San Diego

The kids and I had been waiting months to go to San Diego.  With the exception of the hotel not having a room for us and other issues, we had a blast. We started our San Diego adventure with Sea World, the Zoo and then the Safari Park.

SEA WORLD

Sea World was by far my favorite and the favorite of the boys.  They LOVED seeing all the different marine animals and riding the many different rides. 

 Petting the sharks

The boys were getting a kick out of the animals.

 Fischer was beyond excited that he was old enough to go on some of the bigger rides.  His little brothers were good to cheer him on.

 Drake loved the dolphin show. Every time a dolphin jumped out of the water he would laugh and clap.

 Dancin' Sea Lions

These birds were crazy.  They had no fear of people. 

 The boys had a blast feeding the sea lions.  They had to be quick or the birds would steal them.  Karl tried to feed one to the seal on the rock and a bird snatched it out of the air.  The seal was not happy and voiced his disapproval quite loudly.

I thought it was adorable that when you asked this guy if he wanted one he would shake his head yes. 

 After seeing the whales we decided an icecream break was needed.  I bought dipping dots for Drake and I to share and he had no intention of sharing.  He ate the whole thing by himself.  I eventually bought me some more later during the day just so I could have some.

 We went to visit the dolphins and they were doing a demo in the dolphin pool.  The boys and I were on the sidelines.  The trainer warned us we would get wet but Fischer didn't want to move thinking he would get lightly splashed and didn't care.  Well....

 The dolphin got them really good.  Everyone was pretty drenched.

 And this fella just laughed at us as we wiped the water from our faces and rung ourselves out.

To help dry off we let the boys play at the playground that was there. 

Fischer and Griffin both got to ride the Atlantis.  This was Griffin going on it with Karl

This amusement park stuff was exhausting

 Fischer loved these little fish.  They come and eat the dead skin particles off your hands.  They make your hands all soft and smooth.

 That night we went to dinner at this amazing Mexican place across the street from the hotel.

 I woke up the next morning to find the two boys sleeping like this...

 We also discovered that Drake has a love for bacon.  That kid ate handful after handful.  Even took some with him to go.

SAN DIEGO ZOO

 We decided to do the bus tour first thing to give us an idea of the park.  The Zoo is huge and there were a bunch of school groups there that day so we wanted to get on the bus before the line got too long.

Each cheetah is given a companion dog that they grow up with.  It apparently keeps them calm and healthier. 

 They had these escalator type walk-ways that would take you up the hills so you didn't  have to walk all of them.  Drake however found other ways to ride them.

 My monkeys were looking right at home with these monkeys.

Griffin was our official navigator.  He was telling us where to go next.

 The boys thought the snakes and other amphibians were cool.  I however am NOT a fan of snakes.  They give me the shivers.

From the air tram you got a great view of Balboa park and the City

 This tiger was awesome he was high on his hill, spotted the boys, and came to check them out.

I think he wanted the snacks the boys were having

SAFARI PARK

On our last day in San Diego we went and checked out the Safari Park. This place was cool in that it put the animals in exhibits that were bigger and more true to their natural habitat.  I really liked the safari park.  It didn't have nearly the number of animals the zoo had but it was fun seeing all the babies roaming the plains. 

This parrot greeted us as we entered the park

I thought the bamboo walk way was really cool

 

This tiger was enjoying playing in the water

 How do you compare?

 One of the Gorillas was celebrating a birthday so the safari staff had put out a bunch of fun things for them.

 I couldn't get enough of this cute baby. 

The kids enjoyed playing on this play area they found

 Feeding the birds.

 Karl seemed to have the magic touched cause all the birds started flocking to him.  One of them even ended up biting him.

 We rode on the safari tram and got to see a bunch of the prairie animals

 Drake ended up falling asleep on the ride and I ended up getting drool all down my arm.

Fischer was making friends with the local rabbits that were hopping around.

They do a cheetah run where you get to see a cheetah run at optimal speed.  However, before the cheetah goes they have her companion pet test it out. Here is her dog companion chasing the stuff rabbit.  It was fun seeing the comparison in speed.

Cheetah chasing rabbit

It was an exhausting few days with a lot of walking but it was fun.  We made some great memories, some in which I hope the boys remember forever.