the first day we enjoyed a tasty lunch at the lotus cafe in encinitas. then we walked around the pretty little beach town and checked out some of the cute boutiques. next we hit up the botanical garden. it's one of our favorite places to spend time and it was a perfect day for it. finally, we ended that day's activities with dinner at pizza port. yum!
the beautiful birthday girl!
i don't know why my pants are glowing!
one of the many interesting sculptures on display
love this alice in wonderland chair! saraya wasn't quite sure what to think.
coolest treehouse ever...
the next day was janet's actual birthday. we started the day with a delicious breakfast from naked cafe followed by a leisurely drive down to coast to sea world! it was so much fun! janet got a birthday pin to wear. we missed taking a picture with shamu by 5 minutes. but we did manage to catch this polar bear before he went to lunch.
if you haven't seen the sea lion show, i totally recommend it. i like it better than the shamu or dolphin show. clyde and seymour are the stars and there's a little otter whose antics are too cute. the trainers are pretty funny too. janet got some great shots of some of the action.
saraya loved the interactive dolphin area, tidepool and the aquarium. she squealed with delight when a dolphin swam right up to us for pats. and she was a little angry that she couldn't keep holding the sea star. i guess my explanation that it couldn't breathe outside of the water fell on deaf ears. but mama made it up to her by taking her to see some turtles. she loved standing on the ledge and watching the turtles eat and swim. we also saw a giant porcupine and a miniature horse. it was pretty cool.
saturday morning we headed up to LA to attend a baby shower for one of janet's friends from chicago. we ate brunch at a cute little spot that was half restaurant, half flower shop. the coolest gift was this diaper tower. there was a fun game involving pictures of celebrity babies and guessing all of their names. janet and i actually won! the prize was a delicious bar of salted caramel chocolate. and after brunch we stopped in the fashion district for a little shopping. unfortunately, sassypants didn't let mama make it to the jewelry supply shops but janet found lots of good buys. and we saw some really cute mini turtles and baby bunnies! i almost got a bunny but decided it would probably be better if i didn't.
saturday evening we stayed in and called it a night a little earlier because sunday morning was the diabetes 5K. it started at 630 down by the convention center so we had to leave a little earlier. afterwards we met up with saraya's uncle fabian at the hash house. that place is incredible and it's nice to splurge there every once in awhile... after all that, we needed a nap! throw in a little more afternoon shopping and some bread-baking and that was pretty much as full a weekend as i could make it!
he loves me...
he loves me not
we're so glad janet could come for a visit! hope you had a very happy birthday weekend!
Thanks for sharing your wonderful weekend. The pics are great...love all the happy faces and places with the narratives!
ReplyDelete