Four Part Harmony

We’re just back from a really great trip to San Diego for Anna’s spring break.

We spent most of our first day at the zoo, which was great fun and also super tiring. It’s really a huge piece of property to cover, and we ended up criss-crossing it several times, taking different trails and side trails. Saw so many interesting things, but the major highlights for the kids were the pandas and the gorillas (especially the baby, Frank). They also have a really cool aerial tram which we ended up riding twice, and was pretty convenient for quickly getting from one end of the park to the next.

We don’t have many beach photos, but we did spend quite a bit of time hanging out on the beaches. The kids had a blast digging and playing in the sand, and it was usually pretty hard to get them going again once we settled in on the beach.

We were down there over Easter, and thankfully the easter bunny remembered to visit our hotel. We had a little easter egg/basket hunt in the morning, and the kids had some fun running around.

We went up to Pacific Beach later in the morning and went to an easter egg hunt they were having at the local community center. They had crafts and games and some of those inflatable bouncing things. They also had easter egg free-for-alls (by age class) where they scattered eggs in the football field and then turned the kids loose to grab as many as they could. Both kids had fun, though Milo was a bit scared of the giant easter bunny.

Next day we left San Diego, heading inland to the desert. Kids did great for most of the drive, but after about an hour of crazy winding mountain roads, Anna was starting to get a little car sick. We took some breaks along the way, and finally took refuge in the little town of Julian, California. It’s a cute little touristy town, mostly famous for its pies. Every single place in town makes pies. We walked around town a bit, then stopped in a cafe for some sandwiches. Of course we also had some pie. I got two pieces to share with everyone, but Milo wasn’t interested in sharing his piece. He was causing a major commotion in the place, so the waitress brought him a pickle (!?) to quiet him down. Milo likes pickles, and it did indeed quiet him down, but it didn’t make him any more willing to share the pie. We packed up and drove onto our destination…the Anza Borrego desert.

We were hoping our timing would be right to see the spring show of wildflowers in the desert, and we weren’t disappointed. There had been some rain and moderate temperatures, and the spring bloom had apparently gone on longer than normal.

We got in a couple really nice hikes.

We also got to experience first hand that 7.2 magnitude earthquake that hit northern Mexico. That was interesting. It happened just as we were getting our bags unpacked in the hotel. The kids were running and jumping around on the ground and it felt like the floor was sagging between the joists. I was thinking to myself that I couldn’t believe how poorly constructed the building was, when I suddenly realized what was going on. The water was sloshing out of the swimming pool. We grabbed the kids and ran outside. It kind of shook me up for a little while, not having been in many earthquakes. You never quite settle down after that, wondering if that was just the little one before the big one. There were quite a few aftershocks, some really close to where we were, but nothing as big as that first one.

A few more photos from a hike we took, a couple miles up a canyon to a little grove of palm trees. Unbelievably beautiful.

Anna was pretty interested in taking pictures on this trip, so we turned her loose with the camera quite a few times. We ended up with a lot of pictures with a finger over part of the lens, but also some good ones. The self portrait of her shadow was particularly cool, if perhaps unintentional.

I took this picture on the last morning we were staying out in the desert. Anna was prone to waking up early, and not wanting to wake up everyone else, I would get myself dressed and we would go on a morning walk with the sun just coming up.

I had to put up a picture of the pool, because it was where Anna first learned to swim by herself! Anna has been very keen on swimming since getting into lessons, but hasn’t been big on putting her face in the water or holding her breath. We had been swimming every single day so far on the trip, but while we were there at that pool in the desert she figured something out. She’ll hold her breath, put her face in the water and push off from the stairs and paddle 4 or 5 feet out to you. And she’ll keep it up for hours if given half the chance. It was pretty exciting for everyone I think, but mostly super exciting for Anna.

We spent our last day on the beaches north of San Diego. We drove from the desert out to Encinitas, and then drove south along 101 to the Torrey Pines reserve just north of La Jolla. The wildflowers were again in full bloom, and the views from the bluff were incredible.

A few more photos from our hike at the Torrey Pines reserve.

We spent the night in La Jolla, and got up in the morning and spent our last few hours on the beach in the little cove there. It was the warmest, clearest day yet and we spent some time watching the pelicans and sea lions on the rocks, and wading in the ocean. Caught the airplane (or bearplane, as milo calls it) and made it back to Portland with no big to do. An unforgettable trip.