We’ve just returned from a long weekend in San Diego to be godparents at our nephew’s baptism. We took the opportunity to give the kids a vacation as well, which they were plenty excited about. This was also Sophie’s first airplane trip since coming home from China, and Maddie’s first in a while as well.

The girls were excited to have their own rolling bag to copy ours - though enviably theirs were much lighter. And probably cuter too.

The weather was beautiful and the day we got there we headed over to PETCO Park (where the Padres play) to check out the stadium. It’s amazingly family friendly with a hill and bleachers outside the stadium where you can watch for cheap. The bleachers even have grass planted at your feet so you can take your shoes off and feel like you’re having a picnic!

Mad and Soph took more than a few runs around the bases in a small diamond they have set up outside the stadium. We’ll have to teach them how to slide one day when they’re not wearing skirts!

Then it was off to a cool little playground in the same area, where the girls discovered a spinny seat that they both proceeded to get ludicrously dizzy on. I tried it myself and had to jump off after two or three rotations. The ladies, on the other hand, discovered how to crank up the speed themselves by whipping their bodies around - I’m really stunned that neither of them got sick!

This shot somehow reminds me of “Frog and Toad Are Friends”. Little buddies, sailing off who knows where, on an adventure…

The next day, we were off to the famous San Diego Zoo. The first thing we did was take the Sky Tram, which lifted us over the enormous complex so we could look down on everything. Needless to say the girls were loving it! I even think that Sophie liked the ride better than the animals themselves.

“Yeah! Faster and higher, please!”

We saw all sorts of creatures, some we never knew could stand this straight on two legs…

…or these either…

Then after a quick snack break for people…

…it was off to see the animals eat as well!

I think Sophie just realized there was an enormous hippo looking over her shoulder here.

Later that afternoon we went over to the Hotel Del Coronado to catch the sunset.

The girls searched the entire coastline for that sunset before asking for quarters to actually turn the telescopes on!

Finally, it was B-Day - little baby Jimmy’s baptism aboard the USNS Mercy. Unfortunately I don’t have any pictures of the ceremony itself, but it was very cool and an honor to be a part. Jimmy was baptized in a hangar on the helo deck of the Mercy, with the ship’s bell serving as the baptismal font.

Everyone looked so pretty - Daddy too!

Rounding out the trip for the kids was a hop over to the Children’s Museum, which evidently is a brand-new facility. As soon as we checked in, we were advised to go check out the “Mattress Room”, which we promptly searched out.

What do you know — a room full of mattresses! But also, lots and lots of “tires” that were actually stuffed pillows, the net effect being a padded room that kiddos can go nuts in for 10 minutes at a time. The mattress slide was a hit, as was having tires stacked up around them until they were completely encased in a column of them. Good silly fun!

Needless to say, it was a thumbs-up trip in everyone’s opinion. We’re pooped and ready for bed!