Exploring the Zoo - San Diego Day Eight

Today we visited the famous San Diego Zoo! It was awesome. We left the house before 9:30 which is actually pretty early for us. The boys slept in until almost 8am which was so wonderful. Actually, Will might have been up earlier, when I went into his room I found him cuddled in bed listening to his audiobook under a pillow so that the sound wouldn't wake up Jon. The boys have been listening to the Rush Revere books (finally something they both love! I have a break from their arguments over Star Wars vs. Winnie the Pooh.) and they frequently regale us with facts from American History. 

Our first visit to the San Diego Zoo

The zoo was full of beautiful flowers

Anyway, we arrived at the zoo pretty early and immediately headed to the Skyfari, a gondola ride from one end of the zoo to the other. It was a nice little ride, higher and longer than I had expected, and we were able to get a couple glimpses of animals from the air. Once back on the ground we headed into the polar bear exhibit where we saw a very active polar bear swimming back and forth. It was so cool! He would float on his back from one end of the pool to the other, then dive down deep to swim back before doing it all again. 

Will and I ride the Skyfari gondola

Jon's picture of a swimming polar bear.

Jon reads a display about polar bears

Napping in the sun

Three silly boys on a bear

Unfortunately this first experience was rather marred when we left the area and proceeded to lose Will. I thought he had left the exhibit ahead of us but I couldn't see him once we all got out. After a slightly frantic search we discovered that he hadn't left at all and was waiting patiently for us to come get him. We must have passed right by him when we were looking in the dimly lit viewing area. We had another scare later on when he went to the bathroom without telling us but that time I was less worried because I knew he wouldn't leave the area without us. 

Jon pretends to be a seal

Will pets a baby polar bear statue

Serious Jon rides a big cat

After the polar bears we wandered over to the panda exhibit where we were able to see a young panda playing. I was pleasantly surprised at how close we were. I am used to the Washington D.C. zoo which has a wonderful panda exhibit but it is so big that it is hard to see them up close. Nearby we also saw a red panda. Christian had brought his stuffed red panda (that he had gotten from the D.C. zoo earlier this year) to the zoo and was excited to show his "pandy" to the real animal.

An active young panda bear

A Takin

Christian goes for a ride

Our family at the zoo

It was still early but every one was getting hungry so we went up to the tree top cafe to have lunch. The cafe was on the top of a steep hill but the zoo had a small escalator that carried us up. The zoo also had a free bus system that took people around some of the longer and steeper hills. I don't think we would have been able to see as much as we did if it wasn't for the extra help getting around!

Will has a ride on Aslan

James and the boys wait for me and Grandma

mountain lion

Will and Christian search the tank for a crocodile

Lunch was decent for museum food, though I know that is not high praise. Jon chose a salad instead of the normal kid fare and Christian wanted only fruit salad. We had an extra applesauce that none of the boys wanted and Jon walked up to a toddler and offered it to him. Jon is very quick to share food or give away money to other kids. I love his sweet heart.

Jon peeks out

Jon was too short to reach so Will gave him a lift

Jon tries his best to give Christian a lift up

We saw a lot of cool animals. A coupe of the orangutans were out swinging around and Christian and Jon were very jealous of their playground. I wish a zoo would create a small orangutan themed playground for the kids, I think it would be a big hit! As it was, Jon tried to make do by hanging upside down on a couple of poles but it wasn't quite the same. 

The Librarian!

Jon wanted to be an orangutan

Christian and Jon learn about orangutans from a staff member

The zoo is huge and very forested. There are so many different trails and on the smaller ones it feels as if you are walking through the jungle. Often times the exhibits will suddenly just appear from around the bend, you could be right next to one and never know it. I find it interesting that all zoos do things a little differently and each has its own exhibits that it does best. I love the giraffes and birds at the Brevard Zoo, the panda and elephant exhibits and the gopher playground at the D.C. Zoo, and the orangutans and that mean mandrill in Munich will forever be my favorites. The standouts for me at the San Diego zoo were the polar bears, the koalas, and the Skyfari.

