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San Diego: The Kid Version

As I mentioned yesterday, we met up with Karen (Mazen’s grandmother) and Mazen at the yacht club on Saturday afternoon. We were all smiles all afternoon!

We spent a while splashing around in the water (which was freezing!!) and going off the waterslide.

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He did a sailing camp at the club (where KK is a member) the first week of his stay, and he showed us the boat his team took out every morning.

Thomas and Mazen took the kayak across the bay too.

We said goodbye to KK and Mazen for the night and headed out on our La Jolla date. (We had originally planned to meet up on Sunday, but I couldn’t wait another day to see him so we fit in the yacht club visit because it was close to our accommodations.)

The next morning T and I grabbed sandwiches and fruit cups from Better Buzz Coffee again. (So did about 100 other people – the line was long!) We fueled up well for a day at the famous San Diego Zoo!

Mazen had just completed a week of camp at the zoo, but there were even more animals he didn’t see, so he wanted to go for a full day with us. (I think Thomas was as excited as he was!) We set out for a day of walking around in the sun.

We covered nearly the whole zoo in about five hours at a swift pace. I loved seeing the elephants, and we were so close to the lions too!

I also love seeing baby animals with their moms, like this hippo pair.

We also had a cool experience at the gorillas where a woman had taken a video of them and the baby came over to watch her video through the glass! Is screen time bad for gorilla babies?!

My legs were already so tired from the previous two days’ of extra walking, and I knew we’d need a nice rest in the middle of the day, so we made reservations at Albert’s Restaurant, which is a sit-down “tree house” restaurant. It was great to relax and rehydrate. I think I drank four cups of lemonade/tea mix!

I had this fresh salad with burrata, peaches, and candied nuts that totally exceeded zoo expectations. Thomas got a trio of tacos and we traded one taco for 1/3 of my salad.

We took a gondola ride across the park. I so much appreciated that this was included in the ticket price – and the free parking!

We ended the day with the baboons and penguins and then headed back to KK’s, super sweaty and tired.

After packing Mazen’s things up and saying farewell to KK, we hopped in a Lyft and went back to the beach. Thomas and Mazen went out to boogie board for an hour while I took a long shower and then did legs up the wall for a bit. I was so swollen after so much walking!

At five we headed to Belmont Park for rides and dinner.

We ate at Draft, because #kidfriendly, and had a decent meal. I got a shrimp salad and shared some fries with the boys.

We ended the day with another epic west cost sunset…

… and ice cream cones the size of our heads! I don’t think I have ever not finished an ice cream cone in my life, but this guy was so big I barely made it to the cone part! (Also, minimized stomach space.) Mazen didn’t finish his either – and we both shared with Thomas!

We walked the mile back to our condo and with super tired legs went to bed before 9:00. (Mazen slept on the fold-out couch.)

While there was so much of San Diego we didn’t see, we had a great three days and hope to be back again another year. KK is actually moving to New Orleans this fall, but she hopes to return for a few weeks each summer when her heart calls her back to San Diego.

Our travels home on Monday went smoothly (thank goodness) and it was totally worth $25 to check my suitcase because we had to RUN through the Chicago airport to make the last flight to Cville. We all went to bed at midnight (not a big deal coming from West Coast Time!), and Mazen slept till almost 9 the next day. Time to get in back-to-school mode! Mazen’s doing a week of Mommy Camp with pool dates, school supplies shopping, and general hanging out after a packed summer of camp fun.

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  2. I wish Karen had a blog. I want to be as adventurous as she is someday. And I love that you guys let Mazon go have summer camp with her. I can still remember the times I spent alone with my grandmother as a child. It’s so special.

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    • haha. It felt like NC/VA water in April! Although I will say we went to the Outer Banks a few weeks ago and the water there was equally as freezing. The water on Bald Head was a bath tub!

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  7. Girl, i’m not pregnant right now and i’m tired just reading this. I remember with my first pregnancy we did a full day in Boston where we walked and walked in the hot sun and i could barely move the next day. Third trimester is no joke, so good for you. Bet you were happy to get your hands around that sweet boy again!

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  8. Such a special trip for Mazen!! Both camps sounded amazing…Lucky for him that New Orleans is closer and it will be a new city to visit!

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  10. What a great trip and I’m with the others above that it’s so cool that he got to do camps out there when visiting KK. I’m so inspired by her living in cool and different places. Is there family or work that draws her to specific cities, or just the city itself?

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    • San Diego she just loves, but New Orleans is pulling her to be closer to family and the East Coast. Andrew and his daughter live there.

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  14. I love that zoo!! We actually went when I was about 30 weeks pregnant with my second. We headed back a few years later with all my kids! The best!

    Always nice to hear what KK is up to. Great to hear she’s doing well 🙂

    Reply

  15. It’s really, really beautiful that Mazen has this time with his grandmother and that you/Thomas/Mazen can visit with her as well. While there’s no such thing as a “normal” family in 2018, some people manage these things more gracefully than others. Lucky Mazen!

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    • Thank you. I believe that holding onto a lot of the negative emotions that you can take away from a split is only shooting yourself in the foot. Kindness will serve you (and any children) so much more, so that’s what I’ve focused on. I know not all situations are amicable and you can’t control other humans, but you can always choose your own emotions, words, and actions (Brooke Castillo would agree!)

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