San Diego: Easter, zoo and end of the trip

After our eventful evening with Aaron's teeth the night before, Easter was certainly very slow and subdued. We had figured we would spend a nice, lazy day at the beach, but instead slept in and took it very easy and slow to let Aaron's mouth recover. We went to our friend's house for the afternoon and a fun Easter time. They put together a fun egg hunt for the kids who really enjoyed seeking out the eggs and helping the little kids find them. 

The following day, Aaron and I went to the zoo. I can't recall what Kyle, Emily, and Jeff were doing during that time. Perhaps they were hanging out with Clark. 

Our favorite squirrel monkeys

Aaron and Alice are so sweet with one another. Look at them holding hands, totally unprompted.

The big kids doing what they do best... team gaming

Em and I in front of our old neighbor's house, 3 doors down. 

Aaron napping. 

One more burrito before we left which was perhaps the best one we had there. We call them Tattoo Parlor burritos because they are in PB underneath a tattoo parlor. I think it's called Mike's Taco Club or something like that. Delicious burritos. Can't decide or remember if I liked the veggie burrito or the breakfast burrito more. Emily and I went halfsies. 

Aaron knows no boundaries when sleeping. I'm sure many a parent can related to this sort of sleeping position with a toddler in bed with them. 

San Diego is just so beautiful. 

My run on our last morning there along Kellogg beach. Those are my footprints. I had the beach to myself. 

San Diego zoo and farewell for now

All good things must come to an end. And so must our awesome vacation skiing and then time in San Diego. By Friday, flights were still getting cancelled due to weather across the country. The flight we were scheduled to be one was good for the first leg, but the second leg was already cancelled at 9am. And the last thing I wanted was to be stuck somewhere in-between San Diego and Raleigh with the kids. Far better to be in San Diego where we know our way around or home in Raleigh. I called the airline to see what our options were and they said Sunday (to not be on a red-eye). At this point, it was getting a bit crazy and everything was backed up. I asked about a northern connector (which we had been avoiding thinking that was even riskier for weather delays / cancellations. We snagged the last 4 seats on a northern route for that day, until Sunday. It was a bummer to leave, but seeing how everything kept getting pushed and cancelled, we felt it best to take these seats to get home before Jeff truly wondered if we would actually ever return. He's lucky he was at home or else we may have just stayed. :-) It meant leaving a few hours earlier than planned so we didn't get to say another goodbye to friends, but did save us some tears. Funny thing happened though when we landed after our first flight. The board announcing our flight to Raleigh didn't show the last one of the evening, just the one for the next morning. My heart sunk thinking we had run into one of the scenarios we were trying to avoid. Thankfully, it wasn't cancelled and we made it home after a long day of travel. 

Before leaving though, we used our unexpired zoo passes one last time to visit the squirrel monkeys who are always entertaining. 

The evening before, we had dinner with Betsy, Alice and family. We loved spending so much time with them and it was sad to have to leave. Thankfully, we know we will see them again. And in the meantime, we have FaceTime calls quite frequently. 

This is such a fun crew! Lots of kids, but lots of fun!

Zoo finale, San Diego finale

Today the packers arrived. That meant we had to get out of the house. I needed to get out of the house for my own sanity and emotional well-being. Nothing like a bunch of strangers putting everything into boxes and clearing out your house to make a move get very real. 

So we went to the zoo. A place I have always loved. And it was on my San Diego bucket list to visit before we left. So we hit our favorite spots - the Skyfari (Kyle used to be terrified of this), the meerkats and the spider monkeys. 

Aaron had been asking to ride the train outside the zoo for some time. Today seemed like a perfect day for that. :-) So we rode the train. And Aaron loved it. Check one off Aaron's San Diego bucket list. 

Aaron had also been asking to ride the carousel near the zoo. Again, what better time to check one off his San Diego bucket list than 2 days before we left. 

Yea, then there's the move... it's still emotional seeing these pictures nearly 3 months later. I know this is just stuff, but the "here's your life in boxes and a home that holds so many memories" part is what gets me. 

That evening, Emily's best friend Haiden invited us over for dinner. They made a delicious meal for us all to eat together and the kids got to swim together for a long time. It was a welcome distraction to the move (on our last night sleeping at our house) and a wonderful time with wonderful people. 

Ropes course

Another item on our San Diego bucket list was to do the ropes course at the Wild Animal Park (or Safari Park or whatever it is called). Aaron got to spend his day with Alice while Jeff and I took Kyle and Emily up to the ropes course. It was awesome. The kids loved it and so did we.

We had a camera on one of the helmets to capture the fun, but haven't transferred the video yet. But here are a few in the meantime. 

Kyle on the course

Emily on the course

Zoo day

Kyle & Emily had their zoo field trip the last week of school. Aaron, Alice and I went to the zoo as well to catch up with these monkeys for a little bit. 

Kyle at the squirrel monkeys

Zoo with Alice

Aaron went to the zoo today with his best buddy Alice. Her brother, AJ, also came along. These three little monkeys had a great time running all over the place and seeing the animals. 

Wild Animal Park

Monday was zoo day with Papa & Kari. Actually, Wild Animal Park day. They hadn't been there before and we hadn't been in a long time. So off we went for the morning. 

Everyone (except me, I chickened out) did the hot air balloon ride. It is tethered to the ground, but it looked windy enough that I thought I might make the kids scared with my being scared.

And then we did the tram around the park for a great tour of all the animals there.