Lions and Tigers and Bears! Oh My!

After our visit with grandma in December, we made our way to the zoo. In lieu of buying Christmas presents, we prefer to spend our resources to go on small family vacations and make memories together. Bright sunny San Diego is what comes to mind when thinking of the state of CA and not the cold northern part that we now call home.

It was a special joy to take my husband and children to a place I loved as a child. I lived in San Diego from seven to nine years old while my father was stationed here with the Navy. My clearest memories (or picture snapshots) of the zoo were the flamingos and the bronze gorilla. We found the flamingos as soon as we entered and then spent the rest of the day hunting for that shiny climbable gorilla.

The day was enjoyed all the more because the four of us entered for free! My friend was able to generously give us two free admission tickets, E was under three, and N got in through their active duty military promotion. We could actually afford lunch at the park and a few little treats.

Baby E wants to see the kangaroos.

It was a perfectly beautiful day!

Dear Mom, I am sorry that you do not get the joy of seeing your grand daughter's dressed in every color of the rainbow at the same time in patterns of hearts, stripes, and florals :) Why go bright when you can go white?  hehe. Or classic plaid?

I LOVE going on these skyrides. Now, it wasn't a horse drawn hay ride, but it was wonderful ;)

We were strollerless at the zoo! It is always a gamble to stroller or not to stroller in a new place. I wasn't sure how it would be, but in the end it was the best decision because of the stairs, hills, and crowds. Plus, all of us minus baby got a great workout.

Seeing this picture reminds me how delighted I am to be able to smile again after my bout with Bell's. Many times in my head I have thought up a post about my Bell's experience, and I hope to write it down for real one of these days and share with you all that I went through and felt.

Look at those eyelashes

This was as close as we got to the amazing Balboa Park. I had hoped we would be able to explore around, but the zoo is all we could handle for one day.

Downtown San Diego and a beautiful bridge

Sleepy polar bears

The zoo boasted a several waterfalls throughout the park.

A tiger cub lapping up some water! One of my favorite animals

Brother cub

Mama tiger watched her cubs like a hawk.

While we were exiting the large exhibit, the tiger cubs rounded the corner of the smaller viewing area and we got more close up views of their beauty.

Even baby enjoyed the sights.

A silly hair day

Smiles for lunch

 

 Being bjorned is tiring

I didn't realize till after I uploaded this picture that the hippo was sculpted from sand.

We found the bronze gorilla!

Three monkeys on the gorilla. See the real one in the background!

M and her little piece of the zoo