San Diego: Zoo and Safari

We made it home from San Diego and we had such a wonderful trip!  It is now on the top of the list of my favorite places!!!  It is a beautiful, clean, big city.  You have everything from the beach to the Navy Base and Miramar (yes, from "Top Gun" for all you 80's Tom Cruise fans!) to Coronado Island, the Gaslight Downtown District, and the Zoo and Sea World!  We didn't get to take in near everything we would have liked to, but we did a pretty good job for a four day trip with a two year old!  Whew.  All I have to say is that   Cilla has slept about 24 of the last 30 hours we have been home! The one downfall of the trip, I only got one picture of three of us and Cilla was not too thrilled about having her picture made.  That's how it goes, right?!

We started our trip with breakfast at San Diego Desserts.  It was yum-my!  I had the most delicious pineapple muffin.  Only in California!
Yay for her nose getting better every day!

After breakfast and taking in a little of the San Diego State Campus, we headed to the famous San Diego Zoo.  We saw lots and lots of fun animals.

Koalas.

Camels.

Zebras.

And one of Cilla's favorites, Giraffes, just to name a few!

The zoo is so big that we had to take a bus tour in order to see most of it.  The double decker bus ride was a hit!

A view of some of the beautiful architecture in the city.

One of the highlights of the zoo, was the "kid's zoo" which allowed the little ones to get up close and personal with goats and sheep.  Cilla took full advantage!

We tried to tell her that she could see all the goats she wanted in Arkansas!  But, it was still one of her favorite things!

Our little Goat Whisperer!

Since one of our very favorite things to do on vacation is find great places to eat, we were excited to stumble across this cute little place for lunch called Gulf Coast Grill.  We got a little taste of the bayou right there in California!  Notice the whole crawfish garnishing Flint's meal!

Day Two:

 We headed to the San Diego Zoo Safari.  It is about 30 minutes out of the city, but well worth the drive.  It was even more fun to take in than the zoo.

This place was so beautiful and it was breath taking to see the animals in more natural habitats!

This little lady LOVED seeing all the animals!

This guy was proving to on-lookers why he is called "King"!  

He put on quite a performance for us!

We were not able to take the tour on which you go right up to the animals and feed them, since Cilla was not old enough, but we still got to take a train tour of the park.  I would say this was one of the highlights of the trip!

Cilla also loved the gorillas!  They were hilarious to watch.

Again, we worked up an appetite and had lunch at one of our favorites from Texas, BJ's.  Yep, that's my two year old eating avocado egg rolls!  She cracks us up with her eating habits!

To be continued......

Gymbacks and Falls

On Friday night we took Cilla to the Razorback gymnastics meet with the Allen girls.  As you can see, it was pink night in support of breast cancer.

We all enjoyed ourselves, even the daddies (but they probably will not admit it!)

Cilla was a little hesitant about having her picture made with Sue E, but this was not near as dramatic as Santa Claus!

Cilla loved watching all if the events

....running in the lobby

....and walking on the balance beam!

On Friday night she looked like this...

...and by Saturday morning she looked like this!

This picture was actually taken on Sunday morning, but she took a fall on our neighbors sidewalk and did a number on her nose.  Poor girl.  She has been a pretty tough little cookie about it, though!  Her first big boo-boo.  I am sure there are many to come.

SEC Bucket List

So, my Hubby, Mr. Holy Turf, is working on a SEC bucket list.  He has a list of 100 things every SEC fan must see or experience in the SEC in their lifetime.  So, all of you die hard (or not so die hard) college football fans should hop on over to HolyTurf and check it out.   Some of the items on his bucket list thus far include Momma G's nachos at Auburn, Florida's famous 2 Bits cheer, 

The Ole Miss student section and "Glory Glory to Ole Georgia." 

I wanted to include some of the pictures from last fall that I never posted.  As you can see, we live and breathe football the entire fall!

Flint on UGA's campus

Maxwell and Flint the Georgia vs. Arkansas game.  What a day!!!

Flint headed to OSU for their Thursday night game.

Crazy Tennessee fans tailgating at LSU!

 What's on the menu for Auburn tailgaters?!

 Flint at Auburn with our friends, the Brauman's.

Max and Flint at Jordan-Hare!

Flint and Corby at JerryWorld!

The Cramer boys and the Cockaboose at South Carolina.

 South Carolina game.

Flint and Stacy in Gainsville, oh yes, with Tim Tebow!

Alachua Sink

Flint, Thomas and Stacy at the Florida game.

Arkansas vs. LSU

oh GLORIOUS day!

The score says it all...

I thought in honor of the bucket list I would share some of my favorite things around the SEC.  I will have to wait and see if my favorite things make HolyTurf's top 100!

1.Toomer's Corner.  

2.The Grove at Ole Miss

3. Rocky Top and the Power T at Tennessee

4. Bama Houndstooth and the famous Bear Bryant hat

5. The Hog Call

6. Alachua Sink.

The Gator reserve in Gainesville.

7. The cow bells at Mississippi State.

Annoying, but a big tradition.

8. UGA, the mascot

9. "Gator Bait" cheer

10. Kentucky Cheerleaders

11. The Cockaboose tailgating tradition at South Carolina

Travel Tips

Okay, all you mommas.  I need some advice.  

We are planing a trip to San Diego and I need some tips.

1.  What do you do to entertain your two year olds on long plane rides?  Tips please!  Last time we flew with Cilla she was just on the brink of being a crazy!  Now, she will not sit still in my lap for more than two minutes unless she is watching Mickey.  Which means I need to take our DVD player and her Mickey Mouse Clubhouse DVD!

2.  Any advice on what to do in San Diego?  Of course we are doing the zoo, the wild animal park, and Sea World!  We would love some other ideas, though!

I know I can count on you to come through!