San Diego Trip 2013 {Part I.}

For the girls’ Spring Break, Brianne’s dad Brian flew over from Hong Kong, and we borrowed my in law’s minivan for another road trip….this time, down to San Diego.

We left in the wee hours of the morning, and despite the lack of sleep, we were all in high spirits as we made our way down south. We stopped in Los Angeles, where we met up for lunch with Brian’s cousin Elaine, and his best friend Henry who flew in from Shanghai just to join our family trip!

On our way before dawn...
On our way before dawn…

IMG_2349

The girls were super happy to see Auntie Elaine and Uncle Henry
Lunch with Auntie Elaine and Uncle Henry
Excited about the pretty yummies at Bottega Louie
Excited about the pretty yummies at Bottega Louie

It was our first time dining at Bottega Louie. We loved the eye candy of their endless dessert windows and colorful macarons. The actual lunch menu was a bit mediocre, but the overall vibe was great!

bottegalouie1After lunch, we parted ways with Elaine and Henry hopped onto our party van to put us at full capacity, and off we went to beautiful San Diego!

We rented a house in La Jolla this time, a 3 bedroom Spanish home that seemed to have a lot of history to it. Though it didn’t feel very warm and cozy, it was quite spacious and served our needs. The girls loved it, and made themselves comfortable right away!

IMG_2378

IMG_2382

sandiegohome1

Shortly after we settled into the house, it was nearly dinner time. We made a quick trip up the hills to Mount Soledad Veterans Memorial, stopping on the way at the most picturesque spots overlooking the city and ocean.

Extraordinary view!
Extraordinary view!

lajolla1

LOL!
LOL!

It was windy and freezing, so after a few photos, we ventured off to downtown La Jolla for dinner. We found a cute, low-key place name Beaumont’s and enjoyed a casual dinner of tapas and wine.

IMG_2387

After the long drive from SF, we were ready to hit the sack pretty much right after dinner.

We woke up nice and refreshed the next day, where we began our week of theme park adventure. Our first stop was SeaWorld.

DSC_3591The girls were a bit wary about getting up close and personal to some of the animals at first, but quickly warmed up after some encouragement from the nice docents.

DSC_3592DSC_3595

Gotta get her face painting!
Gotta get her face painting!

sandiego2For the whale performance, we arrived a bit late, so the only seats left were the ones in the front…..the sections that guarantee for you to be soaked from head to toe. We convinced ourselves that we’d be okay with our coats as shields, but boy, were we wrong. Within seconds, we were drenched, and I had to jump out of my seat to run away from the gallons of water that came pouring at us over and over again!

IMG_2405

sandiego3We ended up having to buy new t-shirts for the girls since they were simply too drenched. As for the rest of us…..well, we just had to tough it out!

Mesmerized by the fishes and sea creatures
Mesmerized by the fishes and sea creatures

IMG_2434sandiego5Onto Safari Zoo the next day, in Part. II…..coming soon 🙂

 

 

 

1 Comment

Leave a Reply