It's a Zoo Out Here!

For those of you that think my life is bland and I have nothing to do, let me put your minds at ease. By the time I drop kids off at school, run an errand if one of the 3 stores I go to is open, do laundry, yada, yada, yada---then it's time to pick up the kids. Normal mom life I guess, but I feel busier than ever out here in the desert. I think some of it has to do with the fact that the boys are at different schools, so the timing is off every day.  Oh well....normal isn't fun to write about...but one day I will!

For Jeff's last rotation off, we headed to San Diego again. We didn't really have much of a plan this time, but because we had a nightmare of a house closing (we had to sign 3 times because the notary from El Centro---well, let's just say she didn't really know what she was doing...so that's a different blog...or not)--we still hadn't been able to purchase a truck to drive our house/trailer and we had to do a hotel visit once again. We were all really bummed.

Day 1
We started our trip in Balboa Park. We just drove straight in, parked, and figured it out from there. It's a beautiful setup with about 10+ museums, but we decided to forego the museums because the boys don't have that much patience unless it's the right type of museum. It was a beautiful day, so after exploring a bit, we rented a bike to see more of the park. We all loved it!

One of two gigantic fig trees in Balboa Park-the root system was huge!

They loved that there was something "golden" (their fave color at the moment), but were shocked to realize it was a person! Guess we don't get out much---had to explain "art" in different forms!

On a bicycle built for 4

It's tough being travelers!

We've gotten SO lucky with our San Diego hotels. This was in Mission Bay and beautiful!

Day 2 
At the end of Day 1 we got smart and bought our zoo passes, so we were up early to get into the zoo early since we bought a membership. (Let me just say...Houston Zoo membership prices were 1/3 the price of this zoo's membership, but once we got in and saw what the San Diego Zoo offers, we realized why!) Well...San Diego Zoo membership only has like 2 days per year that you get in early, unlike the Houston Zoo, so we were there with an hour to spare...oh well!  The zoo is enormous and in our 6+ hours there we didn't even see an entire section (monkeys and something else). Good thing we bought the membership--we'll definitely be back!  I vaguely remembered going to this zoo when my family traveled to CA one year for vacation, but I definitely didn't remember how big it was--and they're expanding more!

Great climbing exhibits were everywhere!

Mommy's favorite--the koala!  I'd never seen a real one before!

Bennett's favorite--and has been since he was two years old!

How Riley managed to get around most of the time!

Skyfari Aerial Tram--awesome way to see everything--and rest a bit!

Snow Leopard--Riley's finally decided on a favorite zoo animal!

Meet "Snowy"--Riley's lovey

Hop on/Hop Off bus tour---ummm....we actually rode this around an entire time before we got off b/c we were so exhausted!  We look happy in pics, don't we???  :)

Day 3
We woke up to rain, but that didn't stop these tourists!  Out came the umbrellas and on we went!  We went to La Jolla (pronounced La Hoya--not like it looks! Thank goodness we got some head's up on that or we would have stood out more than we do!). We loved seeing the sea lions and harbor seals. It was their "pupping" season, so one entire area was mommas and babies---we loved seeing them together in the water and the momma's teaching them what to do!  However, it was amazing to me to see how close some idiots people got to them in their natural habitat. Guess they didn't realize these guys were really live animals...not in a zoo!

From there we went to Coronado---just so I could see the famous hotel since I remembered that mom and dad had stayed there once. Turned out to be a great beach area for the boys to play (give them sand or dirt and they're happy for hours!) and we were lucky enough to find a great Mexican food place to eat lunch. (Yes, I know we live 15 minutes from the CA/Mex border, but it's not Tex-Mex there and we miss it terribly!)

Next we hit up Point Loma where there's a lighthouse and tide pool area. We were there late in the day so we hit up the tide pools first and were so glad we did!  We never made it to the lighthouse before it closed, but that just means we'll go back again!  The tide pools closed about 20 minutes after we got there, but an amazing guide showed us a starfish and tried to get an octopus out of hiding (with no luck). Anemones were fun for the boys to touch too--and there were plenty there to see!

This was truly an exhausting, but amazing day!  We loved that we got to see animals in their natural habitats and are trying our best to teach the boys as much as we can about whatever we see while we're out and about!

LOVE this pic!

Doing what my guys love to do--explore!

A flock? A herd? (I'd know the answer if I looked it up...but I haven't--Shoot me!)

My man!

Rainy beautiful day and look what we got!

Believe me...from the back, this would be an even cuter pic!  Too bad I couldn't share with him!

Lecture from mom???

Loved seeing them together in the water!

This guy...black sand...Coronado

Happiness is beach full of sand!

Point Loma Tide Pools--the silver caught B's attention!  

Anemone!!

Day 4 
Pouring down rain on this day, so we hit up the Fleet Science Museum--kind of like a children's museum...but not!  So many cool exhibits! The only downside to the museum was that it was very expensive...and please know I'm comparing it to my own opinions!  We only recently went to the Houston Museum of Natural Science for a reception for a family wedding--but it was great to walk around--but as far as prices go, we didn't do museums. They did have a lot of great hands-on exhibits though and 2 hours there plus an IMAX movie was plenty of time for our group!

Amazing sound traveling exhibit!

Whisper into it and the other end can hear you loud and clear!

Shakin' their groove thang with shadows!

Learning about cells

The kid area in the museum had a fun vacuum-ball thing

The best way to end our visit--building!

We are loving being so close to San Diego!  Still our favorite town after this visit!  We're slowly but surely learning that we have to plan our trips with a mix of "on-the-go" activities with "calmer, less-go" activities!  We have a few main priorities when we travel:  family fun, explore new areas, learn something new/reinforce something the boys have learned in school. Right now while they're young, they're not missing too much in school, but it will always be a benefit if they both know/understand that while we travel they do have to/need to learn!  Of course, we have to take both of their learning styles and needs into consideration--but luckily we're in a great area for so many great experiences!