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!

Ferry ride from Coronado Island

We took a ferry ride from Coronado to San Diego Port and then back to San Diego. It was a fun way to see down town San Diego. Coronado is a neat place to visit too. I wish we had more time to explore Coronado. It would have been neat to tour the battleship too. Maybe on our next trip.
The Norton's getting ready for our trip back to Coronado.

Lukey Luke

Millie

Lizzie

There were quite a few sailboats and yachts in the San Diego Bay.

Phil the Sea Lion sunning himself.

A Navy ship that you can tour in the bay.

We pulled in to dock between two cruise ships. They were massive.

People were boarding this cruise ship.

U.S. Coast Guard boat

Naval Security, the Prowler

San Diego - Sea World

Spring break 2009 meant a trip to San Diego. We left on Thursday morning and arrived in San Diego around 3:30. That night, we met up with friends, Danny and Andrea Heid, who were also in town. We played at the park and went to dinner in Old Town San Diego. It was nice to catch up with them. On Friday morning, we headed to Sea World for a day of fun. The picture above is from the end of the day as we were headed out of the park. Thankfully we brought the double jogger stroller to haul all of our stuff. We actually made it through the park without buying a meal (thanks to a late breakfast and snacks we "smuggled" in). We had a great day seeing all sorts of animals and shows. Luke and Camilla both liked the Shamu show the best.
Chris with Chris the Clydesdale

A pretty ranunculus (I thought these were so pretty, I bought a bunch when I got home)

A Bird of Paradise Flower

Chris sneaking in a little work while waiting for us to go through the Arctic Exhibit.

A Beluga Whale

Camilla in an "ice" cave. Luke was too scared to go in.

This is an "Argentine" penguin (comes from Chris's mission).

This is the best photo Chris could get of us from his basket. The maximum number of people per basket was 4 (and they counted Lizzie), so Chris and Lizzie rode in a separate basket. The ride took us out over the bay. It was quite windy, but we were able to see a lot of the park.

Lizzie and Chris enjoying their ride.

We even found a few bunnies in the park.

Lots of pink flamingos (Camilla will tell you they are pink because they eat shrimp).

This was from the sea lion/seal/walrus show. (The show where Luke spilled an $8 soda. The refill was only $1.69)

Shamu (this was our first show)

We did not sit in the "splash zone," but we did enjoy seeing Shamu and friends splash.

Luke waiting to see Shamu

Camilla waiting to see Shamu

Kelly and Lizzie awaiting Shamu

Starfish and other random fish from the aquarium

Camilla picking up a starfish. Believe it or not, I also picked up that starfish. Camilla and I also touched a sea cucumber (which felt like a wet, squishy marshmallow).

Lizzie all ready for a day in the wind and sun. She rotated from the stroller to the carrier. She was quite a trooper. She was enjoying the tide pool in her own way. She did not touch a starfish.

Luke, Kelly, and Camilla at the tide pool.