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!

Something for everyone ~ August 27th, 2013

With our last full day with Charles, he was somewhat less than thrilled that we were off to another animal habitat today. Mind you, we were all a little weary but to get our money's worth from our San Diego passes,  it was either the San Diego Zoo or Legoland today ... which Charles may have enjoyed 8 years ago, but seemed beyond that now. We would save that for later...

 Another sunny, beautiful day awaited us.

 Caught on the way in, again. :)

It had been 30 years since my last visit here, so understandably it did not seem very familiar. :) The Lost Forest was our first stop, especially since we found the gorillas so interesting yesterday.

Orangutans are so fun-looking ~ pretty sedate at this hour. 

 The glass allows you to be very close.

 Many animal sculptures thoughout the zoo are a natural kid-magnest.

 After the gorillas viewed at the Safari Park, these ones seemed to need a bigger home.

 Although, it wasn't possible to get so close there...

 So very massive~

 Their faces are quite expressive ~ I wonder what he thinks of everyone staring back.

 Our own little monkeys ~ Lewis

Thomas, always talking...

 Nora, never to be left out.

 Always fixated about the map and where we are... too funny.

 Many bird aviaries to explore.

 My least favourite exhibit ~  an albino Burmese python.

 This tiger was in the furthest spot from the viewing area, up in the top corner of the fence. So beautiful.

 Zooming up to his face; I think tigers are my favourite wild animal... from a distance!

 Most of the hippo was able to be viewed underwater, as he certainly seems shy. :)

Many wonderful varieties of monkeys were present in
 the jungled exhibits, they just don't sit still long enough to photo. :)

Again, due to a less busy time of year, we avoided any long line-ups to view the Giant pandas, which both Nora and I had been looking forward to. Especially since, as Nora says, "We are both from China!" We enjoyed watching this panda walk about between drinking water and relieving himself, so it wasn't super exciting. (Or dignified!)

 I have to add that pandas are my favourite animal that I would want to cuddle,
thus explaining Nora's collection of over 10 plush pandas,
including the one I later bought at the gift store. :)

 I hope that conservation efforts help the pandas to thrive.

 Another enclosure had the youngest panda, who was enjoying a nap.

So... I actually sought out a zoo photographer to take this one for us, as I knew Nora
would appreciate it. However, the photo scared her at first as she frequently asked...
 "Why is the big panda trying to eat Charles?!"

Seeing an opportunity for a break from the heat, we bought some popcorn and headed to the front row of a 4-D presentation of Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs, a 15 minute highlight version. I had forgotten that this movie is a little bit intense with a very angry T-rex trying to eat the others, and so poor Nora became quite frightened minutes into the show. She kept her head under my shoulder off and on. Thankfully she didn't scream! This is what happens to the youngest child of many, exposed to things we would never have dreamed of involving our oldest in. She's recovered since...

 Before the seats became wet from "snow" from the ceiling~

Next stop, the Polar Bear Plunge with great views of the polar bear in the pool, as he searched for a snack of  carrots. :)

 So graceful underwater...

 Glad I could view the polar bear here since I missed the one at Seaworld.

 Maybe not the best view of this Snow leopard, but definitely
a beautiful cat also. Winnipeg has one at their zoo, too.

These sleepy koalas at the Australian Outback were pretty low-key, with many resting in tree-like structures with eucalyptus and mist all around them, kind of like being at the spa. There's no denying their adorableness factor,  but they don't seem like lively company. :)

 This cheetah was sharing an enclosure with his animal
 advocate dog, just like we saw at the Safari Park.

There were many giraffes, zebras, elephants and more big cats but after seeing them the day before, together in wider open spaces, it was not as natural to see them partitioned off in the zoo. Spoiled, we were. :) By mid-afternoon, we were finally "animal"-ed out, hot and ready to call it a day. So much more we could have seen and learned but when no one rarely reads the signage, it just gets a bit overwhelming. I'll read the signs when I go in 30 more years. :) We still had time to tour the USS Midway Museum as it was pretty close by along the Embarcadero. The guys in the family were keen about seeing this aircraft carrier that served in the navy for 47 years, serving in the Vietnam war and Operation Desert Storm. We still didn't have enough time to do it justice, with having to leave at closing.

 Nora wasn't old enough to participate so we
enjoyed the sunshine and candy treats.

 With limited time, we went right to the flight
 deck for the popular Bridge tour.

 We walked around the landing strip, but couldn't appreciate
 all the different aircraft. (View of downtown behind.)

 Nora liked interacting with the "people" more!

 A larger view of the storied Bridge.

 In the left background across the bay is Point Loma, where we visited our first day.

 Views of many flight carriers at the Naval Air Station North Island on Coronado.

 Exploring the Admiral's quarters.

 The view from the Captain's chair.

 View off the flight deck of Tuna Harbor Park.

 Inspired by the famous photo by Alfred
 Eisenstaed's "V-J in Times Square", 1945.

Love this statue, "Unconditional Surrender"
They loved it, too!

 Another view of the Coronado bridge~

Scott is enjoying this all~

 Nora toured the captain's quarters.

Down in the prep room, Lewis controls the plane.

 Scott enjoys the audio tour.

 Despite all the technology around him, Charles is still drawn to his phone?!

 Finding more friends~

 Love the shades!

  I think this is an F-14, which I would only care about because of Top Gun!

 Although, I also thought this was one so I'm not one to ask... :)

 We convinced the boys to try the flight simulator. By the time
they figured out how to work together, it was over and closed for the day. :(

 Meanwhile, we enjoyed a good laugh on the other side.

To fit one more thing on our to-do list for Charles, we drove south to just above the border to  Tijuana to quickly shop at the mall there, Las Americas Premium Outlet. Time to get ready for university...

 To close a fun-filled day, a late dinner at our favourite family-style Italian restaurant, Buca di Beppo.