Carlsbad Beach

After our little San Diego and Legoland time we stayed one more night in Carlsbad and the following day headed to the beach! Yes...beach in October...only in So Cal!

We were all in relaxation mode! This beach is absolutely beautiful and we basically had the whole beach to ourselves. Not only is it beautiful but it's super clean. There were also some surfers catching some waves so that was fun to watch.

There's a nice jetty on the west side of the beach with smooth rocks that provide an easy walkway to go out and explore.

On the east side of the beach there's two lookout points on the bluffs. I wish the pictures were nicer but for some reason Nathan changed the settings on my camera and while I sat back in our spot relaxing he enjoyed taking some overexposed shots with my camera!!! I guess I could have edited the pictures but oh well!! Next time we head to San Diego we will definitely stop by this beach again. Perhaps we can also explore some other new beaches too. All my life I've only gone to Zuma Beach but since moving to Moorpark I've explored different beaches and I'm loving all our new finds! 

Legoland

I don't know how many times we've been to Legoland but we've been a ton! I can tell that Jojo is getting a bit too mature for the park but we all still had a fun time.

This was our first field trip of the year with our homeshool group and there was quite a good turnout.

Amusement parks are more exciting with friends! The boys got to hang out with a bunch of their buds. Plus we really couldn't have asked for better weather. It was a gorgeous day!

Old Town

Jon and I love Old Town in San Diego! It's one of our very favorite spots. So when we had a field trip earlier this month at Legoland we turned it into a mini vacation and headed up a day early. Several other families in our homeschool group had the same idea and a few of us met up in Old Town.

Of course we wanted to eat at our very favorite Mexican restaurant but the wait time was crazy so we walked around a while enjoying the sights!

I love how colorful Old Town is but not crazy about all the skeleton masks! We stopped by our favorite candy shop and grabbed some malt balls and salt water taffy.

We only ended up waiting 45 minutes to eat...phew! We were all super hungry and dinner was amazing as always.

Afterwards we walked around to all the cute little shops and the boys of course had to get all the Pokemon stops!

Legoland

And another field trip! I can't believe how busy we've been the last few weeks. Our PSP had an awesome and very affordable field trip to one of the boys' favorite amusement parks. We decided to stay a couple nights and make it a mini-getaway! 

I'm so thankful that so many places make it affordable for homeschooling families to visit. Not only was our one day trip pretty cheap but they had an offer to get another FREE ticket to be used between January - March! Woot, woot!!!

Legoland has the actual set from the Lego Movie...very cool!

The boys love this ride.

The boys didn't want to be in this picture.

Jojo is having fun at least.

 

PSP buddies.

Gotta' have this picture, right?

Pine Mountain Club

Last week we were able to head up to our local mountains and get away for a few days. My husband's boss owns a darling cabin and he was gracious enough to let us use it.

The cabin is located west of Frazier Park in a small town called Pine Mountain Club nestled in the hills and surrounded by pine trees. The cabin itself is a true "log cabin"! One of the best parts is that we were pretty much disconnected from our electronic devises since internet usage was very limited. I have to admit it was pretty nice!

We played Jenga.....

we also discovered Apple to Apples....

Nathan spent most of his time on this swing.....

no explanation needed.......

the boys were arrested.......

we enjoyed some amazing pastries at the Bear Claw Bakery.....

and best of all we just took it easy!

Memorial Day Weekend

Now that Jon has a "regular" job we just can't get up and go whenever we want to.....we have to plan it all and then of course make sure he can get a day or two off. The boys are having a hard time getting used to this because before Jon was usually home during the summer. Even though he was usually studying in his bat cave, at least he was home and had a more flexible schedule. So since he had a long weekend this past weekend we headed to one of our favorite spots in California.......San Diego!

Our San Diego Zoo/Safari Park passes will expire in June so we thought we'd take advantage of the passes before we can't use them anymore.

Here are some of my favorite shots from the zoo:

On Tuesday we went to the Safari Park to explore their latest exhibit....Tiger Trail.

The Tiger Trail did not disappoint! The tigers were amazing.

Another favorite..........Lorikeet Landing

We saw these two cubs in January when they were just a few weeks old........they're getting big!!

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!