Soladay Family Caliventure: Part 4!

Am I really still posting pics from the SFC?

Yep.

It was a long trip, people, and I have to chronicle the whole excursion

for future enjoyment. 

This post is long.

With LOTS of pictures.

It's THE San Diego Zoo.

It was absolutely incredible. Really it was. The habitats for the animals were first rate, the grounds were beautiful. These were lucky little animals.

The obligatory "We're here!" shot.

Our monkeys...or gorillas

More pennies for the passports!

Can you hear Carter claiming, "I was here first!"

Let's see some animals!

These are meerkats. They're awesome.

Love the ones sunbathing!

How awesome is the coloring of these giraffes? Such beautiful animals.

 Have you ever wondered why koalas sleep so much?

 Now you know!

 This flamingo loved this little girl...and the dad thought it was funny.

The little girl....not so much.

This is how you know God has a sense of humor:

While we were waiting in line to purchase our ridiculously expensive lunch...more on that later...we looked above the door, and there was a bird's nest. As we stood there, we watched the owner of the nest fly back and forth from the nearby trees, gathering supplies to build its home. I started to take pictures, and Trysten said, "Alli! Why are you taking those pictures of a bird's nest?" I get a little carried away with the camera sometimes, but it was really cool to see nature firsthand.

Kangaroos!

Did you know this:

Amazing.

Lots of chances to get up close and observe

This is a condor.

Not a bird you want to meet without glass between the 2 of you.

Creepy.

Ginormous!

Check out the elephant habitat:

The Queen of the Jungle

Really?

The boys loved this sign.

Of course they did. They're boys.

The view from above was incredible.

You could see the whole zoo as well as the animals from a different perspective.

There were creatures we had never seen up close before:

Oh wait....that's Preston!

There was so much to learn!

A few more before we leave...

Have you ever wondered how the animals at the zoo feel about having people gawk at them all.day.long?

This guy made his feelings known loud and clear.

No, that isn't a pile of Cheetos behind him.

Souvenir time!

 It's been a long day!

After the zoo, we head to our resort to check in, venture around and have dinner.

Ryan found this place online, and it was awesome!

The property had private bungalows:

Typical San Diego.

Beautiful!

Lots of places for the boys to be boys!

 The views were picture perfect

It had a great marketplace which we hit up...a few times!

Austin and Preston bought Ryan and I this "Message in a Bottle" and gave it to us before dinner thanking us both for the vacation. Sweet boys...most of the time. =)

Time to eat! 

Nothing like a little snake jump roping before dinner.

We played a lot of hangman and tic-tac-toe on this trip. You know...prefood arrival entertainment so the monkeys stay seated quietly.

The whole family played along!

Not sure why the boys were always a little crazy after dinner...Good times!

Wait...the day isn't over yet!

SMORES!!

That's it!

What a day!

What an awesome day!

I leave you with this video of that night at dinner.

I love our crazy family!