California Trip Part 2

On Tuesday I decided to take the boys to check out The Reptile Zoo. The pictures online looked cool and we were excited to see all the lizards and snakes. I followed my GPS to the address listed online and I had to drive past a few times before I realized that the "zoo" was situated in a strip mall next to a Copy 4 Less store. Haha. Not quite what I was expecting...

It actually ended up being just perfect. It was basically a glorified pet store with aquariums from floor to ceiling filled with exotic reptiles. Camden loved it because there were cages right at his eye level. There were a few really big enclosures that had alligators and big, giant lizards. It was a perfect little adventure to fill our morning.

I thought this red iguana was pretty cool.

Camden loved looking at these miniature tortoises. The would crawl right up the glass and he would squeal with delight. He could have watched them for a long long time.
 

Check out the lizard swimming over Brady's head!

 Brady got kissed by a snake! The lady offered to let him hold it, but he didn't want to. (I don't blame him!) The "zoo" had a fun hands-on exhibit. The boys got to pet a lizard, touch a snake and even feed a chameleon!

This is Ryan's "chameleon face". If you look closely, the chameleon is just to the right of his head on a branch. 

There were some giant tortoises that the boys liked looking at too. Another favorite was a pond filled with turtles that would come up to you if you stood by the edge of the water. They sold food that you could feed them, so I'm sure they were used to people feeding them. It was pretty cool.

After the Reptile Zoo we headed over to a park that I read about online. It said that there was a kiddie pool that was free! We brought our swimsuits along to change into after our picnic lunch.

There was indeed a kiddie pool at the park but it was behind a fence and locked up. We figured out later that a lifeguard comes from 1-4pm and opens the pool everyday, but the last week of the season was the week before we were there. There were a couple other moms with their kids who came to swim too. They ended up leaving to go to another park that had a splash pad. They were nice enough to tell me the name of the park so I just punched it into my GPS and followed them over there!

They called the park, "The Pirate Ship Park" and it did not disappoint! There was a huge pirate ship play structure and then a separate splash pad portion of the park.

Camden LOVED the splash pad. He was soaked by the time we left. He would just run head first through the fountains over and over again.

After Zach got back to the hotel we headed to Newport Beach! We were all really hungry by the time we got there so we ended up eating at this over-priced, pretty gross restaurant. Good times!

It was getting to be a little chilly by the time we made it down to the beach. The boys didn't care. They saw the water and went running straight for the waves. Zach and I hung back and watched them running just enjoying the moment when all of a sudden I realized that Camden had never actually played in the ocean before. He didn't know to stop! It was like slow motion watching him run full steam ahead into the surf while I was booking it to get to him in time. Luckily, he didn't get far before a little wave knocked him flat on his back and the surf came up all around him. It didn't cover his face but it soaked/scared him pretty good. Like I said before, it was getting a little chilly. Poor baby.

Fortunately, I packed some pajamas for the ride home. I just changed Camden into his pajamas and he played in the sand in his PJs.

Ryan loves the ocean. He plays a game called "charge!" He runs into the surf as it's going out and "retreats" as the waves come in.

The little boys enjoyed playing in the sand the most, but it got windy and cold and they were ready to go long before Ryan was.

Brady stayed wrapped in a towel for the last few minutes.

The kids were SO SANDY by the time we left. The pajama idea was a joke- we took them back to the room and showered them all off before changing them for bed. Even with the wind and the sand, it was still a lot of fun and it made us super anxious for the next Bailey Family Beach trip next year!