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Top Five Things to Do in San Diego with Kids

This year for our kid’s spring break, we decided to do something a little different. Instead of spending our entire vacation in Tucson with my parents, we split our vacation in half and spent four days in San Diego and the remainder of the week in Tucson. We had never been to San Diego before and had heard it was a great place to visit with kids. We booked our ticket to fly from Minneapolis to San Diego and return from Tucson, Arizona. Given the high price of airline tickets, it really wasn’t that much different and would save us driving time.

I had high expectations for San Diego and I wasn’t the least bit disappointed. It is a fabulous city with tons to do, beautiful weather, excellent outdoor dining and enough sunshine and ocean air to make anyone smile, even a grumpy kid. What I loved so much about San Diego is its ease for pleasing everyone and its endless amount of things to do outside. By carefully planning a trip that involved a little bit for everyone, we all had a fabulous, memorable time.

When traveling with kids, it is easy to fall into the trap of doing everything that is kid-focussed and kid-friendly. But after you read this post, you will see that you can easily find enough fun for all ages making San Diego the perfect place for a family vacation.

Here is my top five list of what to do in San Diego with Kids:

An evening in La Jolla

La Jolla is magical, simply serene in its beauty and tranquility. And, what can be better than seeing all the mama and baby seals in the wild? The kids loved this place as did I. We meandered along the boardwalk taking in the gorgeous views, watched the seals and their pups and then finished with a spectacular Italian meal on an outside patio near the beach. In my book, it was the perfect way to spend a lazy afternoon.

A day exploring the San Diego Zoo

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La Jolla Caves, San Diego California

An afternoon in La Jolla

Nestled along the coastline north of San Diego lies the beautiful, hilly seaside town of La Jolla. Known as the one of the most affluent addresses in all of San Diego, La Jolla is the perfect place to dine, shop, and visit some of California’s most beautiful beaches.

I had heard all the rave reviews of La Jolla and was curious to see if it would meet my expectations. After landing in San Diego on a Friday afternoon in late March, we headed to our hotel in nearby Del Mar to check in and then drove straight to La Jolla. As soon as we arrived and we saw the spectacular, rugged 7-mile coastline I knew La Jolla would be wonderful. La Jolla is a place that anyone instantly falls in love with.

La Jolla Caves, San Diego California

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Bon Voyage! A week in France….

“Above all, watch with glittering eyes the whole world around you because the greatest secrets are always hidden in the most unlikely places. Those who don’t believe in magic will never find them.” – Roald Dahl

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Today I’m leaving for France and I’ll be honest, I can hardly contain my excitement, anticipation and joy. France holds a special place in my heart. I lived there twenty years ago twice, once in Paris as a student at the Sorbonne and the next year in Marseille doing a business internship at the age of 22.

I blossomed in France. I became a woman. The world was at my footsteps and I will always look back at my time in France as one of excitement, discovery, growth and joy. It was one of the best times of my lives, yet thankfully I have many other times that have also qualified for equally as great.

This trip will also be extremely special because not only am I going to revisit all of my most favorite, memory-ladden places, I will also be taking this trip with two extremely special people in my life: My mother and my sister.  Looking back now, although we have traveled a lot as a family I don’t believe we have ever taken a trip just the three of us.

Meanwhile, my wonderful dad is coming (in the place of my mother who has graciously watched my children for the last eight years while I’ve traveled with my dad) to help “babysit” the kids while my husband works. Should be an interesting time. I’ve already typed up five pages of detailed instructions. Looking over at the list, it is no wonder I’m always tired!

While I’m away, I am going to try my hardest not to blog. Instead, I’m going to focus on soaking everything in…the beauty, the architecture, the food, the people, and lovely fantastic Spring in Paris and Provence. I am convinced I will beat my record of 800 photos in a week. What do you think? I’m thinking it will be over a thousand.

So in the meantime, while I’m away, if you are missing my blog you can keep abreast of my pictures and trip via two other sites that I will be updating. You can follow me along on facebook and Instagram where I’ll be posting some of my favorite pics….

Thirdeyemom on Facebook

Thirdeyemom on Instagram

Here is a sample of my site…I’ve become a little addicted to Instagram lately as I love looking at photos so if you know any good ones to follow or you have an account, please let me know.

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I will also try to post one photo a day from my trip on my other photoblog, thethirdeyeworld. Thethirdeyeworld is the sometimes ignored and overlooked little sister of thirdeyemom. If you haven’t checked it out before, please feel free to do so and subscribe!

Sadly, this blog will be left alone with no posts until I get back! I promised myself I wouldn’t waste anytime inside my hotel room writing a blog post when I could be out enjoying France. So stay tuned! 🙂

A bientôt! 

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Snorkel, Sun and Fun at West Bay Beach

Roatan is in the largest and most popular of the three Bay Islands off the coast of Honduras and surrounded by the second largest barrier reef in the world: The Mesoamerican Reef that stems all the way down to Belize making it a diver’s paradise. Roatan is more touristy and developed than its neighbors Utila and Guanaja, yet this long narrow island of 50 km long has a little something special for everyone.

I opted to spend my first day and night in the lovely West Bay, located at the southern tip of the island and awash in picture perfect white sandy beaches and amazing snorkeling just steps away from the beach. It was a wonderful welcoming to such an amazing place!

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This short path lead directly to the beach. It was less than five minutes from my hotel.

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Grand View Lodge: Friday

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Photo above of storm rolling in over Roy Lake, 9 am.

Today is our last day of vacation here at our cottage on Roy Lake. The weather has been perfectly hot, gorgeous and stormy at night. Except for today. Another wave of thunderstorms swept in during the middle of the night bringing dark clouds, loud rumblings and lots of rain. Our last day will be cool, thunderous and rainy. But overall, we couldn’t have asked for better weather.

I’ve thoroughly enjoyed our week away. Most of my vacations are rather busy and intense. However, our week on the lake is always relaxing. There are no mountains to climb. No sights to see. Just the lovely water waiting for us to enjoy and the beach. It is a great week to spend together as a family, enjoying each others company and creating lifelong memories. But by the end of it, I am always ready to go home.

I will sure miss the gorgeous sunsets and the call of the loons. But it will be here waiting for me, next summer, when we come back.

Here are some photos of my favorite sunsets during the week.

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Grand View Lodge: Tuesday

Yesterday was the first day I could finally ease into that Adirondack chair and relax. The kids were off playing games in the morning and I indulged into one of my favorite pastimes. Reading. I completed a beautiful book that I need to add to my Worth a Read page called “The Memory of Love” written by a Sierra Leone woman named Aminatta Forna. As you can probably guess by now, I don’t read anything too light and fluffy.

Yet the book truly made me think deeply about so many things in life. How fast time goes. How much we take for granted. How love is everlasting. The cruelty of war, rape and death. How hope and resilience rises above it all. The beauty and power of the human spirit.

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Vacation. Relaxation. Eat. Drink. Be Merry.

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View from the beach.

Today is the start of our official week long family vacation! This is our third year that we have come to stay at a cabin on Roy Lake in Nisswa, Minnesota. I can hardly wait to relax. Life has been too busy and it is time to sit back, relax, spend time with my family and chill. I haven’t decided yet whether or not I will be blogging. I may take an entire week off as a blog vacation. Or I may do shorter posts with a photo of the day from this beautiful part of the country. We’ll see.

In any event, my response to reading your posts or comments will be delayed. Have a great week! thirdeyemom

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