Month: November 2019

Friday we took our kids to the beach for the first time!

We went to the highly recommended La Jolla Cove. The weather was warm and sunny. It was a beautiful day to be at the beach.

This beach is known for having many seals. We saw seals hanging out on rocks and swimming in the ocean.

This beach is unlike any beach Ryan or I have been to before. There wasn’t much of a sandy shore. But we found some sand and had a blast anyway.

Our kids were amazed by the seals, the waves crashing against the rocks and the feel of waves sweeping over their feet.

We had a few kids get knocked over by the waves, which created some laughs and some cries.

River was pretty intimidated by the ocean. For some reason she latched onto Liberty and didn’t want to leave her side.

Bravely loved seeing the ocean, but she wasn’t so sure about touching.

Everyone loved searching for and collecting seashells. We decided we’ll collect some from each beach we visit. When we settle back into a house someday, we’ll fill a jar with our collected shells for decor.

The water was cold but not freezing or unbearable. There were even people swimming there, which surprised me.

When we finished playing on the beach, we found a shady spot with a great view of the ocean to sit and eat the snack lunch we packed.

It was a great first trip to the beach. Several of our kids have placed the beach in their top favorite experiences so far.

Wednesday we visited the San Diego Zoo.

It’s considered one of the best zoos in the United States. We really enjoyed it, though, both Ryan and I like the zoos in Houston, TX and Waco, TX better overall.

It is so expensive. I cannot fathom paying regular price for our family to go to this zoo. Tickets are $56 for adults (ages 12 and older) and $46 for children ages 3-11. In October, kids get in free. Both Manning and Rhythm are 12 years old, so we paid $224 total. Even that we consider pretty pricey.

There were not as many different types of animals as the Texas zoos we’ve visited, and the directional signs were confusing. It wasn’t too difficult to navigate, but it was not as simple as those other zoos.

All that aside, we really did have a great time! The kids all loved it.

There were some unique animals we had never seen before, like the koalas.

There is a double decker bus tour that seemed pretty neat. I believe it is $10 extra per person. We did not do it.

There is also a Skyfari tram ride that is included with the basic ticket. That was fun! That and the bus tour are the things we found to be unique about the San Diego Zoo.

This zoo is very shaded and was so much more enjoyable to walk through than Texas zoos – unless you go to one of those during the winter.

We loved seeing the bears. I don’t remember seeing as big of a variety of bears at any other zoo.

We were there for about 5 1/2 hours, and that felt like the perfect amount of time.

We got there right after lunch and brought snacks with us, but we forgot those in the van. No one complained about being hungry, so we stuck it out and waited until we got back to the van to eat our snacks. We’ve learned over the years that buying food at places like the zoo is just too impractical for our family size. It’s expensive. It’s hard to carry it all. And it’s typically hard to find a place to sit. We bring snacks that are low cost, somewhat healthy, filling and easy for little ones to eat even if we are standing or aren’t at a table.

Parking was great. There is a huge parking lot with plenty of spaces and it’s not a long walk to the entrance. Houston Zoo parking is crazy, so we were very happy with San Diego in this arena.

River (age 3) has a tiny stuffed flamingo, so seeing the flamingos was her favorite. She said, “River’s mingo!”

Bravely (age 1) was adorable. She was so amazed any time she saw an animal move. She would perk up, point and start jabbering excitedly.

We were really happy that we were able to go during October, when kids get in free. Again, San Diego is a great place to visit with kids in October. We had a really good time!

Tomorrow we will be heading toward Fresno, CA. We plan to visit Yosemite, King’s Canyon and Sequoia national parks next week.