Puzzles: San Diego Vacation

After a weekend in St. George, we headed to San Diego! Collin did A-MAZ-ING in the car. Seriously. It was unbelievable. He had a couple of new books, toys and shows. And he just kept himself busy. I passed back snacks every now and again and we only had to stop for gas! We left St. George Monday, April 9th just after 11am and arrived in San Diego at 7pm local time. We had booked a King Suite at a La Quinta, but when we got there, the room was TINY. It was split by a wall (thus the suite) and both rooms barely fit a king bed. The bedroom had the king bed and a tv. The living area had a small love seat (which was a pull-out bed) a coffee table(that made the walking space very small) and a desk and chair. In a small cove off the living area was a sink, mini-fridge and microwave. The bathroom was so small you could barely turn around in it. We decided that it wouldn't do for our stay there. Greg searched for a new hotel that night, but most things were really expensive or had no vacancy. The next day he talked to the front desk about checking out that day and they said no fees would be charged as long as we were out by 1. We got to work and widen our search and found a Holiday Inn near Sea World. The reviews said it was very nice, but in a dicey area. We took a gamble and booked it and checked out of the La Quinta. It paid off. The room and hotel were super nice and the free breakfast was so much better! Our 2 queen room (with a sofa sleeper) was much bigger than our king suite at the La Quinta, and it wasn't that much more $$.

With that taken care of, we headed to the zoo. We had purchased the San Diego 3-in-1 pass at Costco (by FAR the best deal). The zoo didn't disappoint. We all loved it. Collin was sleepy, but couldn't nap when we were having so much fun. He finally feel asleep in the stroller.

Wednesday we went to Sea World. It was fun, but most of what you do at Sea World is go to shows. We attempted the Shamu show and even with plenty of snacks Collin was done after about 10 minutes. We didn't go to any other shows. Again Collin feel asleep in the stroller and we took that time to find some souvenirs. After leaving we went to dinner and then the grocery store. We bought some stuff for Collin (so he wasn't eating just junk), and some lunchables for us.

Thursday we went to the Safari Park. We tried to get an earlier start, but I think all the short naps were catching up to Collin because he was pretty cranky most of the time there. It is really spread out and the animals are mostly far away. It was also the most crowded park we'd been to yet. We didn't last long. On our way to the hotel we went to the La Jolla Cove. It was really pretty and we all got wet. Collin was sleepy but didn't fall asleep until we got back to the hotel. I laid with him and Greg went out to get the oil changed and clean the car. When Greg got back we went to get dinner at the Seaport Village. We stumbled upon it on our last trip to San Diego. Its right by the ocean and has tons of shops and places to eat. It even has a carrousel. Collin and I rode the carrousel. Then we ate and got ice cream. Finally we headed back to the hotel.

Friday we woke up to rain. We decided to head back to the zoo as we didn't get to see everything. The rain had stopped for a while, but picked back up while we were at the zoo. We rode the sky ride and played at the kids area. Finally we got some snacks and then headed back to the hotel. We went to Rally's in Chula Vista and then to a McDonalds so that Collin could play. The play place was outside and because of the rain it was wet. He still enjoyed it. Then we headed back to the hotel and Greg and Collin went swimming. We packed most of our stuff that night and then went to bed.

Saturday after breakfast we left to head home. We didn't have plans to make it all the way back, but because Collin did so well the first time, we thought it might be possible. We made it to St. George around 5:30, and although Collin wasn't as good as the first trip, we decided that we'd just try to make it all the way home. At Cedar City we hit snow. And then a big snow storm. There were lots of cars off the road. Thank goodness our car has 4-wheel drive. We made it through the snow storm fine. At Nephi, we took a break to get gas and some food and let Collin get out. He loved running around the truck stop. We made it home around 11 pm and Collin was still awake. He stayed up with Greg to watch a show and then went to bed. We slept in Sunday morning.

Here's the pictures: