San Diego-nut (as in Cali trip with the Donut side)
Oh my goodness, this is the longest I had ever gone without seeing my bro! Twas since our Hawaii trip of last year. Well, it was high time to check in on Jake, Joanne, and Nate within the company of the GParents Donuts. So we went to San Diego! I can't believe this was just 6-weeks ago.
We begin with a no-limit hold-um to the death round of mini golf. I think mom just hole in 1'ed it!
Brock hole'sin1's it!
Stuff happening. And a woman lives in a shoe yonder.
Later we head down to Balboa Park to visit the model train museum for Nate, a budding engineer.
The next morning Matt and I make a quick trip to the place where we are ordering our master bathroom counter-tops from to make sure we likey. Their studio was a 20 minute drive from our Airbnb. We went with one of those side samples (with a tiny edit), hopefully it is the one you are thinking you like (if you liked any of them). And yes, the octopus tile is a given that we were matching. Tee hee!!!
No trip to San Diego is complete without the beach. We had lovely 60ish degree weather and perfect skies for a visit to the sand and tide pools.
Mom and dad are sitting up there on that bench. Maybe you can see dad's jeans way up there on the sand hill by the blue watch tower. A fantastic perch to take in the scene.
Jake has a frolic in the dip.
The boys and Joanne make fun in the sand and surf.
Alice is enamored of the rocks and their endless stacking and re-stacking potential.
Feel it. I am one with the stacky rocks.
Don't touch my rocks. We stay. We stay with rocks.
rocks
What a difference a perspective can make.
We take in a fancy meal after the lovely coast. Here we are cooking ahi over a hot rock.
Alice goes over the plan with GpaD.
The next day Alice takes a nap. And it is cute.
Then, we are off to the San Diego Zoo Safari Park. This place is just so cool and has safari trips by cart so all the ages can play together. Apparently Jake and I went there when we were kids. I didn't remember it being so tiring or beer tasting so good.
We get caught in the playground for waaaaay more than our allotted 10 minutes.
Brock likely telling Nate what they will be playing.
Our adventurer enters the wild creature's den and sees a fierce specimen digging in the earth.
She cautiously approaches.
Run! Run! Abort mission! There are two! RUN.
I like cats.
We didn't give ourselves nearly enough time at the park, for it is already time to jump on board our scheduled safari to the wilds of Africa.
Some very realistic lawn ornaments.
On the Safari we really do learn a lot. Including the reproductive miracles of making a baby Northern White Rhino. This species is functionally extinct as there are no males left in the world and only two females. Sperm was collected and frozen from dead Northern White rhino males (let's not even go there people) and successfully fertilized in vitro eggs from one of the two remaining females. These embryos are currently frozen, and hopefully one of the Southern White rhinos at the Safari Park will serve as a surrogate this year. Brain exploding.
Matt and I have been wanting to check out the original Stone Brewery ever since we saw an episode of Brew Dogs that profiled it. Jake and Joanne are in and mom and dad will go anywhere as long as we don't sit outside (Cali nights in February are only paradise to Matt and maybe Brock). And Alice is awesomely asleep! Here I take a picture with Stone's signature gargoyle wings and our new platypus friend (did I mention that the Safari Park is the only zoo out of Australia with a platypus habitat? Adorable).
Their beer is grand, the company fantastic and the beer garden is more like a beer jungle with a river, live band and random spurting fire.
Alice thinks GpaD is very silly.
He is!!!
Alice on a down town train.
and in a favorite nook.
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