Another Day at the Beach

The Zoo

We've visited San Diego twice and spent some time here now, but most of it has been working on move-related things with the exception of a few trips to the beach.

Today CJ and Mama plunged into a new membership at the zoo and went to check it out.  It's huge.  We took the Skyfari to the far side and made our way back checking out all the animals.  It was warm so after an ice cream to keep us moving, we got back to work looking at the animals.

CJ loved the pandas, but they were both sleeping.  We both thought the new leopard babies were adorable (although hard to get a good picture of).  As we were about to exit, we came across a concert and hula hoop activity.  Then we left and on our way to the car we found a carousel that CJ wanted to ride.  Quite a fun day.

Hummingbirds

We kept noticing hummingbirds flying outside our windows at the apartment so Mama and CJ picked up a hummingbird feeder.  Daddy came up with the clever mop handle hanging structure and once we got the nectar mix strong enough, the feeder was buzzing with activity.

Research

CJ and Mommy headed downtown today to check out the public library and their house records.  We've been told that the house we are interested in was built in 1935, but Mama found some directories that show people were using that address as early as 1914.  We'll have to see if we can find more records to confirm that.  We also realized that there might be an Oregon connection to the family who lived in this house that early.  Stay tuned.

Out and About

McKenna and her dog, Cooper, joined us for a day out in the City.  We hit the Farmer's Market where we tried to stay cool with refreshments and then ran by the Lego store for an errand on our way home.

Coronado

Today we hit one of the best beaches in America - Coronado.

We were hoping we'd found a place, where we could bring a dog and Daddy could surf.

There were tons of dogs and Little B forgot her age a couple of times and tried to join in the action.

But the conditions weren't great for surfing so Daddy stayed dry.

CJ had a blast as usual, although didn't go out of her way to make any new friends today.

And Then There Was Cake

Presents too!

Meet McKenna

The plan was to follow up our shopping trip with swimming in the pool and hot dogs on the grill.  Traffic from LA back south was very heavy and we got back a bit later than planned so we decided to skip the swimming.  Daddy manned the grill and McKenna joined us for the meal.  As the sun went down, it cooled off so we headed back inside for the rest of the celebration.

Happy Birthday CJ

In lieu of a party this year, we decided to make a special trip to LA so CJ could pick out her birthday present herself.

Man Cave?

While out looking at houses today, we found this interesting space in a garage.

Yup - it's hooked up.  Comes complete with toilet paper.

Another Park, Another Friend

Mama can't believe she only has one picture from this park.  CJ and I spent some time there in between looking at a couple of houses.  She met a friend right off the bat.  If only it was so easy for adults to make friends.  They had a great time playing "the birthday game".

Local Playground

CJ and Mama headed out for a walk to find the local playground.  It's small, but fun.  Has a view over the apartments.  You just have to watch out for rattlesnakes!

Father's Day at the Beach

Daddy's choice was to head to the beach for some more surfing.  We tried La Jolla Shores today.  It was sunny when we headed out, but today clouds were hanging around on the coast.  Daddy got some time in the water and CJ made some friends (they collected beach bugs as well as shells!) before these two spent some time together.  Little B had to stay home - dogs are only allowed on certain beaches.  We were also worried about her getting too hot, but that wouldn't have been a problem after all.

Afterwards we decided to try some of the San Diego brew scene.  Google Maps tried to deter us, but we finally made our way to Karl Strauss.  They had an awesome special on beer for Father's Day.  It even got a thumbs up from CJ.

Surf Dog

When Mama heard there was a surf dog competition in Coronado,

we knew how we were going to spend our first weekend in California.

Turned out that the competition was on Imperial Beach.

The weather was great.  Very warm.  Little B was hot on the beach, which was packed with spectators - human and canine.

CJ loved these little barking dogs that greeted us after we parked.

There was a nice little play area on the beach:

And an impressive sand castle being constructed for the event:

Here's some of the action:

CJ had a blast playing in the water and made some new friends on the beach.  Eventually she put on her suit and started to play in the sand.

Pismo

Our goal for Day 2 was to make it to Pismo Beach.  We did it, but got in too late to see the beach.

This morning Daddy had some work to do before we shoved off, so the girls headed to the beach.  

There was a very long staircase down, but we made it.

CJ looked tiny compared to the rocks.

She started her newest shell collection.

The hills behind the hotel didn't look very coastal.

We didn't have time for the beautiful pool - darn.

Here's CJ overlooking the coast line.

This was the view outside our room. 

Yes, we had a pet, but seriously?

If you went outside and really tried,

you could see the water.