Day four - Zoo Day!!

Tuesday morning after a good breakfast we headed to the World Famous San Diego Zoo, arriving just as it opened. We started our day in the reptile house. Zach was enthralled - I think a visit to the Snake Farm is in order for later in the summer!


We then caught the Skyfari aerial tram to get a birds' eye view of the zoo. Zach was not too sure about this.



Charles got some great pictures of the animals. This is just a small sampling.

Here we are at the Sleepytime Koala Exhibit. :)

We call this guy "Grandpa Peccary".

We ended the day with some pooltime and snacks.

Happy Father's Day

Day Three - Memory Lane

We spent our Memorial Day visiting all the places where Charles grew up. We started the day off slow again, with breakfast, the pool, and nap. Then we headed over to Fashion Valley Mall, where we got Zach some new shorts and had some more Hot Dog on a Stick. The girls working there had the most interesting eyebrows! We wanted to ask if it was part of the uniform but we didn't. After the mall, Charles drove us around more of his old haunts. Grandma, does any of this look familiar? :)

Charles's first house:
The green water tower:
The church were Charles took first Communion:
Charles's junior high school, which literally shares a wall with the San Diego zoo!
We were going to stop at the playground in Charles's old neighborhood so Zach could play, but as we got out there was a gentleman in a red shirt who gave Charles (who was also wearing a red shirt) a funny look. Charles didn't like the vibe he was feeling so we got back in the car and left. As we drove off, about three police cars turned the corner. Apparently there is some gang activity in the old neighborhood! Anyway, we headed over to Balboa Park and found a nice playground for Zach and he had a good time.
Uh oh, I think we spun him a little too much.
This park was a good preview for the zoo...


That evening at the hotel, Zach decided we needed to go bye-bye again, so he gathered up his hat and keys and was ready to head out the door.

We had to get some rest though - tomorrow is a big day!

Day Two

On Sunday morning we got up and went down to breakfast, then Zach and I checked out 'The Pool!' then he took a little nap before we went to the Padres game. Petco Park is really nice - they have a nice family playground area where you can take the kids if they get tired of sitting in the stands. Which for us occurred just after the fourth inning. We played for a little while, then left and went to Horton Plaza for a while, got a lemonade at Hot Dog on a Stick, swung by the grocery store to get some milk and diapers, then finally got back to the hotel. We turned on the TV to check the final outcome of the game only to discover that it was still going! It wound up going 18 innings, but the Padres finally broke through and pulled it out. Go Padres!

San Diego trip - day one

Here we are on the Hertz bus going to get our car on the day we arrived in San Diego, Saturday afternoon. I secured us a sweet Grand Marquis but Charles was not amused - he went back and got us this awesome Buick Enclave, which we are now coveting mightily. It really is the perfect family car. Luckily for us, they seem to be pretty hard to find. :)

This was Zachary's first flight ever, and he did great. I went to the dollar store before we left and wrapped up a bunch of little toys for him to open. I was really proud of how quiet he was, then the lady in front of him turned around and informed me that he was kicking her seat too much. Give me a break, lady! There was another couple travelling with a two year old little girl that we had met while waiting to board - after the flight I related this complaint to the mom as we waited for our baggage and was rewarded with a nice eyeroll, which made me feel much better.

Once we got the car situation straightened out, we got to our hotel without incident, then went out for my first In-N-Out Burger. Charles has raved about these things forever, and it was pretty good. He actually inquired about opening up a franchise here in Austin, but they told him we don't have the right kind of beef. Say what?

This was the only picture that survived from the first day - we had some issues with running out of room on our camera, but I think we ended up with a good record of the trip overall.

Edit: I found this picture on my phone of Zachary watching the planes as we waited for our flight out of Austin...

Ready?

We are back from San Diego - I have almost 200 pictures to sort through so in the meantime here is a quick video of a cute thing Zach learned on the trip...



A little background - we stayed at the Embassy Suites La Jolla last week and had a great time. Zachary especially liked the little indoor pool there, and would wake up every day and say 'the pool?' We started doing this 'Ready? One, two, three!' thing in the pool, then they adapted it to the room. The funny thing is that now if you say 'Ready?' he skips straight to 'Two!' It is cute. :)

Oh very young

What will you leave us this time?
You're only dancing on this earth for a short while.
And though your dreams may toss and turn you now...
They will vanish away like your daddy's best jeans,
Denim blue, fading up to the sky.
And though you want him to last forever you know he never will...
You know he never will.
And the patches make the good-bye harder still...





We miss you Granddad.

Happy Mothers' Day

Pensive