Our trip to San Diego was epic! We can totally see why they call it America’s Finest City. And it was a perfect vacation spot with a toddler. :)

We left Thanksgiving eve. It was our first time flying with E on Southwest, departing from Love Field. He burned lots of energy in the Lil Love Lounge.

… which meant he conked out pretty quickly on the plane … :)

On Thanksgiving Day, we went to the world-renowned San Diego Zoo. Yes, it’s open 365 days a year! A wildlife must-see, no doubt.

It was a beeline to the pandas for our first stop as we wanted to catch them before they napped. Munch, munch, munch. We watched them, almost hypnotically, chomping away on bamboo. It recalled our Singapore Zoo experience but Y pointed out we didn’t see a RED panda here. :) (BTW, apparently, the SG zoo is modeled after the SD zoo. And, nearly 24 months later, E actually was cognizant of the animals and enjoyed seeing them!)

The polar bears are just colossal and mighty!

Besides the animals, there were plenty of fun little play areas everywhere!

The Skyfari took us for some aerial views.

E was especially interested in the penguins as he’s been really into the movie. One of the penguins was tagged “Dan” and to him, it was the coolest thing that he had the same name as Uncle Dan.

Oh, the elephants! It sure felt like we were on some African plain scouting these mammoths!

E giggled when Daddy pointed out the elephant’s “pee-goo”. Those who get it will get it. ;-P

From monstrous to teeny weeny.

And humpy, bumpy. :)

E spotted the koala first! Sharp eyes. :)

We could’ve sat for hours looking at the tigers gnawing away at those bones. It was too mesmerizing!

E also spotted this jaguar first! We kept looking and looking for him in his “jungle” while E was off to the side playing somewhere. Then he comes over and just points and says “Oh, there he is.”

Another “pee-goo” moment? Classic (crassy, not classy, mind you!) Ong. :)

For our Thanksgiving dinner, we stuck true to our (yella) roots and went to a Chinese restaurant.

E loves him some slithery, chewy, “qq” (now we’re goin’ Taiwanese on ya!) jellyfish almost as much as Mama. TWO orders, asked the waitress? YES!

It is beyond moving when our son can now say grace for us. <3 This was at a dessert/boba place where we had hot grass jelly and some other warm sweet soups. The next day, we wandered through the urban cultural paradise of Balboa Park and visited some of the (many!) museums.

That evening, we took a brisk stroll from our hotel to Seaport Village and the Embarcadero by the bay. We dined by the waterfront for some pretty outstanding seafood.

Hands down, the star of the meal was the hamachi jalapeno sushi. We seriously wanted to drink the sauce (and pretty much did!). Still deciphering how to re-create it… The sea bass, swordfish and crab cakes were savory as well.

E and his fancy schmancy black truffle mac and cheese. :)

On Saturday, we walked to the Little Italy Mercato farmer’s market. It stretched for blocks and blocks with lots of neat, local goodies and handmades.

This made us wonder if an Amtrak ride might be fun. (Side note: We acquired yet another stroller on this trip. ;-P)

E (and Daddy) got sidetracked when they saw the San Diego Firehouse Museum in the neighborhood and ventured in for a visit while Mommy continued through the market.

Daddy was most curious about the “live sea urchins” but the line was ridiculously long.

With our delish haul from the market, we sauntered over to the Waterfront Park to play and eat.

After E’s nap, we made it in time to take the ferry to Coronado Island.

We had just about an hour of daylight left and rented bikes to explore the island.

Daddy got his sea urchin fix for dinner. :)

And of course you have to try the fish tacos in San Diego!

More Mexican-inspired dishes…

With a couple of taro chips thrown in… Can we get a bag of those, please? Haha.

It was another gloriously gorgeous day (when is it NOT there???) so we were off to Torry Pines State Natural Reserve for some hiking.

Here’s our junior wayfarer ready to take on the trails.

But then requested Daddy’s shoulders… :D

We made him walk!

