San Diego Trip

Apes

Bonobo Monkeys

Gharials

Last week we went to San Diego for 2 days and had a lot of fun. We went to the San Diego Zoo, spent the night in a hotel, and then went to the museums in Balboa Park the next day. I haven't been to the zoo since my early 20s and Matthew and the boys haven't been at all, so it was time that we went. It was a beautiful sunny day (it was suppose to rain that day but thankfully it didn't) and we all had a wonderful time. We walked around the entire zoo and saw all kinds of reptiles (Ian's favorites!! - snakes, lizards, frogs, turtles, gharials, crocodiles, etc), birds (flamingos, parrots, birds of prey, egrets, ducks, etc), monkeys, apes, zebras, polar bears, dwarf hippo, linxs, goats, camels, panda bears (they have a baby panda bear but it wasn't out in the viewing area - bummer!!) and other animals that I just can't think of right now. We all loved seeing the bonobo monkeys - they are the closest relative to us and they were so cool to watch. There was a mommy with a young one, a "child", & a "daddy". The "child" was swinging from the ropes and having a good time. The "daddy" was amazing..he was walking the the "tightrope" and just using his feet, no hands...very cool!!

After the long afternoon at the zoo (we walked the entire zoo), we went Cilantro Live (a raw restaurant) and had a wonderful raw dinner. The were really nice and made up fruit bowls, veggies and a avocado dip for the boys and Matthew had miso soup, I had their house cilantro soup, we shared their sampler platter, and I also got their seaweed salad. Then we all shared their yummy ice cream. What a way to end a great day!!!

Ian standing next to the huge amesthyst crystal at the Natural History Museum.

The next day it was raining a little bit so we decided to go to the museums in Balboa Park (they have tons of museums there and a small playground). We went to the Science Museum first and it was packed with school group kids. Luckily there was an area for kids under 6 years old, so we played in there a little bit and then checked out some of the other cool science exhibits. After awhile I couldn't handle the crazyness anymore, so we decided to walk over to the Natural History Museum. They had a really cool dinosaur exhibit that the boys loved. We should have just gone to this museum in the beginning because it wasn't crowded at all. After that museum we headed back home and stopped in Encinitas to get a few Christmas presents. I found 2 great stores, Magical Child and Environgentle, that sell really awesome things (Magical Child for great natural toys/clothes/books and Environgentle for natural cleaning products, pet stuff, organic/bamboo/hemp clothing, natural beauty products, etc). I will definitely go there again!

I am so thankful that Matthew was able to take a few days off so we could enjoy San Diego for a few days and I'm so thankful that it didn't rain while we were at the zoo. Love, Shelly