San Diego 2014

The weekends before and after our Palm Desert "Babymoon" we headed down to San Diego for a little more family adventure before we welcome a newborn into the mix.  In June we spent the day with friends on Silver Strand State Beach relaxing on the sand while the kids built sand castles.  That evening we headed up to Escondido to stay at a hotel for one night.  We got a Living Social deal for the Wild Animal Park and took Lena there the next day before heading home.  She loved seeing all the animals, riding the tram, feeding birds and petting goats, and getting to ride the merry-go-round.  

"On Safari" in the wild life tram.

Lena and Dan using their binoculars to see animals up close.

Mom posing with her favorites, the giraffes!

Dan feeding the lorakeets

The birds just kept coming...

...and coming...it was so funny!

After the Fourth of July weekend we headed back down to San Diego and stayed at the Hilton in the Gaslamp Quarter.  It was a great location for us right on the trolley stop and next to a fun dog park.  Lena loved seeing the trolley and dogs right outside the hotel.  The first night we took the trolley up to Old Town to have dinner at Fiesta del Reyes and then dessert in Little Italy at Extraordinary Desserts before catching the trolley back to our hotel.  

The view from our hotel room.

Relaxing in the courtyard at Fiesta del Reyes.

I ordered an enchilada sampler: pork with salsa verde, chicken with white cheese sauce, and cheese with red sauce.

Dan ordered the chile relleno plate

Summer berry bread pudding make with croissants and creme brulee cream with house made while chocolate ice cream and vanilla and berry sauces

Dulce de Leche cheese cake with caramel and vanilla sauces.

The next day we spent the whole day at Sea World since Dan was a "first responder" to the San Diego wildfires and was gifted admission for our family.  Neither Dan or I had been there since we were little kids so we were excited to take Lena there for the first time.  She LOVED it...every minute of it!  She wanted to pet all the animals, even Shamu. Ha!  After Sea World we cleaned up at the hotel and had dinner at The Old Spaghetti Factory next to our hotel.  We were exhausted!

Watching the killer whales!

Taking a ride over the bay in the sky buckets.

Petting bamboo sharks

The sea turtles were one of our favorites!

Waiting for our table at Old Spaghetti Factory

After a nice sleep in and checking out of the hotel we headed north to Oceanside for a fun beach day with my brother and his family before heading home.  Dan and Lena had a blast building a sand fortress with the cousins. 

It was a great couple nights away as a family.  I love our little adventures!