Balboa Park

As soon as we drove into Balboa Park I was in love. It reminded me of when Edson and I went to London. Spending time with the Laryea family sipping champagne and picnicking in the park while everyone from every walk of life and every age frolicked around us was a beautiful thing. Anywho, that was Balboa Park. Lots to do, lots to see and a lot to just sit, watch and enjoy.

We went multiple times. We had to. There was much to much to see and do in one day and who doesn't want an excuse to go to such a cool place anyway?! If only we could live near one of these places. I'd probably go every day.

I digress. Here are the pics and the details of what we did during our time at Balboa Park.

When we first arrived we decided to walk the grounds and just get a lay of the land. We came across these huge trees with incredible roots, followed by a huge dragon/lizard-like sculpture, some really awesome architecture and a grand courtyard just perfect for a picnic.

She is absolutely singing Moana in this picture and pretending she is on a boat. Gotta love her!

We kept walking down towards the Fleet Science Center and a big fountain. We ran into some more great architecture, loads of people: some selling fruit, others selling bubble contraptions. Either way, we got away with just playing with the bubbles and doing some fountain-jumping and not buying a thing. Phew!

There was a Japanese Garden, too! This is just the view from the top because we were too cheap to enter (not affordable for this family of 5) and the museum pass didn't cover this one! It definitely looks pretty though.

This next place was probably my favorite. It is the Botanical Building and Lily Pond. It was free, so right there it tooted all the right horns. Besides that, it was beautiful. I was taken just by the building and the light and the ceiling and the plants and the flowers and and and....

I told you, I liked it.

The Touch and Smell area. The kids (and us, of course!) LOVED this!

The ceiling, again. 

Just a little behind the scenes shot. This is usually what his face looks like until I say "Reallllllly Reno?!" 

This is about 5 shots later after Cayenne made Reno set up her baby. Now she is telling him to take a picture with their family. 

There are so many museums in Balboa Park, it's pretty unreal. One of our favorites was The Nat (the Natural History Museum). Luckily, while in San Diego we found out about the Macy's Museum Month where you get 50% off all museums! We were thrilled and tried to take advantage of it as much as possible (we used it at Midway). 

All that being said, below are pics of The Nat. We were lucky enough to visit when Ms. Frizzle from the series "The Magic School Bus" was there. It was a cute show, followed by lots of crafts and activities for kids and exploring the entire museum. Cayenne's favorite part was definitely when she found an airstream trailer in a section about camping and what to find in nature. She did her combo scream/giggle and yelled "Look, Mommy an R.B.!!!!!" I love her scream/giggle combo and that she isn't fully pronouncing her V's yet. Everything that she sees in an RV Park is also an R.B. (translation RV). Forget the idea of fifth-wheels, travel trailers and all that. 

We had a little picnic before the Spanish Village Art Center in a large grassy area nearby. The kids found a bunch of palm fronds and made a little fort that Cayenne pretended was her home and made sure we only went in the front door and put our phones in appropriate places. I think the boys helped built it so they could have some alone time throwing the football with Daddy.

Lastly, we went to the Spanish Village Art Center which was a cute little brightly covered artsy area with shops, a couple cafes and a courtyard. I could totally picture my Mom having a little storefront there. They had a gem shop, too that we got to explore.

San Diego Mineral and Gem Society fun

I adore these hanging totems. They can be personalized. I know I got their business card (now if I can only find it!).

Love this one of my handsome hubs. One of my favorite pictures of him.

Some more random fun: 

We quite literally only scraped the surface of Balboa Park, but every step of the way it was amazing. Those lucky San Diegans. I hope they realize how awesome that place is. We definitely do. 

Only a handful of posts left in San Diego. The next one highlights a few of our other favorite parks. San Diego is home to some of the greats for sure!