SOCAL - Fattig Family Vacation

 The gang all slowly woke to another beautiful day ahead with no clouds in the skies and forecasted high 70's.  After loading up the van we made our way to the San Diego Zoo, which started in 1916 to get Jeff's glasses.  Thank goodness they were found and Janie grabbed in no time at the customer service desk. Then off to the Mission Park Beach area just north of San Diego.  Quick tour of the boardwalk and a few shop stops, we decided to get ready for the beach.  Changing the car went smoothly and then off to the beach.  The kids and John did the waves and sea shell hunting.  Wyatt's man chaffee from being in a wet suit the past several nights took its toll. Jeff and Janie took a nice walk on the beach and then we packed up to the car after foot washing.  Change of the grands behind towels found sand in places not necessarily all good.  From there we headed to Solana Beach  ...

Grandma was in charge of breakfast this morning that consisted of pancakes, bacon, bananas and yogurt.  We were planning on leaving at 8:00 to head to the San Diego Zoo and we actually left right on time.  We arrived around 8:40 and got second row parking.  It was a little chillier than we expected with some light drizzle, but by noonish, the sun came out and it was a gorgeous day. Since we were there before the zoo actually opened up, we got to listen to a little presentation about the zoo and then right at 9:00, the announcer told us to get our cameras ready and sure enough, it would have been a great video but Grandma didn't push the start button.  She missed filming the Macaws taking off for a magnificent opening of the zoo.  Grandpa lead the way most of the day with help form Sara at certain times.  John was excited as the first exhibit today was the reptile house and on to the reptile walk. ...

This morning the energy banks for all were a little less than full after a long day at the zoo and playing in the pool.  Sara made breakfast (eggs, bacon and toast).  Grandpa left his glasses at the Zoo, so walking around in sun glasses taking a little ribbing.  Tablet time in the morning for the grands....grandpa will never get used to the stuff kids are mesmerized by. Then when all set about 9:45 we made the trek to the back gate.  We had a back of park entrance so no parking, etc.  Line was a bit slow and took over a half hour to get in.  From there we road the Deep Sea adventure and then the Dragon roller coaster.  We continued to work our way around the park until it was time to grab lunch after the boat building adventure. Lunch was all you can eat Pizza and Pasta that all gave a thumbs up.  From there back to the trail of adventure around the park until it was almost dark. ...

We picked up John, Sara, Wyatt and Morgan at 5:30 am.  They were all ready to go, loaded up the truck and off to MCI to catch our 7:40 am flight on SW for a direct flight to San Diego. We landed 9:15 am and off to the rental car pickup for our white minivan. This puts grandpa back in his daddy days of driving a mini-van and it works out great for plenty of seating and cargo area for suitcases and backpacks. First thing was to find a good place for lunch and we definitely found one in the Gas Lamp District.  The Rockin Baja Lobster with an open window seat.  Luke was our server and did a great job with chips, in house salsa and good food.  Wyatt's chocolate milk was awesome and all the food tasty and on time. Before lunch we drove around San Diego a bit and spotted the USS Midway on the agenda for a tour later in the week.  Huge yachts and sailboats, Pacific ocean view first time for Wya...

Grands woke  up at 4:30 a.m., but did go back to bed for awhile. Wyatt wanted to go to the gym with Grandpa so John also decided to go so they left for the gym a little later and they all had a great workout. Sara made a great breakfast of eggs, bacon, toast, bananas and cereal after they returned. As we left for the Scripps Aquarium around 10:00 there was a A little rain but it stopped before we arrived.  The aquarium is located in the University of California, San Diego in the La Jolla area. We spent a few hours looking at a lot of beautiful fish.  The view on the back side of the aquarium had a beautiful view of the Pacific Ocean where we took a family picture and spent a little time.  They also had a play area that the kiddos enjoyed. We were ready for a late lunch so with a grandpa detour to Torrey Pines for a photo we drove south looking for a lunch place.  Grandpa took us ...