Last week was my son’s spring break. It was just me and the boys as the Husband is on an underway and I wanted to have some fun. Here is how we spent our week:
Monday: Carlsbad Flower Field
I wasn’t sure how fun this would be for the boys but I wanted to take them anyway. They both ended up having a great time. We paid the extra money for a tractor ride around the field. It was beautiful. If you have kids and want to see the whole field, I recommend the tractor ride.
Highlights for the boys were the tractor ride and play ground. My older son really liked collecting stamps from different areas, too. You can easily spend 3 hours playing and walking around and there are lots of good photo ops.
Tuesday: Air and Space Museum
We made the mistake of going on a free Tuesday. I didn’t know this until we were walking in. IT. WAS. PACKED. It was so packed that it was uncomfortable. As soon as we walked in I saw the speed exhibit and we made our way through the crown to the entrance. It’s $5 a person to get in but I felt it was worth it.
This exhibit was significantly less crowded. We were able to try out all the activities. There was pedal car racing, hot wheels tracks, tire changing, simulating car crashes with little disks, and much more. We spent an hour and a half exploring the speed area, which is rather small but had a lot for each boy to try.
We then ventured back into the main area. It was so crowded that the only exhibits you could really see were in the air. It was hard to maneuver a stroller around. We spent about 15 minutes trying to make our way through when we called it quits and headed for the exit. I’d love to come back another time when it’s not a free day. I think the boys would both enjoy looking at the planes.
Wednesday: Rockin Jump Tot Time
It was agreed that Rockin Jump was everyone’s favorite activity. Rockin Jump in Mira Mesa has a toddler time every Tuesday and Wednesday from 9-11. It’s just for kids 6 and under. They open all but one of the jump area for kids and their parents to play. For one parent and one child it’s $7 and then $3 for every other child. I thought this was super reasonable compared to normal jump prices.
We played the full two hours and had a blast. There is a normal jump area, dodge ball court, basketball hoops, a giant air bag, and a foam pit. The 6 year old loved the air bag and the almost 2 year old was obsessed with the foam pit. Thankfully they were right across from one another so I could watch both kids at the same time. We will be back!!
Thursday: San Diego Zoo Safari Park
We have zoo passes but haven’t been to the Safari Park since we moved back to San Diego last summer. It’s about 45 minutes from where we live in San Diego but it is a lot of fun! During the spring they have a butterfly exhibit where you walk through a room filled with butterflies. Filled! They were everywhere. Landing on everything and everybody. If you plan to go and want butterflies to land on you I recommend wearing red, yellow, orange, pink, or purple, but you don’t need to. They are likely to land on you even if you’re not dressed as a flower. I would also recommend that you get to the park when it opens at 9am and head straight to the butterflies. The lines get incredibly long.
From the butterflies we headed to the safari tram. This is in “Africa”. Along the way we passed the Lemur Walk where you can actually walk WITH lemurs! You go into the enclosure and the lemurs are walking around. You must be 5 or older which was a huge bummer since we had the toddler and no other adult. The 6 year old was disappointed but he’s looking forward to going in next time when there are two adults. By the time we made our way to the tram, it was about a 5 minute wait. The tram drives you around the entire exhibit and you are able to see tons of animals living together. It was so fun listening to the boys yell out about different animals they were seeing. The ride is about 30 minutes long. When we got back to the beginning the wait was an hour long. This is something else I recommend you do early.
We caught the bird show which all three of us loved. The birds fly right over your head. We also saw baby cheetahs and lots of elephants!
I would recommend bringing water, comfortable shoes, and sun screen. Escondido, where the park is located, gets much hotter than San Diego. It was 81* at the Park when we left and 69* when we made it back home!
Something else pretty cool is that there are lots of different “safari” options. Most have a younger age limit of at least 3 and range in price from $54 to $690. I think it’s something we will try with the older boy at least once.
Friday: San Diego Zoo
The zoo is a favorite of ours. We come at least once a month. Today we brought friends with us and explored the cheetahs, koala’s, and giraffes. We when walked through Africa Rocks. This new area opened last fall and has been a lot of fun. They have a troop of baboons, 3 leopards, lots of penguins and sharks, and a few monkey species. They used to have two honey badgers as well but they have been moved. The toddler was getting tired at this point so we headed to the Skyfari and headed home. Unfortunately, I forgot to take pictures! I guess I’ll have to write a post on the zoo another day.
If you’re looking for fun, child-friendly, places in San Diego, just ask! I know of a bunch more!
-KB
Teacher Life, Military Wife 