Mom's birthday trip: Day 3

Today, was a LONG but very fun day!

We started out at Legoland. It was so cool, both the kids and adults really enjoyed it. 

My life is complete. Lego Harry Potter.

Kid at heart. 

Edward Cullen's car made of legos. 

4 year old on the road....watch out!

In. Heaven. 

Mini-Vegas. So cool!

MiniLand- New York

Star Wars Land...pretty cool, even though I had no idea what any of it meant. Drew loved it. Strange right?

Lego-ed out.

Next, we pushed past the exhaustion and 90 degree weather and headed over to the Wild Animal Park in Escondido.

It was a unique kind of zoo experience and was really fun too but we decided that we enjoyed the ZOO yesterday better.

Baby Elephant- so cute!!

Baby Gorilla! Even cuter!

I thought all flamingos were pink? Apparently, there are white ones too!

Mom's birthday trip: Day 2

 What beautiful weather we lucked out with! It has been perfect for our guests!

Today, we started out the day by going to the zoo. 

I am so happy that we did the double decker bus tour. We saved a lot of time and energy and learned some really cool zoo facts. Did you know that the producers of The Lion King came to the San Diego zoo to study the warthogs and meerkats? They wanted Timon and Pumbaa to look as realistic as possible. How cool! 

Skyfari air tram. 

Spidey.

Fun with face painting- spiderman and a fairy princess

One of my new favorite animals-the Red Panda! Very cute!

Waiting patiently to see the Pandas. 

Still my favorite :)

After the zoo, we took a ferry from downtown San Diego to Coronado. 

The kids LOVING the beach.

Hotel Del.

Really neat with the 4th of July decorations.

For dinner, we ate at a great Mexican place called Coastal Azul. It was neat because on the way home, half the group took the ferry home and half the group drove home in Drew's car. At the exact time we left, fireworks started going off! So we were able to watch them while driving over the Coronado Bridge and the others saw them from the ferry boat!

Adventures

Drew and I visited with his cousin Zack Morris a few weeks ago. He was in town with his wife and son so we went over to Coronado to visit with them and his wife's parents at their beach side condo.

Before we met up with them, we went to a cute little wine bar/boutique that Drew's parents recommended. I got a wine flight and Drew went with a beer sampler.

Oh, did I forget to mention the homemade truffles? Amazing. Note for the future: Saltwater Caramel + Birthday Cake- wonderful. 

SURPRISE!

My family is full of great secretkeepers. We have been planning a surprise 60th birthday party in San Diego for my mom for months! Last week, the beans were spilled and she was completely surprised! 

Everyone arrived today and will stay through the 4th. 

Here's what we did:

1. Lunch at Anthony's Fishette in the Embarcadero. 

2. 2 hour "Sights and Sea Lion" tour on Hornblower Cruises. 

3. Toured the harbor (Bob Hope dedication, kissing statue). 

4. Went to Seaport Village (so mad, I forgot to take pictures!)

5. Ate dinner at Margarita's Mexican Cantina

Very interesting: this is the ship that was used to dump Osama's body at sea. 

Favorite pic

The cruise was wonderful and I can't wait to bring you guys on it when you come to visit!

Eric's last weekend...

Drew's cousin Eric just left San Diego to continue his military service in North Carolina. He spent his last weekend with us. Here are some pictures from the weekend...

Lifesize chess at Horton Plaza. Really great mall- within walking distance from our apartment. Has movie theater, any store you could possibly want, and great eateries. Drew LOVED the hotdog place. 

Deep thought. 

Watched the Padres vs. Twins game on the jumbotron outside Petco Park. Twins won, of course...! 

New Apartment!

Bedroom plus closet

New google tv! Little nook area that we had no idea how to decorate.

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 In unit laundry!

Bathroom

Entry

View from apartment

Watching the planes come in.

Mountains.

Balboa Park.

Balcony.

Hello ocean. 

My school :)

We are absolutely loving our new apartment and being downtown. There is so much to do and it is so great to be able to share our fine city with you when you all come to visit!