Descanso Gardens Part 2 : Now and Then

I knew I had some older pictures of the boys in the same spot when we were at Descanso a few years ago. I love comparing pictures to see how big they've gotten and how much they've changed.

April 2014

April 2017

April 2014

April 2017

I'm finding it's harder to get pictures of the boys as they get older. They just don't want to cooperate! Anyone have the same problem? I know that one day they'll appreciate all these pictures....or at least their wives and kids will!

Descanso Gardens

Spring is finally here and with all the rains we've had Descanso Gardens was absolutely beautiful! My mom has been wanting to get out a little so the boys and I took her to the gardens. Plus the third Tuesday of every month admission is free!

As you got closer to the rose garden you could smell their perfume...it was amazing! 

These are one of my favorites!

The boys were real sweet with their grandma this day ....thankfully!

 

 

 

The gardens did get quite busy around 11:30 so I'm glad we got there earlier. It was a real enjoyable day and I'm so glad we got to go.

The Endeavour at the California Science Center

I remember when we lived in Russia and the Endeavour was coming to it's final resting place at the California Science Center. There was a ton of footage of the special flyovers and I remember thinking how I wished I could be there to see the Endeavour fly over my head. Then there was the almost impossible task of getting the shuttle to the museum. It was so cool seeing the engineering that took place to get that huge shuttle to DTLA. I also remember wanting to be in that crowd as the Endeavour was painfully and slowly wheeled down the streets of Los Angeles.

I was super excited to see the Endeavour as were the boys. It was pretty breathtaking walking into that huge hall and seeing it for the first time.

Before you walk  into the hall where the Endeavour is there are smaller exhibits to look at! We especially liked the mission control. They also were showing video of the astronauts in the Endeavour while it was on a mission! They even had the toilet from the Endeavour...so funny!

I was a little surprised how "rough" looking the shuttle was but I suppose it's been up in space several times! I have to tell you though that the boys were not so impressed once we walked into the hall. They thought we'd be able to go inside the actual shuttle! Probably should have told them beforehand!

X Games - Rally Car Racing

My oldest sister Alex is a huge Tanner Foust fan. Do you know who that is? He's a rally car racing driver. When we moved back from Russia at the end of April, one of the very first questions she asked was if I wanted to go to the X Games Rally Car Race with her and my sister Monica.

So, this past Sunday we went to the race. I wasn't quite sure what to expect but it was actually quite fun and quite an adrenaline rush watching some close calls on the track.

Lots of dirt getting kicked up. At first we sat a lot closer to the track but we didn't have such a great view plus we were getting so dirty!

 

 The winners lining up at the end. There's not a lot of people now but the place was packed. Most people leave as soon as the race finishes to go line up for the meet and greet with the racers.

I got to meet the winner. He was a real sweet guy......actually all of the racers that I met were really nice. Unfortunately, this is the last year that Los Angeles will host the X Games......next year it's in Texas and my sister is talking about us all going.

The X-wing Fighter

While we were in San Diego we had the opportunity to go see a life size Lego X-wing fighter at Legoland. It was quite a sight!

At first, Nathan was a bit scared so Jon

had to hold him.

 

 

Before heading in to see the X-Wing we take some fun shots with some "characters".

 

Probably the only time we'll walk the "red carpet".

It was really quite amazing and we were all impressed. I definitely would not have had the patience to work on a project this size. 

San Diego Zoo Safari Park

Since our passes also included admission to the Safari Park we headed there on our 4th day in San Diego. Right of the bat I can tell you that the Safari Park is not nearly as big as the zoo so it's definitely feasible to see the whole Safari Park in one day.


The funnest part of the Safari Park is taking the safari tour through Africa.  It's about 25 minutes long and it's really amazing to see the animals in an "almost" natural habitat.

 

After the safari tour we went to the lion exhibit. It was so cool 

to get so close to the lions. I remember years ago, the lions

were never visible but now they've built a great exhibit for them.

 

 

My favorite......the gorillas. I was really disappointed at the zoo because

the gorillas were hiding most of the time so it was so much fun to

watch the gorillas at the Safari Park because they were super active.

 

 

Jojo loves taking pictures and he especially loves taking like 20 

shots of the same thing....so here I am telling him, "just 1".

 

Lorikeet Landing was also a lot of fun. I would definitely buy the 

nectar they sell to feed the birds but next time we'll go first thing

in the morning because by midday those poor birds are too full

to eat.

And I can't forget about the bats which happened to be Jon's favorite exhibit at the Safari Park! He stayed several minutes just watching those ugly bats! The boys and I were grossed out.

As you can see, Jojo looks thrilled!!!

 

Eeewww........just eeeewwww!!!

Part 2:San Diego Zoo and More Tips

 After my last post about the San Diego Zoo, I thought of some more tips I could share! So, here are the honorable mentions:

1. Don't Forget the Sunblock
Definitely take some sunblock. Even though a lot of the areas are well shaded you will be exposed to the sun. I saw so many sun burned people by the end of the day.


2. Petting Zoo and Children's Playground
My youngest really enjoyed the petting zoo. It's pretty low key and when we were there it wasn't crowded at all. Actually, it was just Nathan and one other kid. We went in the later afternoon and I think most are in that area first thing in the morning. There is also a fun playground close to the petting zoo and the kids had a lot of fun playing there while my husband and I relaxed.

 

Make sure you don't miss the insect house right around the corner

from the petting zoo. It was quite interesting and disgusting at the

same time!

3. Elephants
Take some time to see the elephants! Their exhibit is quite amazing and huge. While we were there around 10:00 a.m., one of the elephants was getting a "pedicure". It was so neat to be so close to the elephant. While one of the zookeepers took care of the elephant's huge feet, the other zookeeper shared some interesting facts about their elephants.

4. Take Your Camera
There are so many fun photo-ops at the zoo and I'm not just talking about the amazing creatures. The horticulture is amazing and makes amazing backdrops for nice pictures. There are also so many fun statues......but be careful when your kids climb them because on a very sunny day the statues can get pretty hot.

We had such a wonderful time at the San Diego Zoo! Hopefully we'll make it back there again soon!