The Best of San Diego Parks

I'm always keen on a Top 5 list, so here goes. San Diego is full of great parks and outdoor areas so we had a plethora to choose from. 

1. Balboa Park - Quite obviously my favorite as I had to do an entire post on it! 

2. Waterfront Park - This one is in downtown San Diego and we could've stayed all day. That is, if it wasn't for the call from the RV Park saying our dog was barking uncontrollably and driving the neighbor nuts. Ugh! Nonetheless, we had to come back again to fully appreciate the park (and ensure someone was home with the unruly dog). 

The fact that they are sitting that close together (without me forcing it) is a huge testament to the fun they are having. Can you see the big ships in the background? It is literally on the water!

They even got to enjoy some water play before heading home. Luckily, I had a change of clothes in the car (phew!).

3. Kit Carson Park - Now, we came to this park only after our attempt at going to a Children's Museum in Escondido was a bust. Thank goodness, it was. We got two parks out of it! We ended up stopping across the street at the Grape Day Park when we saw the children's museum: it was insanely small and overrun by toddlers. The kids got to have some fun while I figured out how to salvage the day.

Grape Day Park (fitting name, right?)

               

After five minutes of me searching the internet like a maniac (while Abuela kept an eye on the kids) we headed to Kit Carson Park. Not for the playground or trails, but for Queen Califia's Magical Circle. What???? You are probably asking. Queen who???

I asked myself the same thing, but I'd read about it and lucky for us it was only open twice a week for a few hours at a time and we were in that window and a short drive away. I swooped the kids up and off we went to explore the unknown. The pictures definitely speak for themselves, but if you want to learn more click here. It was a maze of wonderment. My favorite picture? The one where I caught Cayenne staring at herself in one of the mirrors and making faces. She actually kissed herself in that mirror. It was classic and incredibly hilarious when I busted her for doing it! 

We came across some orange trees on our way out and saw one of the groundskeepers. He told us we could pick them and so we did! 

Kit Carson Park looked mostly like an area people go to exercise and where local little league baseball games would be played. Obviously, we were able to dig a bit deeper and have a lunch date with Queen Califia and her orange trees. 

Running around with her brothers!

I assume this is Queen Califia

Such a good shot!

Abuela got to be a part of the fun, too!

Yes, Minnie joined us on our adventure.

4. Kate Session Park - We didn't find Kate Session Park until we were on our way out of town. Boy, did we miss out on that one! It was so close and had incredible views! It was dog-friendly, full of families, 20-somethings laying out, yoga and just a great space. I only snapped a couple pics because I was too busy schmoozing with locals (ok, so Cayenne was schmoozing and I was chasing her, but you get the idea).

Playing football with the boys

What a view, right?! 

5. Lastly, are the go-to playgrounds we could ride our bikes to in a heartbeat. They weren't the types that could keep the boys attention for long, but they were a good stopping point on a bike ride. De Anza Cove and Crown Point. To be honest, I didn't even know the names of them until I just googled them. Most of my pics I already included in my Great Outdoors post, but the below are my favorites of Cayenne from Crown Point. I could stare at that cute little face all day. 

I often have a ton of pictures of our Little Miss. Here is my disclaimer (and future reminder to the boys): she is the only one who doesn't complain when I take her picture. She actually WANTS to take pictures. The boys typically make a ridiculous face or scour at the idea of it. Reno especially (hence the crazy faces). I keep telling him he is going to look back and ask himself : "Whyyyyy did I do that?!"