San Diego - Day 2

On day 2 of our short trip, we got up and checked out of the hotel and drove back toward the zoo.  The temple was on the way so we stopped to walk around for a little bit and take a few pics.  The San Diego Temple is one of my favorite temples and of all the temples I've been in, I haven't been in this one...yet.  One of these days Randy & I will make it back to go through a session.  But it was fun to be there with the kids and look around the beautiful grounds.  It's always so pretty.

After the temple we were off to the zoo...yay!  Of course we had to get our pictures taken by the front sign. Ü

The boys loved the elephant bush

This place was so big we didn't know where to start so we just started walking.  We had so much to see in just one day.  Our first stop was to see the koala bears and all of them were sleeping in their trees except for this cute guy:

Mia loved the giraffes...she couldn't stop watching long enough for a picture

We packed our own lunch with us so after walking around for a while, we stopped to rest and eat then it was off for more animal watching.  We headed for the panda exhibit and the line was way long but we decided to wait anyway.  Mia had fallen asleep after lunch so it was a good time to slow down for a bit.  They took our picture as we waited in line and told the kids to hold their hands out.  When we went to look at the picture, they had put little panda bears in their hands.  I wish Halen's hat wasn't so low on his head so you could see his face but I love that they even put a panda in the stroller with Mia...so cute!

Mama panda eating some bamboo

Halen & Alex hanging out with the baby polar bear

Alex & Halen playing with a sea lion

After walking around all day, we decided to give our feet a break and take the bus tour of the zoo.  It's a double-decker bus and we got to ride on the top to get a good look at the animals.  It was a nice way to relax for a little bit.  They took our picture again before we boarded the bus and I thought it turned out pretty good.

Ready to take our bus ride

The boys HAD to get a pic on the lion...

...and the bear

Randy thought we'd only be at the zoo for 5 or 6 hours but we were there over 9 hours and still didn't see everything.  The zoo was closing and we didn't get to see the orangutans or gorillas which were on Halen's list.  He was pretty sad about that but we tried to see them but neither of them were out.  I think they had gone in for the night.  So Halen thinks we need to come back again soon just so we can see the big monkeys. Ü

I guess this gorilla will have to do for now Ü

It was a long day of walking around a ton but the kids did awesome.  They didn't complain once.  Even Mia did great even though she only had an hour nap all day.  Of course they all crashed once we got to the hotel but it was a fun day.

The next morning we got up and headed to the airport to start our journey home.  Flying standby, we know we don't always get the most direct flights but it wasn't too bad.  We had to connect through LAX before going on to Salt Lake and eventually to St G so it was a little bit of waiting in airports but luckily the kids are intrigued by airports and like to go exploring and they love the airplane rides so they were fine getting to go on an extra flight. Ü  I'm just glad we were able to go and spend some as a family.  I can't wait to plan our next trip.