san diego zoo

Our house feels much emptier today, now that my sister and niece have gone back to Portland. I miss them already, so to extend their visit (at least in my own mind), I thought I’d post a few photos from our weekend adventures.

First stop: the San Diego Zoo!

A koala, doing what koalas do best. 

A polar bear contemplates global climate change.

Gorgeous ginger blossoms!

Mama panda nuzzles her playful cub.

A gaggle of gossiping flamingos

Hippo bottomus

Next on our list: a blissful respite at the spa, followed by a raucous evening at the Orange County Fair.

Seems as if fair food gets more outlandish every year, doesn’t it? But Templeton my husband was in Hog Heaven! I had BBQ’d chicken and roasted corn. Again. Which, by the way, was delicious. For dessert, I had sugar-free Dippin’ Dots. (My dinner menu seems a bit self-righteous boring, I confess, now that I’ve typed it up for public consumption.)

Peep show! The animal exhibits are my favorite part of the fair, followed closely by arts and craft displays. Congratulations to my friend Stace Dumoski, who had TWO photos accepted for exhibition this year!

My heart ached for this beautiful giant, who was forced to ferry passengers around the perimeter of a miniscule enclosure.

Of course, no SoCal visit is complete without at least one trip to the beach. So after wandering around a Farmer’s Market in Long Beach, we took a stroll along the boardwalk in Laguna.

A lifeguard station on a quiet stretch of sand. But bleh, don’t look too close: that lifeguard’s performing (what should be) a private search-and-rescue operation. :/

The marine layer moved onshore a little earlier than usual, and since our visitors hail from the Pacific Northwest, they were amused by our comments about "overcast" skies.

Toby’s crashed out on my husband’s keyboard this morning, completely exhausted by all the activity. But I’m ready and eager to go at it again, so hurry back, Mei-Ling and Arielle! xoxo