It's the Little Things: Spontaneous Wanderings

Exploring UCSD

Last weekend we decided last minute to take a mini getaway to San Diego. We spent Saturday night down there and went with absolutely no agenda. Aimlessly wandering is our favorite way to travel. We made little stops along the way to our hotel, stopping once at a pumpkin patch/petting zoo (more on that later), and then deciding at the last minute we'd like to check out UCSD's campus. We love wandering around college campuses, and UCSD is really pretty. We ate lunch at their food court, and Ezzy signed in on a giant white board. The highlight (for Ez) was a meandering stream flowing down a hill near the student center, complete with mini water falls. Ez squealed when he saw the running water. After UCSD we checked in at our hotel (the one bad part of spontaneously traveling is we did not research our hotel nearly enough - definitely wouldn't ever stay there again). 

We dropped off our stuff and headed right back out the door for sweets at Extraordinary Desserts. We discovered this place on our last San Diego trip, and if you're ever in the area I highly recommend stopping by. There's often a line spilling out the door onto the sidewalk, but we got lucky and there were only a few people in front of us. By the time we sat down on the patio, the line was out the door again. This time we got a nectarine torte and an apple pie. Soooo delicious.

There was a park right across the street and we thought it'd be a good idea to let Ez run off all that sugar. He made a few runs down the slide, but he was most interested in a red motorcycle parked nearby. He kept squealing and pointing at it, so we walked over there. I'm pretty sure that was the highlight of his day. He is such a boy.

We wound up at Seaport Village as the sun was starting to set. We'd never been there before, but it's a really cute little shopping and dining area right on the water. Ez loved pointing out the boats floating by, and a helicopter kept flying over us, which is pretty mesmerizing if you're a little boy. We wandered around there until it got dark. One of my favorite parts of the trip was when Ez decided he didn't want to hold our hands, so he backed away slyly from Joe, fell down, then hopped back up and started dancing, like he was saving face and it was all part of the dance. A lady standing nearby started cracking up. Which of course ensured that the dance party continued every few steps. Joe got a little video:

The next morning we woke up, checked out, and ate some brunch al fresco. The weather was so nice all weekend, mid 70s and sunny. Afterward we visited the maritime museum, and then we went across the street to a park/splash pad. It was seriously one of the best parks I've ever seen. Not only do they have the splash pad, which Ez beelined for, but they had this cool hill covered in that cushiony playground flooring, and it had some boulders to climb on, a curvy balance beam with balls, a few slides, and some arches to climb up and down the really steep side. It was such a great layout for kids to get a workout without even realizing it. They also had some fun old school equipment: a seesaw and merry go round, as well as a really high tech looking playground. If we lived in the area I'd definitely be there on a weekly basis. Here's a little video of Ez at the splash pad:

Afterward Ez was exhausted, so we made the trek back home, and Ez slept almost the entire way (2 hours). 

Linking up with Ashley and Jess for their Little Things linkup!