On our first day in San Diego we headed to the world famous zoo. Mark and I wondered "What makes a zoo world famous?" We definitely found out. The San Diego Zoo was amazing. We enjoyed it so much, we decided to spend two days there. The exhibits were so well done. There were multiple viewing points for almost every exhibit. Since the zoo is built on a very hilly spot, they used amazing aviaries as the wheelchair accessible ramps where there were stairs. The landscaping was fantastic. We slathered on sunblock the first day, and then realized we didn't need it. We were in the shade all day long.
Matthew's favorite parts were probably the tiger - which paced right in front of him for ten minutes; the polar bear - because it had a helicopter and a seal/polar bear den play area; the desert tortoises; and the skytram. Mark really enjoyed the monkeys. There were tons of different species and they were all so fun to watch. I love the giraffes - they are just such interesting creatures. And the panda bears. The main panda habitat was closed, but a mother and baby were viewable from a small side habitat. We went twice because the first time they were both sleeping. If you are ever in San Diego, you must visit the zoo. It was amazing.
We arrived in San Diego on Sunday just in time to watch the sunset on the beach. Our hotel was in the Pacific Beach area right by the beach. Our region was elevated compared to the beach, so there was a nice paved trail along the top of the cliffs with stairs down to the beach at intervals. The best part about being on the beach was being able to go basically every morning and then again at sunset. Being a baby, Hannah had no opinion about her new surrounds. Matthew, on the other hand, was terrified of the ocean. He did not like having sand in his shoes, so he had to be carried over the sand. And hereally did not like the waves. He basically begged to go back up to the boardwalk every time we were at the beach.
Going in November was nice because it was much warmer than Layton, but not super crowded. The downside was that it got dark by 5:30, so we basically spent every evening watching tv in our hotel room. Our room ended up being really nice and was a recent remodel. It only had a shower stall, so poor Matthew got dirtier and dirtier as the week progressed. Finally on Thursday, we convinced him to take a shower with Mark. The Pacific Beach area was really need. Besides some hotels and condos right on the beach, it was mostly residential. Just a little bit down was Crystal Pier, which we got to walk out on. The boardwalk was nice, and always busy. Our first night we were not adventurous and just ate at Denny's. After that, we mostly ate microwavable meals, but we did sample a store named Taco Surf, which did not skimp on the meat. Even better, we went to an ice cream sandwich place where he choose your cookies and ice cream. It was delicious.
On Thursday, we went to the ice cream sandwich place and then on to the beach. Mark wanted to actually swim in the ocean. I sat with Matthew and Hannah on a blanket and watched Mark and Matthew was horrified but the whole ordeal - see picture below. Hannah was having a blast. When Mark got back, he decided to try Matthew one more time. He took him out to the waves lapping on the shore and just set him in the water. He actually enjoyed it, and then remembered he was supposed to be scared and wanted to be picked up. We got him to play in the water for a good twenty minutes, though alternating between having fun and been scared every thirty seconds. Even baby Hannah put her toes in the water to say that she has touched the Pacific Ocean - the water was way to cold to put any of the rest of her in. All in all, it was a great first trip to California for each of us.
To celebrate Mark completing his thesis, we decided to take a vacation. This was actually the first time it was just our family vacationing since Matthew was born. I've always wanted to visit San Francisco, but after a bit of research I realized that San Diego was a better fit for us. It was cheapest to rent our San Diego hotel from Sunday to Thursday, but Mark had the Friday before that off. The perfect solution: go visit my old roommate Sheredith Haws for the weekend. Thus, on to Mesa, Arizona, we went.
The drive down was long, but the kids did great. Matthew watched Toy Story on my tablet over and over and over again. We arrived at Sheredith's house late in the evening, and had fun catching up with her. She lives in her parents' house while they are serving a mission. It was really fun to see where she grew up in comparison to my hometown. The whole Phoenix valley was one large city. One interesting thing that stuck out about Sheredith's neighborhood was that all the houses where one-story with large basements. Which makes sense given Arizona's brutal summers. It was November and 80 degrees outside.
While Sheredith was at school, we went to a park and let the kids play. Then in the evening, Sheredith took us to the Mesa Temple, which had tons of citrus trees on its grounds. For dinner we went to a restaurant called Organ Stop Pizza. It's a pizza place with a large dining hall where you watch organ performances. They had a large organ with all kinds of crazy attachments - pianos, drums, bells, lights, puppets, a bubble machine. The performance was amazing. And you could request songs, and he could play basically everything. If you are ever in Mesa, it's a must-see.
On Saturday, we went hiking at Usery Mountain Regional Park, part of the Sonoran Desert. Out of all the sections of desert we saw on our vacation - which would be a lot since we drove along the US - Mexico border in southern Arizona - the Sonoran Desert was one of the prettiest. The saguaros cactus were amazing. There were some gigantic ones at the park which most have been ancient. It takes 70 years to grow an arm, and there were some with six arms. After our hike, we watched Les Miserables while the kids napped. We capped it off with cooking marshmallows over a fire, and it was a wonderful trip.
On Friday night, I made a bunch of headbands for Hannah. I really wanted to show them off on facebook, so yesterday I had a photo shoot. Saturday was just a gorgeous day. It was probably the last really nice day of fall. This morning when I woke up, it was snowing! Luckily, Mark got most all the outdoor projects finished, and we were even able to enjoy one last dinner on our deck.
This is my favorite photo. Unfortunately, it's blurry.
Happy Halloween! When we went to my brother's house the other week, we bought a couple movies for my tablet for Matthew to watch in the car. One of which was Peter Pan. Matthew just loved it. Then it occurred to me that in the box of clothes I had been given recently, there was a Peter Pan costume just Matthew's size. So, I decided if Matthew was Peter Pan, Hannah should be Tinkerbell. I was able to borrow a Peter Pan hat from someone in my ward. She also had a Tinkerbell outfit that was too big, but I was able to use the wings and make my own tutu.
The first three photos are actually from Tuesday night. We went to our ward's Trunk or Treat, which was an interesting phenomenon. Matthew was scared of the Trunk-or-Treating portion, so he only got about 5 pieces of candy. Today, I raked the yard - hence the photos. We also took Matthew out trick-or-treating to a few of the neighbors houses. Matthew had never been before, but he caught on really quickly and had lots of fun. When we circled back to our house, he said "More houses?" Luckily, to prevent the fit I knew was coming, we convinced him that we should go to Great-Grandma Pingel's house and surprise her (Grandpa was at work.) All in all, it was a good Halloween. Now it's time for Christmas!
Peter Pan and Tinkerbell
Matthew as Peter Pan
Hannah as Tinkerbell
Miss Hannah looks so much like baby Matthew in this photo.
