Sanity and fun in San Diego mini-vacation

I recently returned home from a weekend getaway in San Diego with my two young girls. Madeline is 10 going on 25 and Anna is 5 and still my baby.

Let me start by saying that it’s nearly impossible to keep two kids who are into totally different things entertained (and from killing each other). So I went into it the trip expecting a challenge. It turned out to be a blast.

Our first was stop the San Diego Zoo. As we walked through the front entrance we noticed the enormity and the beauty of the place right away. The only way to describe it is lush. Right away both girls wanted to head off in different directions. Anna wanted to see the gorillas and Madeline wanted to see the elephants. So I naturally did what any sane mother would do and avoided the squabbling by taking the bus tour. No choice for the children is sometimes the best choice.

The bus tour was the best idea ever! We enjoyed seeing all of the animals and listening to the guide explain about each exhibit. The kids loved, loved the elephants, polar bears and gorillas.

After the tour was over we went back to get another look at the gorillas because the girls were completely taken with baby gorilla. He was playfully jumping on his mamma vying for attention. Then he would run off and hide behind a rock. Anna found him hysterical. I’m thinking because the little guy was just like her. Constantly pestering. Maddy thought so too.

On the tour we noticed the Sky Ridet. There was quite a line and it’ll cost you a few bucks extra, but the view of the zoo and the city of San Diego is well worth it. That said, it’s really high and a bit scary, so keep that in mind if your children are afraid of heights. Both my girls were good to go so we flew above the zoo and enjoyed an amazing view.

After a full day of zoo time we headed out to the Hyatt Regency Mission Bay. Our room, a basic two-bedroom unit with a small bathroom, and runs about $239 a night. Ours was 15 floors up and had an amazing view of the bay, the beach and, even better, the Hyatt grounds.

We also had a view of the three pools from our room. Two of the pools offer water slides that are surround by palm trees. The girls were all about getting out there and giving them a try. No matter that it was a mere 65 degrees and breezy -- the water was around 75-80.

They swam while I sat by the pool, wrapped in towels, sipping a glass of wine. I gave the girls a couple of hours before heading out to La Jolla. Dragging them away from the pool was difficult, but when they realized there were more adventures to be had they were game.

La Jolla, “the jewel” in Spanish, is named so for good reason. The beaches and the ocean are breathtaking -- not to mention the homes and the people. The area is quaint, pretty, rustic and glamorous all at the same time.

I took the girls to see the seals at The Children’s Pool, which is in La Jolla Cove. The Children’s Pool has a walkway vantage point, a cement walkway with a protected guard rail that allows people to walk out towards the ocean without actually touching the sand. It’s kind of like a board walk on a cliff. We stood on the top of the cove and peered down at over 20 seals. They completely take over the little beach.

I explained to the girls that the Children’s Pool was once a coastal bluff called Seal Rock Point. Its water was shallow and it had a huge offshore rock called Seal Rock.

Ellen Browning Scripps, a La Jolla philanthropist, donated funds in 1931 to build a sea wall to close off the seal channel and create a safe bathing area for children.

In the 70’s, seals began using the beach as a winter site. Until 1997, people and seals shared the beach. But because of very high levels of bacteria caused by the seals, the beach was deemed unsafe for human use. So, now we watch from up top as the seals warm themselves on the sand. It’s all pretty cool. People are allowed to walk down the stairs to the beach area, but may not move out past the rope boarders that the city put up.

Swimming, the beach, seals and walking. By 6 and the girls were starving, so we head out to Sammy’s Woodfire Pizza for a quick dinner. I was tired and hungry, and the girls had been behaving up to that point, so I didn’t want to push my luck by trying something different. Pizza, salad and wine (for mamma). The food came out quickly and the girls engulfed their food almost as quickly. All is good when the Lewis Ladies are fed.

When we returned to the hotel from dinner, the outdoor fire pits were blazing. The girls remembered that the front desk attendant mentioned that the Hyatt sells S’more kits. So we headed into the pool bar to buy one. I have to say, I was a bit annoyed at the $20 price tag. Who would have thought that graham crackers, chocolate and a few marshmallows would cost us so much money! My advice: Buy your stuff at the grocery store before you go.

After a good night’s rest in extremely comfortable beds, the girls and I were ready to check out SeaWorld. We had been there before, but this time there was no stroller to push around. I have to say, that made a huge difference. The girls had a blast playing at Sesame Street Bay of Play. I actually thought that Maddy would be bored at the seemingly young area of the park. Not so.

You can count on the sea life exhibits at SeaWorld to keep the whole family entertained. The Shark Encounter features a 57-foot walk-through tube running the length of the shark’s habitat. The Penguin Encounter has nearly 300 cold-weather penguins. And one of my favorites, the Forbidden Reef, allows SeaWorld-goers to get up-close-and-personal with moray eels.

We opted for dinner at Corvette’s Diner, less than a 10-minute drive from SeaWorld in the fun and friendly Point Loma area of San Diego. It’s a real throwback to the 50’s, where servers are named Flo (our server really was named Flo) and dressed in poodle skirts and have hairdos to match. Our burgers and Brownie Sunday Dessert were really good, and our server was even better. The girls loved Flo because she threw an exorbitant number of straws on our table and then later proceeded to give each of us a new hairdo.

On Sunday, our plan was to drive up to Carlsbad, about a 40-minute drive from The Hyatt Regency at Mission Bay, but the girls enjoyed the hotel so much that we all opted out of another amusement park day. The girls enjoyed the pool, while mamma enjoyed reading a book and sipping a Bloody Mary by the pool. Our little vacation getaway was a complete success, but definitely had us wanting more.