Viva San Diego

Last Thursday, Jason, Carson and I made the 6 1/2 hour drive to San Diego. Why? We say why not! Jason was in between classes and we all needed a little R&R, so we found a good hotel deal and we were on our way. Carson has become a pro at traveling, especially after all the trips to Kansas, so the drive went smoothly. The weather was in the mid-60s most of the time, but it was still beautiful weather - and even more beautiful scenery. We stayed at the Island Palms Hotel and Marina on Shelter Island. As the name implies, the hotel had it's own marina with literally hundreds of boats. It was really a lovely area surrounded by water, walking paths along the harbor and Carson's favorite - lots of ducks and sea gulls. Of all the places we visited during our stay, I think following the ducks around was Carson's favorite part of the trip. Maybe I should get him a pet duck! =)
During our visit, we went to SeaWorld, Mission Beach, Balboa Park, visited a fishing pier, ate lots of seafood and took many swims in the hotel's heated pool. Here are some pictures from Shelter Island and Balboa Park. Since I took so many pictures, our visit to SeaWorld and the beach will have to wait until further posts.

A view of our hotel from a nearby fishing pier

Boats!

Carson chasing the poor ducks

Jason and Carson on the fishing pier watching a fish get caught

Balboa Park, the nations largest urban cultural park, with tons of museums, gardens, park areas and also home to the San Diego Zoo

A cute little art district

We visited the Natural History Museum, mainly for the dinosaurs, since Carson has a love for them....okay Jason and I do too. =) Carson got so excited when he first saw the dinosaurs. His face lit up and he ran up to one and started pointing and jumping saying "dino! dino!".

He was petting this one, but I didn't get the picture in time.

A cool shark hanging from the ceiling

Carson and I on a little train. Carson got to hand our tickets to the engineer and they had large stuffed animals in some of the seats, so the kids would get excited they were riding a train with animals. Carson picked the seat in front of the panda bear. It was cute.


Water Fountain

Carson and I chilling in the hotel