Kunkler Family Adventures: February 2011

The week of my parents visit provided an opportunity to start exploring a little of what our new home has to offer. We started with the impressive Wild Animal Park (operated by the San Diego Zoo), stumbled upon the gorgeous Botanic Gardens on a trip to the beach, and enjoyed some delicious beer at Stone Brewery (just a few miles from the Casita).

Sadly most of our adventures happened while Andy was at work or out of town, hence the absence from photos...and another excuse for repeat adventures.

WILD ANIMAL PARK

A very cool wild animal safari experience allowing you to get up close to many predominately African safari animals in a more natural setting. The facility has an impressive collection of thousands of animals and serves as a rather successful breeder of many endangered animals for zoos around the world. Our first visit here with Andy's parents happened to fall on a crowded weekend, and involved an incredible toddler meltdown so I welcomed the chance to re-experience this amazing place.

Boy emerging from the egg.

Grandad and Harrison checking out kudu's, antelope and giraffes before boarding the safari train.

One of the five baby elephants and it's mama at the Wild Animal Park.

Harrison enjoying a windy ride on the safari train. The animal receiving Harrison's greatest attention during the safari was the extremely endangered Wild Somalian Ass. See enthusiastic response below.

The lion lounging on his range rover.

SAN DIEGO BOTANIC GARDENS

We stumbled upon this gem on our way to the beach at Encinitas and decided to stop by...and we were so thankful that we did! Offering a wide variety of microclimate gardens from around the world and miles of pathways, this was a perfectly relaxing and informative way to spend the afternoon. We all especially loved the children's garden space with well thought out interactive experiences and amazing outdoor classroom areas for little and big ones alike.

Harrison and Gigi .

Admiring the rock collection.

Exploring the plant alphabet area.

I love H!

Playing around in forts.

Gigi and H exploring the fort.

In the music "classroom" making cool sounds.

Jammin.

Getting feet wet learning about fluvial dynamics.

A plant from Avatar....it may eat small children.

Gorgeous container garden.

Lovely lady in succulents.

Ahhhh....a sampling of beer at Stone Brewery.

Here we are! We have finally settled into the Casita, our temporary home where we will stay until our house is complete. This magical place sits on gorgeous rural property in the Harmony Grove area of Escondido, and is a welcome retreat from the chaotic month preceding our move. Oozing with Spanish charm, this is the perfect place to spend the next two months relaxing and exploring the area. Several horses live on the property, in addition to small rabbits and a large variety of birds, and there are miles of trails at our doorstep.