Well, our trip to the San Diego Zoo turned out to be a trip to the San Diego Wild Animal Park instead. The lure of the 45-minute train ride was just too enticing, especially since we knew we’d be spending three days on our feet in the next couple of days! For those who haven’t been to the Wild Animal Park, there’s a “safari tour” to see the animals of different continents living out on the “savanna” rather than in cages. We saw Asian and African elephants, Mongolian horses, rhinos and all sorts of deer-like creatures whose names I can’t recall at the moment. :) Our babies loved the train ride and oohed and ahhed over the animals we saw, and I was relieved that Cora seemed to be able to see many of them. (We’re still working out what she is able to see at distances…)

My parents tagged along, as did my youngest sister and her daughter who were also visiting my parents. We had a great time, but my niece found the train ride akin to some sort of extreme torture and screamed to get off for about 40 minutes until she finally fell asleep for the last five. I felt badly for my niece but worse for my sister who was absolutely mortified and could do nothing to console her. People in front of me kept turning around to stare and roll their eyes, and I found myself wanting to pop one of them! I wondered what they expected my sister to do? Throw her daughter off the train? Ugh. It was really unpleasant. In the end, my parents had to leave early to get to an open house for their new church building, so my sister and her daughter went with them. (My niece would later recount all the neat animals she saw and how much fun she had on the train. Go figure.) ;)

At lunch, we had our first taste (pun intended) of the resort food prices that are surely ahead of us. We bought $8 kids’ meals, which consisted of a hotdog, chips, drink, raisins and cookies. Since it was the best deal on the menu, my husband had a kids’ meal himself! People had suggested that we should pack in our own food and water, but we found that with our large family travels, that’s easier said than done. It’s challenging enough to bring bottles, diapers, wipes and formula, let alone a picnic lunch for 11.

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