San Diego Day 3: Coronado Island & Pacific Beach

Around 9AM, we waved goodbye to daddy, as he was sitting in meetings at the hotel and we took off on The Coronado Ferry to the Island. It was a picturesque Southern California morning and the four of us were ready to explore.

The ferry ride was only about 5 minutes and we walked through the cute market area of Coronado, exploring chocolate shops. There was a very nice free island shuttle waiting to pick us up and take us to the other side of the island to the world famous Hotel Del Coronado. It is the oldest and largest wooden hotel in America and said to be haunted. We explored the lobby and we definitely saw how dark and different the feel was. The kids were anxious to walk around to the beach side and we instantly found the most beautiful white sands beach and bright sun waiting for us.

The Pacific Ocean water was super chilly, for me, but it didn't stop Carter and Addie for jumping in, for a while. The sand at this beach looked like it literally has gold specs in it. It was amazingly beautiful! The older kids soon spotted the large rocks and explored those for well over an hour while Delaney just wanted to sit in my lap and cuddle all morning while at the beach.

Around noon, Blake was done and came and met us at the beach and we were ready to finally have Daddy all to ourselves for the rest of the weekend.

We walked to a delicious seafood hole-in-the-wall restaurant for lunch called The Islander and it had the most amazing "Fish Cone," similar to a fresh big fish taco.

We then went home for nap time and more hotel pool time before heading north of San Diego to Pacific Beach. The beach itself was definitely not as nice as Coranado but was crazy busy with surfers and good people watching that beautiful August Friday evening. We found another yummy hole in the wall for dinner and stumbled upon our best find of the trip - The Baked Bear, a homemade ice cream and cookie place with a line of 50 people wrapped around the corner. It was delicious and we all craved one the next day.

San Diego Day 2: San Diego Zoo & Pool

Today was all about the world famous San Diego Zoo. We got there about 30 minutes before opening and had a little game plan for the 6 or 7 "must see" items. Beyond that, I had low expectations for the day, alone with three kids at the largest zoo on a hill! Well, in the first two hours we had accomplished nearly everything on our list- the 2 Great Pandas, the new snow cat exhibit, gorillas, the sky tram, koalas, polar bears and even got to feed a giraffe. Then the heat, lines and crowds of people arrived as well as a terrible stomach ache for Addison (after accidentally choosing whole milk at the breakfast buffet for her severely lactose intolerant self.) We found some medicine and she stuck it out just in time to recover for an epic 2-year-old's meltdown in front of the Elephants. Delaney, after being woken up after only a 45 minute nap was not a happy camper, reminding me of Carter at this age when he woke up from naps. We preservered through that and had a nice last couple of hours walking around, before heading back to the hotel for more pool time, after a fun 7 hour adventure!

Memories I will never forget - the most amazing gorillas! Jessica, the momma gorilla carried her 8 month old son, Denny, on her back right up to the glass and nursed him. It was such an awesome memory and brought memories of when I was my kids ages and we had gorillas at the San Antonio Zoo. They are magnificent animals.

San Diego Day 1: Flying, Pool & PetCo Park

Blake left the day before for work meetings so the kids and I flew out to meet him. I was nervous about flying with all three (ages 2, 7 & 8) but with my mom dropping us off, a Southwest direct flight and iPads, it ended up being a breeze! 

We arrived around lunch time and headed for the pool which had a fun slide and lots of kids for them to play with. 

Blake had a break before his dinner event so we went and explored PetCo Park and The Gas Light District and found this super fun and casual place called, Rare Form, overlooking PetCo Park. They had official sized Bocci Ball courts and we taught the kids how to play and introduced them to a "real" pretzel. 

Our hotel- San Diego Hilton Bayfront is amazing - location is absolutely perfect, with the pool, view of both the city and Coranado Island. We have seen fireworks going off every night with the background of the beautiful city. We can run up and down the boardwalk and play in the beautiful green lawns. I would come back to this hotel with kids, in a heart beat!