Our California Adventure: Part 2 - The San Diego Zoo

As we walked out of the airport (ALL of our luggage in hand, I might add), Alyssa squealed with delight and said, "Look!  It's our first palm tree!"  It was so cute.  We were all giddy and overwhelmed with all the sights to see.  I know it wasn't some exotic foreign country, but to us, it mine as well have been.  It was so exciting to be somewhere new.

We got our rental car and got out of the airport without a hitch.  Our hotel was very close.  As we pulled our bags out of the trunk, that's when I looked across the parking lot and realized that we were directly behind "Cars Land" at Disney California Adventure.  When we got to the 3rd floor to find our room, that's when I could look out and see the big giant ferris wheel with Mickey's face on it.  It was really real!  Disney was literally feet away from us.  I know for a fact I was happier and more excited than the kids were. 

Our first evening consisted of getting unpacked and walking over to a strip mall to grab some dinner . We ate outside and just stared at the mountains.  Well, what we could see of the mountains through the smog.  That was one thing I wasn't really prepared for.  I thought it was just "hazy" or cloudy at first.  Nope, it's smog.  Lots and lots of smog.  It was still a beautiful first evening in California though.  I was reading facebook posts about it being 100+ degrees back at home.  We were sitting outside in 65 degree weather wishing we had grabbed a jacket before we left the hotel room.  It was perfection!

Our first full day in California was designated "zoo" day.  We drove to San Diego to experience the world-renowned zoo.  We drove down the coast and saw the ocean.  The air smelled so fresh.  I wish I could have bottled it and taken it home.  Alyssa swears she saw a shark out the window.  Brayden insisted he saw a killer whale.  Gabe, on the other hand, insisted he couldn't even see the water.  He was quite the sour puss on much of the vacation. 

We finally arrived at the zoo and..... wow.  Wow, oh, wow.  It was MASSIVE.  We walked and walked and walked.  We rode the sky-tram.  We walked and walked and walked some more.  Then we rode the double decker bus.  I still don't think we saw even half of the zoo.  We were there for hours upon hours.  There was just so much to see.  I don't really have anything to say about the zoo, unfortunately.  It was a zoo.  It had animals.  Really cool animals and the exhibits were amazing, but it was still just a zoo.  I was so overwhelmed that I don't think I could really appreciate it.  I would definitely recommend it, but I don't think you can really see all of it in one day.  You need to live there and have a membership to see everything there is to see.

The kids were getting exhausted, cranky and bored so we wrapped up the zoo a couple hours before closing.  The change in climate must have finally caught up with them, because Alyssa had a nose bleed as we left the zoo.  She never has nose bleeds.  Then when we got to the car, Brayden had a nose bleed.  It looked like a murder scene in the backseat of that car.  It gushed everywhere and we couldn't get it to stop.  Ugh.  He went through an entire package of kleenex before it finally stopped.  The San Diego Zoo and epic nose bleeds.  That's how we roll.