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. 

some iphone pics... San Diego, Part 3

 public transportation! Yay! 

 She woke up EARLY every SINGLE DAY. 

 Flora took a picture out of the window from our train while we were stuck outside our stop for over an hour. At least we had the view.

 I think Iris wants some of that. 

San Diego, Part 2

This is a view from the pier, These pelicans were so cool and we obviously used to a lot of people hanging around because they weren't at all shy.

Flora playing by the Oceanside pier. We had a lot of fun searching for seashells.

And chasing seagulls, obviously. 

Look at those curls! 

Waiting for our milkshakes from the cafe at the end of the pier. 

Beautiful La Jolla. Rich told me that these properties are some of the most expensive you can find in all of America. It was a fantastic walk and I can understand why people would shell out megabucks to live there.

I was feeling the pressure to do a "kid thing" within a few days of being there so we decided to go to the Birch Aquarium. As we relied on public transport to get around, we knew it was going to be fairly tricky to get there. Keep in mind, we are loaded to the max with our days snacks, lunches, drinks and a double stroller. Fast forward through one train ride, one bus, a mile wandering around the UCSD campus, and two student buses and we finally made it to the aquarium. It probably only took about two  to two and a half hours. That was time well spent as we were in the aquarium about one to one and a half hours. In all honesty, the aquarium was lovely and we had a lot of fun looking at the sea horses, jelly fish, leopard sharks etc. Flora got to touch a sea cucumber in one of their tide pools and Rich and I played with the sea anemones and the urchins. It was a really cool place and the nice thing about public transport is that the girls are happy because they are free of the restrictions of a car seat and basically everything feels like a new and exciting adventure.

The next part was maybe a bit foolish, however we would have missed the portion of our walk that really hugged along the coast and that would have been a shame. We decided that, for the most part, people are lazy and that we shouldn't trust anyone who told us we couldn't walk. So, when told by a kind old gentleman that we should not attempt to walk to La Jolla from the aquarium as it is steep, uphill, and miles away, we figured we were totally fine and off we took our smug selves. Luckily we are great company and that the girls love the stroller! It WAS miles, and it WAS steep. I actually couldn't count how many times we stated "but, truly, I really do like walking" or that Rich referenced something to do with it being good for the glutes.... Not sure at all anymore if that was true or if we were trying to convince ourselves (well, the glute business is true)!

And then it took us about two more hours to get back to Oceanside after a brilliant lunch out. 

The worst part, for me, was when we were sat on Pacific Beach the following week and Rich pointed to the houses along the cliff to the north and said "there's La Jolla". I said "WHAT?" as it had taken us, max, half an hour to get there on ONE bus. He says he told me this before we attempted it from Oceanside. I wish I had heard him ;)