There’s something about waves that makes you just want to watch them for days. We hung around long enough that we saw several humpbacks in the distance — breaching!

E was a bit skittish about the steep stairs but we made it to the bottom by the water!

Wonder what was going through his mind as he looked up the small (but likely immense to him) hill we were about to ascend.

Made it to the top!

We worked up a sweat from the hike so it was the perfect time for … gelato! Bobboi in La Jolla was calling out to us — can’t resist a place that was voted #8 in Yelp’s best places to eat in America, right?

Heavenly goodness all around — delicious AND organic, fresh, natural.

La Jolla Cove was just steps down the hill so we skipped over to see the notable sea lions.

We sure smelled them, too! :P

The cliffs, ocean, beach and surrounding scenery were postcard-picturesque.

During E’s naptime, Daddy stole away to catch an ultimate game. But that day, a league happened to be playing.

Apparently, the field (and of course, weather) was ideal for play. And they were nice enough to give him a disc!

Mommy also got some runs in the early morn, which made for beautiful sunrises and reflective scapes.

At night, we drove (instead of taking the ferry) across the bridge to Coronado Island for a second visit. We walked around The Del — almost stayed there but kind of glad we didn’t as it would’ve been out of the way from everything else. The grounds were nice, though.

Just around the corner, some more choice seafood was to be had…

E had a fish BURRITO this time. :)

Main street was just the place for an after-dinner ramble. E found toys, as always.

Then came E’s most prized part of the trip: Legoland!

Imagination Zone was one of our first stops and became sort of his top spot that we’d keep coming back to. It involved building Lego cars and “racing” them.

Miniland USA was most impressive — 20 million bricks constructed reproductions of different areas around the nation.

Yes, we did get on the rides with him. Some, over and over again. We went on a weekday so good thing there were no lines!

It happened to be the Holiday Snow Days so the park was complete with a Lego Christmas tree, Santa and real fluffy powder, making a hill (mound?) for sledding.

So while Mommy got hit by thousands of foam balls, Daddy snuck away for a roller coaster ride… ;D

E really enjoyed all the breakout stations throughout the park to build.

The grand finale was erecting a really tall tower and “signing” it with E-L-I-A-S. Can you make out his name?

‘Til next time, Legoland! We just may be back sometime. :) E pretty much crashed like within seconds of getting in the car.

We let him nap and got to Mount Soledad in time to catch the sunset.

Ravishing. Meditative.

All aboard the USS Midway! This maritime museum was next on our itinerary.

There was much to see and do on this Navy aircraft carrier.

Then we went to the top of the ship and were greeted with a collection of restored aircraft.

As you can see, he had to cover ALL the cockpits!

In the afternoon and early evening, it was Sea World time!

We stumbled on the killer whale tank right away. The guide mentioned that the mammals appeared to especially take to younger kids. They kept swimming up to E.

More penguins or “Skippa” (if you’ve seen the flick) as E would say. :)

One ride here was enough! Mommy felt dizzy afterwards. :P

These sharks were for petting but E dared not.

The shows were lively and humorous. Remarkable how the animals are trained to act so on cue.

The last one with “Shamu” was the most magical (maybe partially because it was Christmas-themed?).

On our last day and before our afternoon flight, we checked out historic Old Town, the birthplace of California and where the first Europeans settled.

Posing!

Pretending to nap under a tree. :)

This was the first public schoolhouse in San Diego called the Mason Street School. E thought he was all that role-playing as teacher. ;) Mr. Elias, Mr. Elias!

He was pretty excited getting to hang the first ornament on their tree.

It was one final dose of Balboa at the San Diego Model Railroad Museum.

The displays and set-ups were very intricate. Their “Home for the Holidays” exhibit was going on, with seasonal galleries and some vintage trains.

Push the button for Thomas!

The small play room upstairs was a huge hit!

We hung out in one of the squares in the park for snacks and coffee/tea lattes before heading to the airport. This one in particular made us think of our hotel in Cusco, Peru.

Anyway, it was most definitely a memorable trip. E was out again like a light. :)