San Diego Vacation Day 7: Torrey Pines, La Jolla Seals, PB

For our last full day in San Diego, we opted for some nature and beach time.

We started off at the Torrey Pines State Natural Reserve. I had come across it while doing some vacation research and thought it would be a great activity - hiking, beautiful views, etc.

Visitor Center

In case you're wondering what a Torrey Pine is...

Well, once again the "not enough protein in the a.m." problem reared its ugly head. Spencer just wasn't into it. We saw a lot of this:

But Dave and I enjoyed the gorgeous terrain and views (and I suspect Spencie did, too).

 

 

 

See, he enjoyed himself!

And we had a very special treat of seeing some Peregrine falcons. According to the hard-core birders who were camped out photographing them, the junior falcons had just left their nest for the first time that week and the mom was feeding them in the air.

When we finished our hike, he headed into La Jolla and had the most amazing lunch at The Cottage. Can you say "crab melt"? Delish! But no pics... After lunch we went over to an area called the Children's Pool, where a bunch of seals hang out. High quantity of cuteness going on (but we forgot our big camera in the car, so only iPhone photos).

I got the biggest kick out of the 3rd seal from the left - he had the most content expression!

We spent the rest of the afternoon hanging out at Pacific Beach (PB) by our house. More digging and sandcastle building, plus Spence and I went on a nice stroll.

That evening, we went to Mission Beach to check out the boardwalk. There's a small amusement park with a wooden roller coaster. We didn't do that, but we ate dinner and Spencer and Daddy played a round of mini golf. Then it was home to pack and get ready to head home the next morning. I guess by this time we were all pictured-out!

It was a fabulous, relaxing yet action-packed week. Feel so blessed that our little family is able to take trips like this. Making memories!

San Diego Vacation Day 3 - LEGOLAND Water Park & Moving to PB

Day 3 started with breakfast in the hotel, followed by packing up and checking out. Then we walked over to the water park for a day of splashing around. We decided not to mess with our cameras much and just enjoy the day, so I only have a couple of pictures to share. You can check it out online if you're curious.

Overlooking the new Chima section

This was our little family's first water park adventure and we had a total blast. The new Chima area had just opened a few weeks before, so we started there at the Lion Temple Wave Pool and then spent some time building a racing LEGO boats. Then we headed to the area above with the crocodile head. That was more of a big splash pad, so after not very long we relocated to where the big slides are.

Spencer was so excited to try big water slides for the first time and he was instantly hooked. There was a pair of side-by-side enclosed slides called Twin Racers; a single open slide called Splash Out; and the most fun of all, Orange Rush where we got to ride together in a big round raft. We spent a good hour or hour and a half riding those three things over and over before the park got busier. We had some lunch and then cruised along the Build-a-Raft lazy river for a long time.

Oh yeah, there's a water ride in LEGOLAND that also has an entrance from the water park. It's the kind where you get completely soaked, and it has a pretty tall drop. My tender Mommy heart was nervous for Spencer once we got on, but he was just fine (though he said once was enough!). That plunge started really high...

When we finished at the park we made a last trip to the gift shop (and now that I think about it, maybe it was this day that we had ice cream...), then we said goodbye to LEGOLAND. What a great two days!

We took the short drive down the coast to our new location for the rest of the trip: Pacific Beach. Spencer absolutely crashed out during the drive.

I found a great little house on Airbnb that was perfect for us and just a 2-minute walk from the beach. Of course I didn't take a bunch of pictures... if you're really interested you can see it here.

For the life of me I can't remember what we did for dinner (fish taco place?), but Spencer and I took a quick stroll to the beach that evening while Dave made a grocery run. We got settled into our home base for the rest of the week and enjoyed a good night's sleep with the windows open!

Next up: Birch Aquarium and USS Midway.