California Trip Part 2: San Diego

In theory the drive from Anaheim to San Diego is about 90 minutes. Friday afternoon traffic had other plans. It couldn't decide if it wanted to come to a standstill or let us go 75 mph. We ended up taking a break for lunch at the beach in Oceanside. While we ate near the pier, Finn was wearing his new Perry the Platypus hat. There were teams of bikers around for some event or race. As one group walked past us, a man said, "Curse you Perry the Platupus," and just kept walking.

Finn's first time seeing and touching the Pacific Ocean!

The rest of our drive didn't seem to take as long. We made it to our hotel (the same one Amanda and I stayed at five years prior) and the next morning we went to explore San Diego harbor.

After a bit of walking, we set off on a one-hour harbor cruise. We had considered whale watching, but it wasn't an ideal time of year and we thought the kids would get bored with a 3+ hour excursion.

We did some more walking then and found a nice seafood place overlooking the water. Great view and great food!

Julia sometimes complains that the trees in our yard are too small to climb. So she gladly takes any opportunity to climb one when she can.

Our hotel in San Diego had a pullout bed for the kids. They didn't want to sleep together though, so Finn opted to sleep on a bed made of couch cushions. They traded off after a few nights.

This is what would have happened if the kids had forgotten that it was Father's Day.

We went to Old Town for Mexican for breakfast and then walked around the historical sites in that area. Finn measured up well to the local flora.

A short drive to La Jolla was very worth it. Awesome views of the ocean along some rocky cliffs. Lots of seals, sea birds, snorkelers, and kayakers. We had a picnic lunch in the shade and enjoyed the cool breeze.

That afternoon we drove to Coronado Island. We walked along the beach, checked out the historic Hotel del Coronado, and played in the ocean.

Heading out to Point Loma is a beautiful place to reflect on those who gave their lives in service to our country.

Our last full day in California was spent at the San Diego Zoo. As crowded as the entrance and a few other hotspots were, it's amazing how at times you would look around and hardly see a soul. There are lots of twists and turns and something interesting around each of them.

The kids enjoyed themselves. It's always fun when you're the first person to spot something exciting.

We made sure to ride the sky tram to get a bird's eye view of things.

Julia became enamored with one particular goat named Freckles.

Her newly purchased monkey clung to her neck during the bus tour of the zoo. The ride was a welcome late afternoon break.

Julia has adored capybaras ever since doing a report on them in 2nd grade. They have quite a large exhibit of them at the zoo and she was in heaven. There were a few adorable babies in the mix.

And of course, Julia and Finn had to climb on anything that was supposed to be climbable.

Our last night in San Diego was spent back at Old Town at a different Mexican restaurant.

While at Disneyland, Amanda had picked up a brochure for a Harry Potter themed store called Whimsic Alley in Los Angeles. Since we were flying home from LAX, we left San Diego early enough to be able to check it out. Traffic wasn't an issue so we had plenty of time. Amanda could hardly care less about the place, but the other three of us thought it was pretty awesome. Even though Julia had done a good job of rationing her spending money, she didn't have any left at this point in the trip. As an early birthday present we let her pick out a few things.

As we left, we saw a newly opened little cookie store, Milk Jar Cookies. We had extra time so we stopped in for a snack. The cookies were probably the best I've ever had.

The trip came to a close and though we had a good time, we were all tired and looking forward to getting home. Well, maybe not Julia if you go by the look on her face.