San Diego Zoo

My husband is Mr. Spontaneous.  A couple of weeks ago he decided to go to San Diego. He made the decision the night before we left. "I'm going to book the hotel, okay?"  Ummmm... okay.

It was the weekend that I was hoping to have Maysoon's birthday party but the weather was iffy so I gave in.  Plus I was starting to become overwhelmed because I was approaching a deadline for a set of wedding pictures and trying to take care of some details of the party that was becoming a mini wedding itself. I'm trying very hard to suppress the momzilla inside, but I may be on the losing end of this battle.  I figured a mini vaycay would do me some good.

Every good day starts with French toast.  I can seriously eat it everyday.  Fun fact: I made French Toast for my family the morning of my wedding and the morning I went into the hospital to have Jenin.  Like I said, all good days start with French toast.

The road trip wore them out.  I should point out that Jenin was covered with that blanket first. Maysoon pulled it off of her and covered herself. Such a monster. How delicious do those little feet look?

 

Rami actually had a bit of work to do in San Diego so we hung out in the hotel until he was done.  We used Priceline to book our hotel and got a great deal. 

The weather was amazing and the zoo did not disappoint.  The selling point is that you get to see so many animals up close.  

  

We indulged Jenin a bit and let her do some special things.

 

Why yes, that is Rami letting Maysoon play on the jumper even though she shouldn't be there.  But remember that Rami has a history of pushing the limits with the kids. 

Quite possibly her favorite part:

My favorite part?  Like you have to ask...

 

These giraffes were so close that I seriously thought that they would step out at any point. There was only a little wall that came up the their knees separating us. I was truly scared but for the life of me I couldn't leave the exhibit. Would you if you saw this?

  

A baby giraffe! Oh how I wanted to take it home with me. Even if it was a foot and a half taller than me. 

Me and my own babies with Mama and Baby Giraffe in the background.

 

WARNING: Amena, scroll down quickly now!

The snake exhibits were awesome.  So many different kinds that were very active.  Check out the color on this guy (sorry it's blurry).

This one reminded me of when Iman had placed her pet snake in the tub while she cleaned out it's tank.  The snake climbed straight up the tile wall. Surely an image I will never forget.

 

Fuzdook (Arabic for Pistachio) never shed like this.  This was so beautiful. I would have loved to witness it actually happening. 

Ok Amena, stop here!

It was so sweet to watch Maysoon that day.  Every noise caught her interest.  Side note: That double stroller? $40 brand new from the  Goodwill in Bellingham.

It wasn't until she had her face painted that we go so many great smiles from Jenin.  We got a whole lot of this that day: 

Favorite picture of the day.

  

The grounds of the zoo are gorgeous.  So many incredible plants.  Flowers were in bloom all over.  Somehow I only managed to get one picture. Doesn't do any justice though.

 

It was an incredible day and we all enjoyed ourselves.  I think the best indicator of how well the trip was, is how quickly the girls fell asleep.  They were completely knocked out before we ever left the parking lot.