Getting away from our quiet life and heading out is an adventure in and of itself, but doing it with kids and pets is way more complex. We not only had to make sure we had a way to keep our fish alive for 5 days, but we also had to reserve a kennel for our dogs 2 months in advance. The boys had never been on a plane before so we had to make sure they were packed correctly and that they had an idea as to what to expect going through an airport check-in process. Once we were in the car heading to the airport, I got that feeling I always get when I don't know if the trip will live up to all the time planning and paying for it. I guess I live a little glass half empty.
The ride on the plane was a breeze for the boys. When we finally landed, we got our rental car and headed out to our hotel in Mission Valley. I must say that I couldn't have picked a more central location than Mission Valley. We were close to just about everything we had planned to see and do. Although there were more pluses than minuses with our hotel choice, I wasn't too impressed with our lodging selection. We ended up at the Courtyard Marriott San Diego-Mission Valley. Although it is a brand new hotel, a few things didn't impress me very much. First of all, you will need to budget in $16/nt to park in their uncovered parking lot. This was a very unexpected cost. Also, normally when I stay in a hotel, there is a personal safe in the room for your valuables. No such luck here. I had to go downstairs to guest services every time I needed to get more cash or put some of our other valuables away. They also had an annoying habit of not stocking the room with enough towels or coffee, so we called down every day asking for things. Aside from that, the rooms and lobby were clean, so I guess my biggest needs were met. I should also mention here that our rental car ended up being a Ford Focus. Man is that thing tiny! I cursed every time I had to drive it. The gas and brake pedals are so sensitive, we were jumping with every move I made. I regularly drive a big SUV so this was a reminder to me that no matter how much I think I want a Mini Cooper, I actually don't like feeling like an itty bitty spider on the road! OK, enough about that. on to our sightseeing adventures...
First we ended up at the San Diego Zoo. I think it was about 68 degrees and though it was a little cold, after walking a mile or two, I was pretty comfortable. I took about 100 pictures while my husband read all the little info plates on each of the animals. I think its so cute that he does that. He tries to make an effort of learning something new on a regular basis and it was interesting to have him tell me an interesting piece of information while I was taking my pictures. My youngest son really enjoyed the giraffes. I think of all the animals there, I probably took 10 of them alone! After about 3 hours of walking and telling them "no, I won't buy you (fill in the blank)", the boys were super tired so we ended up heading out without seeing the birds and aquariums (which to be honest, I was really not into seeing anyway). Birds weird me out and fish are way boring.
On Wednesday (4th of July), we went off to the pier and walked around. I took pictures of old ships and submarines, but since it was cloudy, and 60 degrees, we got out of there and headed back to the hotel to warm ourselves back up a bit. Later in the afternoon, we went out to Sea World. I would like to warn everyone that this place (in my opinion), is a HUGE waste of money! I was bored, the boys were bored and my sweet husband was trying with all his might, to stay positive so that I wouldn't lose my temper over the let down it was. The rides they wanted to go on were down and some of the ones that were water rides were just unthinkable given how cold they were already with the weather not cooperating. I didn't think in a million years that I needed to have them wear long pants and jackets in July. I was so close to buying them sweatshirts in the gift shop so that their teeth would stop chattering! Sadly, everything about this day was a big let down and we just went back to our hotel without seeing the fireworks show. :(
Thursday, was everything I had dreamt our vacation would be. We woke up and although we had been through a rough time the day before and were a little irritable, we marched on over to the Marine Corp Recruit Depot. This was an unplanned trip on my itinerary, but turns out that of all the things I had shelled out hundreds of dollars for, the boys enjoyed this cheap (free) adventure the most! They had a nice museum depicting the history and the battles the Marines had gone through. Once again, I took about 100 pictures. The boys even got to see the Marines on Family Day, which is when the families of the recruits who were about to graduate from boot camp, get to see them for the first time in 3 months. Both of my sons, decided that day that they both wanted to be Marines and that they were very proud of the fact that their dad is a Marine.
By about noon, we drove ourselves out to Escondido to the San Diego Wild Animal Park. It was here that I had the best time. I saw all kinds of animals and they were all so close, that I felt I was in danger on a couple of different occasions, but my husband assured me that the wires around the animals were electrified so I was as safe as I was when we were at the zoo. I took so many pictures here and the park was so beautiful and clean, that I highly recommend coming here even if you can't afford all the different safari packages. Next time, I come out, I am definitely socking some money away so that we can take a caravan to get even closer to some of the animals. The views at the park were also spectacular. I think if you love animals and are a real photographer, that this place is a dream come true!
Our last place to visit was La Jolla. Even though the sun had shown itself this day, it was still a little cold to get in the water. I was very determined to make sure my boys saw the Pacific Ocean though so we headed out west till we ran into water! All and all, it was nice to end our trip to San Diego on a high note. I took so many pictures of both the boys, but my youngest likes to pose the most right now, so I put all his smiling pictures up today. I think when my oldest gets his braces off, he will finally smile again, at least I hope so.:)
