San Diego Day 1

On our first full day in San Diego Morgan and I woke up early. Actually, Morgan woke up early (around 5:00am) and so therefore I had to get out of bed too. We got ready and then headed downstairs for an early breakfast. We then took off to find a grocery store, Starbucks, and the beach. Once I had a coffee in me we found a quiet spot right near the shore where we could park and we sat on the side of the van and just watched the waves come in. We didn't stay too long as it was freezing down by the water.

We then headed back to the hotel to hang out with David for a bit. The plan was then to take off with Georgia and her family and spend the day at the San Diego Zoo. Morgan was very excited to go to the zoo, she just loves watching all the animals.

After grabbing some lunch we made our way over to the zoo. When we arrived in the parking lot we found total chaos. I am not sure it if it always this way or if it was due to the fact that it was later in the day but it was crazy. There was no one from the zoo in the parking lot directing traffic and there were cars everywhere searching for spots. After driving around for a good 30 minutes we finally found a spot, put our blinker on, only to have it stolen by another car. I was so angry! It was a single guy in a little car meanwhile I had the minivan full with three kids. What a jerk! So we then spent another 30 minutes trying to find a spot. An hour later we were ready to give up when we noticed a sign that had been put out directing cars to additional parking. We followed the signs to a school parking lot and within minutes were unloading the van. Once finally in the zoo Morgan was ready to go, she had grabbed a quick nap in the van during our hour long search to park. The zoo was very crowded this day and as we were standing near the entrance trying to determine where to begin we saw the entire U of A football team arrive. They were in town for the Holiday Bowl and were off seeing the sites as well.


We were able to grab the U of A quarterback, Nick Foles, for a quick photo with the kids. After that we headed off for a bus tour of the zoo.
Here is Morgan and I on the bus tour. Below are the giraffes, Morgan's favorite part of the zoo.

After our bus tour we took off on foot to try to see some of the sites we had previewed on the tour. We walked for almost two hours and never saw any of the same sites that we had seen on the tour. All we saw were gorillas and birds. I swear if we hadn't taken the bus tour I would have thought this was the worst zoo ever. From what we saw on the tour it looked like a nice zoo, but I prefer our small little Reid Park. You can walk the entire thing in less than 2 hours and see everything. It is just the right size for a toddler.
We stayed at the zoo for a quick bite to eat, but by the time we were done the sun had set and we were all getting very cold. We decided it was time to call it a night. Georgia's Dad and sister, Shawna, kindly offered to go ahead of all of us and get the cars. They then met us right out in front of the zoo, what service. Morgan passed out on the way back to the hotel; it was only 6:00 pm. I knew that meant another early morning for me so when we arrived at the hotel I put on a movie, did some therapy, and headed to bed myself.