A very pleasant day ~ August 28th

Wow, the way I'm blogging about this trip, it's the longest vacation I've ever taken! :) I'd really like to get to real time someday... Anyway, it was our day to take it easy as Charles would be flying home in the afternoon, which translated as "No major attractions"! (Which was okay with all of us...) Close to our hotel was the Old Town district, considered the birthplace of California. We entered the Fiesta de Reyes plaza of shops and restaurants and were delighted. Full of colour, inside and out, it was a charming place to explore.

 This was as close as going to Mexico as we were going to get...

 With cute little shops, what more could I ask for?

 In Tienda de Reyes, we found out their speciality was commemorating
 the "Day of the Dead", which we are not familiar with.
We did enjoy buying souvenirs here, just not from this room!

 How about this pinata at your next child's birthday party?! :)

Around this time, Charles started to feel unwell and sort of parked himself for the rest of the morning. Guess all those animal parks just wore him out.

 Now here's a girl that doesn't get tired out quickly enough!

 Another sampling of colour or is it marketing? I bought one of those Mexican scarves...

 Taking a break from the heat.

 Pretty to look at, just don't trip here...

 Part of travelling is sampling the local treats. This shop called
 our names loudly... the OT House of Jerky & Rootbeer.

 Customized floats with all different types of rootbeer. All so yummy.

 So quaint...

 Nor exactly dancing, but the kids entertained us briefly on stage.

We were really surprised to see how much more there was to the actual Old Town Historic Park, right next to the plaza. The boys hit the candy store of course, while we cruised the literal "old town".

With Charles unwell, we really couldn't do the place justice and would 

definitely make a day of this if we had more time, or return someday.

 The oasis Charles retreated to...

 Love this pottery, so gorgeous.

 And this guy is done... it's time to go home, complete with his "Koalifornia" duds.

 Can't beat these prices... an easy  and delicious lunch on the way out to the airport.

 The happy couple...yikes!

After taking Charles to the airport (so close) and eating more food in the parking lot there, it was time to get back to using our Go San Diego passes... you know I couldn't waste one of our days! Time to head up to Mission Beach, specifically to go to Belmont Park amusement park. It was pretty awesome to go to a place like this without any crowds on a Wednesday afternoon.

 Not quite as empty as at the Safari Park, we almost had this carousel to ourselves, too.

 Enjoying one of the simpler pleasures of life... 

 The boys prepare to go on the wooden roller coaster.
(Scott later regretted that he let them convince him to join them.)

 The boys loved the historic "Giant Dipper", originally built in 1925.
 I eventually lost count of how many times they went on it... Thankfully
Lewis later found his hat that flew off him the very first ride. :)

 After going on the tilt-a-whirl with Nora, I was not "crazy" enough to
 try this ride. Her brothers obliged her ~she's a thrill-seeker, it turns out.

Waiting for the next ride...

 What's taking so long?

 And out comes the competitive side~

 It doesn't matter what kind of car it is... must be a guy-thing!

 I can only get photos of Lewis when he's not looking.

 A fun time for all.

 Just watching all the spinning and rotating makes me ill!

 Now this is more my pace, except I can barely fit my legs inside!

 Scott gives Nora good instruction...

 ...which she takes very seriously.

 It's amazing what you can convince a big brother to do!

 Lewis is just trying to figure out the mechanics of it.

 Spinning upside down? Who thinks up these kinds of torture?

 Yes, I did enjoy myself on this...

 ...seeking out my targets deliberately.

After snacks of frozen chocolate-covered bananas, it was time to cool off. I found it surprising that no one in the family was interested in the nearby Wave house where you can practice learning to surf on a generated wave machine... not that I was keen. :) We strolled the beach a little ways...

 ...but it was too hot for this Canadian without any shade!

Okay, so we're mean with having Lewis pose here but not buying any ice cream!

 Even though the sand beckoned, my recent sunburn reminded me to reconsider.
So, we opted to go swimming at the Wave House Athletic Club .

 Originally opened in 1925, it seemed like it would be worth checking out. 

 The Plunge pool was definitely a refreshing treat, with hardly anyone there at 4 pm.

With our schedule completely mixed up, we eventually went out for a late dinner at Red Lobster, which I think most people would agree, is a great way to finish a day. :) And Charles made it home in one piece, ready to attend New Student Orientation at UFV the next morning. Next stop for us: Legoland!