San Diego Part II

On our whirlwind weekend trip to San Diego last weekend we spent the second day of our trip at the world famous San Diego Zoo.    Jarrett has been begging me for years to include that in the plans for a trip to SD.  Turns out MaeLyn and Aaron wanted to attend too, so zoo bound we were.

Thanks to Tim, the greatest employee at the San Diego Zoo, he told us about a special pass MaeLyn could get to be Aaron's attendant. In reality it means MaeLyn gets in free and is suppose to help Aaron up and down the continuous hills the zoo is built upon. Although we were super excited about Tim's tip, we quickly learned why they give attendants a free pass.

After getting inside the zoo, our friend Tim appeared again and gave us more tips about how to make the most of our day at the zoo. He said, start off on the 30 minute buss tour around the zoo (yes that is how big the zoo is) so you can get a great overview and then you can pick and see what exhibits you'd like to come back too. Tim's suggestion was great and everyone, except Isabelle, loved the bus ride. Isabelle, overwhelmed by too much stimulation, gave mom a hard time being on the bus. At one point I thought the bus tour had to be about 1.5 hours instead of just 30 minutes.

 After getting off the bus we decided to take the sky tram across the zoo to the back of the park so we could see the polar bears, the tigers and the elephants. The sky tram, kind of like a sky lift, carries you up and over the entire zoo. I'm not sure exactly how high the tram is, but it was at least 150 feet off the ground and I'm pretty sure if the cart broke, you could fall right down into the lion exhibit, but I guess by that point, one might as well be a lion meal anyway. 

 It was also the first time Aaron had been high above the ground with the wind blowing through his hair since his accident 2 years ago. The ride operators were wonderful giving us extra time to get loaded up and helping to make sure Aaron was all situated before the ride started up again. I was proud to see him try something new again, even though it required extra work and would have almost been easier to just take the bus to the other side of the park. We all enjoyed the ride, even if it took us over the lions' den.

After enjoying our sky tour, we headed straight for the polar bears which include a downhill grade of about 45 degrees. We all knew going back up the hill was going to be fun. It turns out we happen to catch the polar bears enjoying an afternoon snack. 

 Afterward Jarrett got to stretch his legs and help Aaron back up the hill.  Being typical men they had to strut their stuff racing up the hill, while MaeLyn, the kids and I huffed and puffed to get back to the top.  Of course when we finally got there, Jarrett and Aaron acted like they had been waiting there all day for us to arrive. 

Throughout the morning and afternoon we saw up close the lion, lioness, the elephants, the baby cheetahs, the bears and the monkeys and many more.  It turns out we happened to come upon many of the animals because we were lost and merely just walking around.  As we went through the exhibit with the chimpanzees and monkeys, Gabriel had the scare of a lifetime.  As most kids, or I guess I should say my kids, go, there's only one way to view an exhibit... and that is face-pressed up against the glass and talking to the animals. What Gabriel didn't know what that moments before face planting the glass of the exhibit, the monkey had been digging in the dirt looking for nuts and seeds.  When Gabriel decided to say hi up close and personal the monkey, assumed Gabriel was trying to take his food and flew at the glass in attack mode spiting on the glass and flashing his flared teeth right at Gabriel.  It made Gabriel jump back, scream and grab his heart... moments later, still shocked he said, "Mom, I think that monkey was trying to give me a heart attack."

As we ended the day at the zoo, we decided to head to Coronado Beach and to Hotel Del Coronado. 

The beach is truly amazing and the hotel gorgeous.  Immediately upon seeing the sand the boys were called to it, like bees to honey.

 Instantly they were out at the edge of the beach begging to walk in the water. Sending Jarrett and MaeLyn out to watch over them I gave everyone involved strict orders to not let the boys go in any farther than their ankles, for I hadn't brought their swimming suits, it was only 65 degrees

  Even with those orders, I knew full well the boys would come back soaked. And just as I believed, it happened. Michael our stumbly boy of the crew, ended up falling face first into the ocean and getting soaked from head to toe. It was only moments later Gabriel ended up joining him in getting soaked, for what's one more water-logged and sand covered kid in our car. 

In addition to the beautiful beach, which we happened to arrive at just as the sun was setting, we also wittnessed a wedding along the beach, which made my sister MaeLyn day-dream.

And to our surprise, as the boys were wading in the ocean, Aaron and I noticed shark-like fins sticking out of the water. At about the same time we said "Look at that" and then made a comment about hoping it was dolphins and not sharks.

  Turns out after calling MaeLyn to confirm, our hopes were confirmed, it was indeed a pair of dolphins playing just off the shore.  They swam back and forth flopping in the air and splashing water on each other.  It was fun to watch and something I had never seen, in it natural habitat.

As we wrapped up our vacation to California, it was a great trip and one we'll remember for a while.  Although quick, less than 36 hours to be exact, we had a lot of fun, covered a lot of ground and all came home tired.

Until next time,
Angie

PS:  If you are wondering why the title of this post is San Diego part II, it is because this was the recap from the second part of our trip.  The sad part is, I still haven't written the first... stay tuned though, I'll try to get it done soon!