Last day in San Diego - Balboa Park

In downtown San Diego, there is a great park, Balboa Park. It is where the San Diego Zoo is located, along with numerous museums and gardens. It is a beautiful place and you could easily spend several days there and not see everything. We decided to go do a little exploring before heading home from San Diego and decided that Balboa Park was the perfect location. We enjoyed a little lunch and some of the gardens. It was a perfect way to spend our last day in San Diego before hitting the road.

Poor Lizzie was always strapped into something. She was a trooper. She was probably the happiest to return home, so she could explore on the floor to hearts content.

They have a rose garden that I am sure is magnificent when in full bloom. There were some blooms, but not a whole lot. I love the smell of fresh roses.

Camilla and Luke posing in the cactus garden.

Chris and Lizzie

An interesting "cactus tree" with a hollowed out trunk.

These flowers were all over in San Diego (especially along the freeways). They must be a good ground cover. Very bright and vibrant.

Lizzie, Camilla, Luke, and Kelly

The architecture of the buildings was beautiful (and Chris's favorite shot--from behind).

Luke and Camilla enjoyed watching the Koi fish.

The botanical garden had a lot of interesting flowers and plants. They had a little "touching garden" where you could have a hands on experience. A lot of herbs to rub your fingers on and smell the plants (spearmint, rosemary, basil, lavender, etc.). The most interesting to me where the leaves of a variety of geraniums. There were apple scented, lemon scented, lime scented, vanilla scented, among others. Who knew? The kids spent quite a bit of time in this part of the garden.

Camilla posing in front of another fountain.

Luke and Camilla loved the "rocky mountains" we drove through. They were interested in the huge rocks.

Luke on the drive home. He finally gave in to his exhaustion.

Camilla was a BIG helper in the car. She helped with both Luke and Lizzie. The last hour of the trip, Lizzie had had enough and Camilla tried everything to help pacify her. She was a great big sister and helper to her mom and dad.

We had a great time in San Diego, but as with any vacation, it was great to get home!