We're just back from a lovely long weekend in San Diego, visiting an old friend of mine and her husband. Betty and Mark actually let us stay in their new house with them, which was great -- but also a bit terrifying, knowing as we do how destructive the twins can be. They weren't TOO bad. I think the only breakage was one wineglass. Unless I'm forgetting something. It's easy to block these things out.
We drove down there on Thursday afternoon, arriving in time for dinner. It's about 222 miles from our house to theirs, and we made the drive in a little over 4 hours, including two short stops.
On Friday, we spent several hours at the fabulous San Diego Zoo. Here we are looking at the flamingos.
Next, we saw the orangutangs being fed.
And then we decided it was time for our own lunch. After lunch we asked everyone what they wanted to see. Baby B wanted to see gorillas, Baby A wanted to see lions, Rocket Boy wanted to see polar bears, and I wanted to see Galapagos tortoises. So we first took the Hippo Trail to the gorilla exhibit (didn't get a good shot of the gorillas, but here are the men sitting on a statue of a hippo),
saw lots of monkeys and birds and other animals, and finally reached the polar bear exhibit, at the far end of the park. The twins were more interested in the statue of the polar bear than the actual animal, but the adults had a good time looking at the bears, reindeer, and arctic foxes.
The "polar plunge" section was not too far from the lions and jaguars.
We got to watch the jaguars being fed "blood popsicles," which was quite interesting, if a bit gross.
After the big cats, we had to take a very long walk around the zoo to get back to the entrance/exit, and we were all very tired when we got there, so we let that be the end of the day. I was a little bummed that I didn't get to see the tortoises, but only a little. It was a really nice day.
Saturday we drove over the famous Coronado Bridge to Coronado Island, where we had lunch right near the water and then took the ferry back to the mainland. Here's the ferry we took:
And here we are getting off it, after a pleasant ride:
We walked along the pier to Seaport Village, where there are lots of shops and restaurants -- and a carousel, which of course we rode. Baby A, as usual, insisted on riding with me on what he calls a "couch" -- the animals are just way too scary for him.
But Baby B was unexpectedly brave and decided he wanted to ride by himself on a giraffe (a non-moving one). I was so proud of my little boy.
Afterward, as a special treat, we let the boys choose balloon creatures ($3 each from a vendor, and we got to watch them being made).
After a snack at the local independent bookstore (and several purchases, of course), we walked back to where we caught the ferry for the ride back to Coronado. Here we are getting off the boat.
Another really nice day all around.
Today we got up and packed, said our goodbyes, and went off to shop at Fry's and Trader Joe's before beginning the long drive home. About a half hour out of town we stopped in Escondido and spent an hour at a wonderful park there, Grape Day Park, where the kids played on the cool grape-themed equipment,
and got wet in the fountain.
The rest of the drive home involved the usual screaming and fighting over inconsequential things, but eventually it ended. And you know what? January is finally over! It's February! I'm so relieved.
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