San Diego, Part 6

Ah, Pacific Beach. What a gem. Finally found a worthy cup of coffee and a truly awesome place to veg out for the day. It was a trip down memory lane for ol' Richie boy as he was lucky enough to stay beach side twenty years ago as a young man while he traveled around 'Merica.

Best picture of the holiday? We were laughing so hard, things really fell apart quickly.

Where's Waldo? See if you can spot me and Flora!

San Diego, Part 5

 Sea World! How cool. We had a great day. This walrus was probably one of the coolest things we saw on the entire trip. It was so incredibly massive I can not even begin to try to make anyone get it!

 We watched the dolphin show, which was really good except for the fact that it was about 30 degrees and we were trapped in an aluminium stadium, facing the baking sun, and the cost of a pop there was 18 american dollars! We didn't buy one, not even convinced by the special souvenir cup it came in, but we did buy a $5 one when it was over and Iris had such a tantrum over the situation she strode over to a small child in a stroller and started swingin'. Luckily, she only hit their stroller and not the little girl. I apologized for my tiny, angry little terror.  On a positive note, we also watched the Shamu show (orca) and Iris was subdued by an elderly Japanese man who was more interested in stroking her hand than watching the killer whales jump around. She was more interested in staring at him than watching the killer whales jump around.

 Once Flora knew she was allowed a stuffie, the creatures got far less important and we had to go hunt one down. She bought a penguin called.....Pengie. Iris got a seal. Flora calls it Sealy of the Sea but the rest of us call it Cheeto.

 San Diego Safari Park! Soooo hot. Soooo much fun. This is Flora looking super excited on the little tour around the park. She was so funny there, correctly identifying animals before Rich and I could even read look on the sign to see what they were. It was actually kind of embarrassing.

 Waiting patiently, in prime position, to watch the cheetah run. It was amazing. 

San Diego, Part 4

 Lots of poolside fun in Oceanside. As you can see, the view from the pool left little need to go down to the beach to get all sandy and windblown. Flora loved the pool and, after a bit of effort from her dad, she has now figured out how to swim around with just her arm bands. We actually just got back from the pool and her confidence in the water has shot through the roof. She even goes right under the water to try to swim.

 I love this picture. The detail in perspective really amazes me. The big behind the one in front is sitting down and she has carefully lined everything up so that his head works to his legs. Also, the peregrine falcon diving down from the sky is brilliant, but even better is the terrified looking Nini at the bottom centre (in blue) making a mad dash for it as she is on the menu.

 

 A night scene, obviously. 

 Iris on her millionth Cheetos high. 

Iris running makes me heart fill with joy. She bounces/hopes/shuffles in the most delightful way and we got so much of it on this trip. Every time we set her free in the hotel corridors, she dashed away and it never failed to make me smile.