Winter Warm-Up

Ah, five days of sun! We had just a lovely time in San Diego...plane rides and all! Gavin did a great job traveling, napping for the majority of the long flights, making friends with the fellow travelers the rest of the time. The weather was beautiful -- upper 60s and sunny every day. We spent one whole day at the zoo, complete with a nap for Gavin in the stroller. I had such a great time at the zoo. San Diego's is the best in the world, from pandas and koalas to cheetahs and exotic birds. It was fantastic -- more for Brad and me than Gavin. Though Gavin did enjoy some of the exhibits, like Janey the orangutan and the fish. He also liked the monkeys and gorillas. And we saw a baby Giraffe who was just 3 weeks old, though about six and half feet tall. The pandas are amazing. It's rare that you visit a zoo with four pandas -- one baby, one momma, and two little ones (two and four years old). Amazing little (well, big really) creatures.

We spent another whole day exploring Coronado Island and beach. It is rated one of the top 10 family beaches by Travel Channel (one of our favorite television stations). It was beautiful, somewhat "old world" with the classic Hotel Del Coronado that is reminiscent of the Grand Hotel on Mackinac Island.

Our hotel was on Mission Beach, another hot spot. Beautiful ocean runs in the morning. And many a surfer wading the day away.

Here's our vacation summed up in photos. Many of the zoo, and some from Coronado.

PS -- Gavin turned 11 months old today. Just one more month until the big birthday. How bittersweet. So hard to believe a year has gone by so swiftly. He is just such a sweet, funny little guy who is growing more and more independent every day. He loves playing cars (pushes them around on the floor), pushing around his two big trucks, playing mini-basketball, crawling everywhere, playing peak-a-boo, clapping (real clapping now with hands open), spitting, talking jibberish, thumbing through books, playing with his activity and music tables, and petting his "Giddy" horse. What a guy!