San Diego Day 4--San Diego Zoo continued and the Beach

Day 4 we decided to head back to the zoo to finish what we didn't make it to the first time. This time we had more of a feel for the zoo and what we wanted to see so I felt like this visit was much more productive. Once again the girls wanted to sit on every animal.

The giraffes were one of the girls favorites at Hoogle zoo and they thought it was so cool to see them and there were twice as many as there are in Utah.

Throughout the zoo there were little play areas for the kids to climb on so we found these were good                                           little places to stop for snacks and to have a break

I thought the lion were so neat. They were both asleep up against the glass so the kids could really see them

Yet another play space by the polar bears...yeah there were 3 of them. One of them was eating fish and the other 2 playing in the waterfall but these kids I think had more fun in the play cave

        And of coarse they wanted to fly the helicopter on an adventure to find polar bears in the wild.

Then we headed back to the hotel for lunch and nap time. Once we all woke up and were ready for another adventure we headed to La Jolla to the beach. We first stopped at a cave that was surrounded by seals, sea lions, and seagulls but it wasn't the greatest place to swim so after we checked out the view we headed to a different beach called pebble beach just around the corner from the cave. The girls were once again thrilled to see the waves and the water.

We have bought the girls some new sand toys to play with at the beach

Gracie spent most of her time filling her bucket and making sand castles. She was still a little nervous about having to run to get away from the waves.

The beach was perfect for us it was surrounded by high cliffs and was actually pretty little. There was a shelf of rocks about 20 feet out that also kept the beach separated from the rest of the ocean. Matt and I were able to relax and enjoy the sun without worrying that the kids would wander to far. Can you see the sea lions/seals in the background?

Hallie on the other hand couldn't wait to get in the water and wanted to know how far out she was allowed to swim but after feeling the water decided she was content to chase waves.

At the one end of our little beach was another cave in the cliff wall so we decided to snap some pictures of our little family....oh I love vacationing with these guys

I have found lately that I really like candid pictures. It seems to really capture life as it happens. I think this vacation made me fall in love all over again with my wonderful hubby. The girls and I have really missed him and getting to spend undivided time with him was truly priceless.

While daddy and Hallie found sea shells I got to play in the sand with this little cutie....how is my baby getting so big?

While at the beach Matt and I were talking about while we were engaged and in Florida we did one of these videos with our names and our wedding date and wanted to do it again.

Then we decided to call it a day seeing as the tide was starting to come in and our beach would soon be under water. But before we left I couldn't resist setting the girls up for one more picture in this beautiful space.

We headed back to the hotel for the dinner reception and to eat some dinner. After our bellies we full it was time to do some more swimming. A couple of the nights we waited til dark to swim to the girls could fill the pool with glow sticks. Each night the girls got a wand to play with and they had a ball. Since we were there during the week each night we went to the pool we had it all to ourselves.  The hot tub sits a couple steps about the pool so Matt and I could sit in the hot tub and visit while the girls wandered from the pool to the hot tub. 

After another long day of fun it was time to head for bed. I was sad that night as I tucked the girls in since it was our last night in our hotel and tomorrow after visiting the safari park and then heading back to Vegas. This vacation could not have come at a better time but it was going way to fast. Our plan was to get back to Vegas so we could watch Maddi play volleyball or we probably would have made arrangements to stay longer....but really will any vacation ever be long enough?