And we are back from vacation!

We had a great time- the Southern California area has sooooo much to do. I wish we had a couple more days to just chill out on the beach or by the pool, that's the only thing that would have made this vacation better. I actually need a few days of R&R from taking vacation b/c we were so busy the whole time.

Here is our week in review-
Friday 8/8. We flew in (6 something am flight Philly time, arrived 10:30ish local time). We checked into our hotel- i would never stay there again just because it is geared to senior citizens (stop serving dinner at 9, no bar, etc) and is out of the way- but it was free so who can really complain. We then went to San Diego Wild Animal Park for the afternoon- it is related to the SD Zoo- but was more geared toward African animals- very safari-esque.

On Saturday we took it easy by the pool at our hotel... it was nice, and it even had 100 ft water slide! We then drove into the Gaslamp district of San Diego and had drinks at a bunch of places and dinner- very very fun area




On Sunday we went to a winery for a tour- and even better- wine tasting!


Monday- 8/11 HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ME!!!!
Eric surprised me by booking us for a night at the Hotel DelCoronado- seriously amazing, swanky, gorgeous hotel. You can see it in the background of this picture.
We also had dinner and drinks outside overlooking the ocean at the Hotel's restaurant- 1500 Ocean. It was delicious. What a great night and great surprise


Eric says hello to my boobs- don't worry, it's how i was falling backward, the dress was not this revealing
Funny tree at the Hotel Del Coronado:

On Tuesday we left Coronado and drove to South Beach Bar & Grille in Ocean Beach, CA for fish tacos- as they are supposedly the best (and they were darn good!). Tuesday night we drove up to LA to catch a Dodgers game since our hometeam the Phillies were in town- Look at this picture, I cannot imagine more beautiful scenary to watch a ball game in. I also got to try the infamous dodger dogs... pretty yummy (but go with the super one- it's all beef and tasted better)

Wednesday was amazing- we went to the spa for 3 hr sessions each- eucalyptus steam, hot oil scalp massage, full body massage and reflexology = HEAVEN

Thursday we went to watch and bet on horse racing at the Del Mar racetracks- we didn't even win once- good thing we only bet $2 a race :)

Friday 8/15 was our last day- but our flight was a redeye leaving at 7:30, so we hit up both the San Diego Zoo and Seaworld- note to self, never try to do those 2 in a single day again.

The Zoo- was wonderful, here are some of my fave pics. (yes- the zebra was 'excited'

we rode a polar bear- we saw the baby panda, it was nursing from it's mom and was so cute (but no good picture of it)
And Monkeys are seriously my favorite- these 2 were so cute sharing popcorn together



And on to Sea World- last stop of the day.
We got to buy sardines and feed the sea lions- they were so cute... I wish I could do my imitation of their cries to be fed for you- it's quite good LOL.








and lastly- california has freaky trees- all over the place were these uber tall skinny trees- i actually had a nightmare where they acted like fingers and grabbed at you.