Matt and I woke up on a beautiful winter Friday, took the day off of work, and drove to Lake Elsinore. And then we jumped out of an airplane. This airplane, to be exact:

It was every bit as amazing and exhilarating as I'd always dreamed. We actually made the jump in December as an early Christmas present to each other (I mentioned it in my 2010 By the Numbers post), but I'm blogging about it now because my talented-yet-busy little brother Christian just barely finished editing our two generic videos into one awesome movie. It was definitely worth the wait. Thanks, Kiken!

Ash & Matt Skydive! from Ashley D on Vimeo.

So cool, right? I'd love to go again and again and again . . . but for now, I'll just have to relive it through the movie and these pictures. Someday when you go skydiving, you must pay extra for the video+picture package. Whether it's a once-in-a-lifetime experience or the first of many jumps, you'll want the memories! We each had a separate media guy jump with us (with the nifty helmets that had cameras mounted on top and remote clickers in their mouths) and got more than 100 great pictures each along with HD videos. Also, in case you were wondering, Skydive Elsinore was so impressive. The staff was knowledgeable and oh-so-entertaining and we never felt anything but safe--even when standing on the edge of an open airplane door! Also? It's so gorgeous there and since it was a clear day, we could see the Pacific Ocean and even Catalina Island. It rocked. K, enough with the talking. Here's the day in pictures:

Gearing up.

That'd be a "Danger" sign on our backs.

Ready to go!

With all the flying we've done, it was crazy taking off in that plane and knowing that we wouldn't be landing in it!

Leading up to our skydiving adventure, I said multiple times that I wasn't nervous but I was sure it'd hit me while standing on the edge of the plane door--but I was wrong! At that point, you're so committed to stepping out of that airplane that there's really no room for nervousness, just excitement. Such a crazy feeling!

Ready, and . . . jump!

There's no better end to a minute-long 120-mph free fall than the feeling of a parachute opening safely.

The free fall was incredible beyond words, but it wasn't over there! The parachute ride down was really fun, too, because our instructors let us take the controls (until landing, naturally).

We loved it!

Free thrills

Like most people, Matt and I enjoy free things. We also enjoy roller coasters. Therefore, we couldn't say no to the free admission offered to military this month at Knott's Berry Farm.

We kicked off our day by standing in an hour-long line for the Silver Bullet, only to have it break down when we were in front of the line. Luckily, the ride made up for it.

Super Scream was also well worth the wait, and I was even able to get a couple pictures on the way up... and down.

The rest of the day was spent pulling a few G's on roller coasters like Xcelerator, Montezuma's Revenge, and our favorite, Ghostrider. Although for Matt, who's flown in a couple super sonic jets recently, it wasn't quite as thrilling. He leaned over and commented that these rides are probably pretty dull for fighter pilots. He's probably right.

It was fun to go on big thrill rides as opposed to the calmer variety that we mostly go on at Disneyland, but to be honest, we'd pick Disney any day. I think that means we're getting older. Disney is just perfect, though. It's so much cleaner, has fast passes, hosts nicer patrons, and we shouldn't even have to mention how perfectly themed our beloved park is. But hey, it's nice to have your stomach drop every once in a while (seriously), so thanks for the good times, Knott's! We appreciate companies who appreciate the military, and I'm sure we'll be back.

Sea lions and dolphins and whales! (Oh my!)

Pretty sure the last time my family went to SeaWorld, I was nine years old. I don't remember much other than loving the dolphins and Shamu and, well, it doesn't seem like much has changed! The first stop on my family's tour of San Diego was SeaWorld and we were all super excited about it. (Matt and I were especially excited that we got in free thanks to the Heroes Salute.)

We kicked off the day with various exhibits, including the sharks, polar bears and penguins. Gabey Baby loved the penguins so much that he had to have one of his own. Since it was so early into our visit, my parents tried to convince him to wait in case he found something else he liked more. But that cute little three-year-old turned on his magical charm, batted his eyes, and said, "Mom, wisten. When we go to the beach tomowwow, I'm going to twy to buiwd a sand mountain and then I wiw put my penguin on it and he wiw swide down and..." Good tactic, Gabe--pull at those heartstrings! Needless to say, the kid got his penguin and happily carried "Petey" around the rest of the park.

The boys and I decided to brave the coldish weather and go on the water ride early on. We all got drenched! Christian and Matthew sat in the front and got the worst of it by far. We were worried that Kaleb and Josh wouldn't like it, but they loved it so much they wanted to go again. Go figure!

Now, lets get to the shows, shall we? After all, that's the part that SeaWorld is best known for. We started off with a couple shows just for the little ones--Pirates 4D and the pet show. The babies got a kick out of both of them, and the pet show almost made me want to go out and get a pet of my own. Almost. (We're just not home enough these days!)

Then we started the grand tour of marine animal shows. The sea lions had a special show just for Halloween that included them dancing to Thriller. It was adorable.

Meanwhile, the dolphin show was incredible as always. I just love how cute and playful dolphins are. I'd love to swim with them someday. (Hear that Matt? Hint hint?)

Last but definitely not least, we saw Shamu. I'm amazed at how powerful and beautiful killer whales are. "Believe" was captivating!

Kaleb was brave and sat in the splash zone, while the rest of us sat in the safe section above and watched him get a shower from Shamu's mouth.

After the shows, we headed to the Sesame Street Bay of Play. The babies loved the giant pirate ship and playground and all of the kiddie rides. We then made one last stop at the gift shop for more souvenirs before the park closed.

It was a great day at SeaWorld!