THIS is the LIFE ..

I know, now, why my mom was so tired and grumpy at the end of our family vacations.
It is an exhausting, stressful, hair-raising adventure that I can't wait to repeat .. lol

we drove 800 miles to San Diego 

this FedEx plane made me laugh - looks like it's scraping the top of the trees

we watched the sun set on the water ...

this is a million times prettier, in person

we visited Shamu and friends

I loved the whales - they were so huge but so graceful

we got to explore TWO different submarines  

AND a pirate ship that was in the Pirates of the Caribbean ..

made some new friends at the zoo ..

we played in the sand at the beach ..

mmmm fresh seaweed !

we watched some more sunsets on the water .. 

saw a cheetah run, full speed, 3 feet away ...

and got to go 'on safari'

I tried to 'keep it down' on the 'taking a photo of everything'
.. but that didn't work out so well.

5,096 is the number of pictures a crazy woman takes on a week-long vacation

clearly not all of the other 5,079 pictures .. but more of our vacation pictures will follow, later.

In honor of our epic vacation ... I made a printable or two or three ...

I made this one, because I am blessed to know that THIS is the life
THIS is where I want to be .. THIS is where I am happy

my print size version of "THIS is the LIFE"

flip flops and seagulls .. very much in theme with my vacation

my print size version of "learn/live/hope - beach style"

I love us .. more than anything; I LOVE US!

my print size version of "I love us." 

and ending it on a green theme ..

my print size version of "learn / live / hope - earth style"