California 2015: Day 6

Our last full day in California was a busy one! Here are a few pictures to show the start of our day, courtesy of Will and his little red camera.

We were staying in a suite with a living room.

One of several books Will read on the trip -- Pendragon #3.

Will took this shot of San Diego's downtown as I was driving. 

One of our priorities in San Diego was to visit Gene's great aunt and uncle. We had tried to see them on Thursday but Uncle Jack was unwell and we ended up visiting them in the hospital on Friday morning. Henry was named after Aunt Lucinda's father, and Jack and Lucinda were both so excited to meet our boys! It was a good visit!

After our visit, we decided to hike in Tecolote Canyon.

Henry and a leaf, by Will

The church where Gene was baptized, by Will

photo by Will

 We saw many birds and beautiful flowers on our hike.

After hiking, we grabbed lunch before heading down to Chula Vista to visit the Living Coast Discovery Center, a nature center located on the Sweetwater Marsh National Wildlife Refuge. The center has five sea turtles. Because of Henry's fascination with turtles, it was a must-see attraction!

Henry found the turtle on the shuttle bus.

 Turtle Lagoon: home to four green sea turtles.

The Living Coast Discovery Center offers a variety of VIP animal experiences, including feeding the sea turtles. We signed up and it was the highlight of the California trip for Henry.

The boys fed the turtles kale, lettuce and special sea turtle kibble. 

The four green sea turtles are brothers and came to the center after eggs hatched unexpectedly at Sea World. 

 

After feeding the turtles, our VIP experience continued with a behind-the-scenes tour. We saw a baby leopard shark,

a touch pool,

and an octopus that is not on display yet.

The center includes a variety of birds, including a toucan who was showing off for us, 

and raptors and owls, like this burrowing owl.

We also visited Sapphire, the Center's loggerhead turtle. Sapphire was injured by boat's propellers in Florida and was rescued twice before coming to the Living Coast Discovery Center. She has weights on her back because her injury meant she was unable to fully submerge.  

We touched rays and sharks too!

We ended our time at the Living Coast Discovery Center on the walking trails that took us to the former gunpowder factory and out to San Diego Bay.

Henry said goodbye to his turtle friends. What a wonderful day for our turtle-loving boy!

We had just enough time to splash on the beach back on Coronado Island 

before ending the day with barbeque and local craft beer. 

Our last full day in San Diego was a wonderful combination of all our favorite things!