Grandma and Daddy with the boys

Will imitates the gorilla's posture 

A gorilla sitting in his exhibit

Jon's picture of a resting gorilla

Will goes for a wild ride on this gorilla statue

More beautiful flowers

The koalas were really cool. There were at least a dozen although since they sleep between 18 and 22 hours a day they mostly look like little furry balls on the tops of trees. Even though they were asleep I was glad we got to see them. Near the end of the exhibit was a little "koala tree" for the kids to play on. There were way too many children trying to sleep in the tree just like a koala. It was so cute!

Sleeping Koala

Jon as a sleeping Koala

Will sleeps high in a tree

Christian wants me to replace his bed with a tree!

We ended up using the bus system a couple of times but we still did a lot of walking. As we were heading wearily toward the bus that would take us to the exit the boys were dragging. As he shuffled along behind us I heard Will moan, "I just want to be a koala." The bus perked him up a bit though. It was a double decker and the boys were so excited to ride on the top. When we got off the bus Will walked up to the driver and handed her a dime that he'd had in his pocket. She protested that he didn't need to pay for the ride but he insisted that he wanted her to have it.

Sadly, Will was trampled by an elephant
before we left the zoo

Climbing on an elephant

Black swans practice their synchronized swimming

Jon and Christian hide out in a cave

At 3pm we had probably seen 2/3 of the zoo but we were all worn out. Instead of heading home (like sane people) we drove up to La Jolla to get some ice cream and see the seals. The ice cream was delicious. As we left he parking garage James asked Jon to follow his nose (like Will did in Gengenbach) and almost immediately we came upon an ice cream shop. No secret fountains for us this time!

Ice cream!!

Since we were unfamiliar with La Jolla we had ended up parking high one street over from the ocean, at the top of a hill. That wasn't much of a problem going down but did give us some trouble when it was time to leave. We did find a few seals, hidden on the rocks, although not as many as we had expected. But it was a beautiful walk by the ocean. There were some trees nearby that the boys loved climbing.

Hidden seals on the rocks

Christian

Jonny loved these easily climbed trees

Christian coming out of a little tree door

Jon loves to climb

It was almost sunset and we wanted to find the best vantage point to see it sink beneath the sea. The walkway was at the top of a cliff and the boys really wanted to get down to the beach but all the pathways were blocked off. Finally we found one stairway that led to a rock from which we could clamber down onto the sand. Camille stayed up on bench since there was no actual path down to the water. 

La Jolla seaside

Pelicans

Will leaps over a gap in the rocks

Of course, once they were on the beach the boys had to take their shoes and socks off and roll up their pants. They splashed about a bit but we soon had to put a stop to it when a wave almost knocked Christian down. He would have been fine but I didn't want to get wet going in after him. One man did end up falling in the water. He was walking on the rocks, slipped and fell into a water filled trench between the rocks. Thankfully he was OK.

Brothers on the beach

James and the boys play on the beach

My husband, the photographer

Splashing in the water, right before Christian gets soaked!

The sunset was beautiful as always. Watching the sun settle into the Pacific is really one of my favorite things on this trip. I'm not sure the boys noticed though because just before it set they found a little tide pool in the rocks and were digging for buried treasure in the sand. 

Can you find James?

Christian watches the setting sun

Sunset in La Jolla

Daddy and his sons

We rejoined Camille but things were a little more difficult. Christian was crying because he was cold and wet, Will had a headache, and Camille was worried about the long walk up the hill. But we took it slow and made it to the top without too much difficulty. We also found a great place to eat, The Spot, which did have some delicious food. Christian warmed up and we all felt better after we ate.

Dusk in La Jolla

Even after all that the day wasn't quite done. James dropped me off at home with Will and Jon while he and his mom took Christian to the store. Christian is just like Grandma, he always wants to go out even if it is just for groceries. He brought his pandy into the store and was talking to him as they shopped. He was so cute!

We had a wonderful day. The zoo was amazing and definitely a highlight, even on a trip full of highs. We are going to take it easy again tomorrow although I am really hoping we can do some boogie boarding! But it is late now so I am off to bed.

Goodnight!