San Diego

We spent a lovely weekend in San Diego visiting our friends the Mazhars and seeing the sights. We flew out Thursday evening and got to Sameer and Aemun's place around 8:30. David was completely wound up and had a great time playing with their son Sulaiman, who is only 6 weeks older (and about 4 inches taller).
Friday morning we were up with the birds at 5:30 (which is better than we'd expected given David's early rising and the two hour time difference). We headed for the zoo and got there right as it was opening. The San Diego zoo is absolutely huge, but in a matter of 3.5 hours, we covered the majority of the grounds. David rejected his stroller early on and walked/run-run-runned most of the way. He had a blast, and so did we. Here are a few of the many highlights:
Koala bears and a cute little meerkat

A well-trained elephant and a hungry panda

David and Kevin with the grizzlies and me and David with the Manchurian brown bear

David wore himself out at the zoo and was literally falling asleep in my arms as we left. He took a nice nap and then we headed to the park so that the boys could play. Here are David and Sulaiman. No surprise here: David is in run-run-run mode.

We had a very yummy dinner at a burger place in La Jolla that night and then drove around to see a few more sights.
On Saturday Sameer joined us for a trip to Sea World. David really enjoyed splashing in the water and touching the rays. He also liked watching Shamu and friends at the orca show, but he crashed and burned towards the end. He would nod off in Kevin's lap then wake up and point at a whale as it jumped and then nod off again. It was pretty hilarious. He napped in the stroller while we checked out the sharks, penguins and manatees afterwards.
Kevin and David petting the sting rays. The 3 of us (David completely out) at Sea World.

Post-nap that afternoon, we went to the Cove in La Jolla. It is a beautiful spot on the ocean with amazing views, shops, restaurants and a park. The boys had a great time running and playing, and the weather was perfect.
Sulaiman and David hard at play

Sameer, Sulaiman, David and Kevin. David ogling an ad outside a swimsuit store.

The weather today was pretty un-San Diegoish. It was cool and very very rainy. We toughed it out and made a return trip to to the zoo. (I wonder how many times I've typed "zoo" on this blog.) This time we were lucky enough to be joined by two of Kevin's cousins from the California side of the family, James and Christina. We were so excited they could come down and meet David. We had fun in spite of the rain, and we're pretty sure James and his friend Miles succeeded in being the oldest zoo guests to complete the Bear Bonanza scavenger hunt. They were both very happy with their prizes of suckers, stickers and a pencil.
James, Christina, David, Kevin and me

We flew home this afternoon/evening. We arrived early at O'Hare, and, as anyone who has ever flown in to O'Hare could guess, there was a plane at our gate. So after a 4 hour flight and almost 30 minutes on the tarmac, we were finally home. David was a good little traveller as always and finally made it to bed around 10:45. We'll see how long it takes to get ourselves back on central time.
A special thanks to Sameer, Aemun and Sulaiman for letting us invade their home, eat their food and play with their toys for 4 days. We had a wonderful time!