On Monday we went to breakfast at Hash House a Go Go. They are famous for biscuits, and unfortunately Abe dislikes biscuits, so he bargained hard to get his swapped out for a pancake. No such luck. Instead they gave him toast. It was still delicious.
Then we drove to San Diego’s Old Town to catch the trolley tour. We did the Go City build your own pass, and we wanted to do the trolley tour first because it gave us a great overview of things we wanted to fit in the week. The trolley tour took two hours and covered Old Town, the Gaslamp district, the Embarcadero, Coronado Beach, Balboa Park, and a lot of other places that I can’t remember. Clarissa fell asleep on me in the carrier for most of the tour, and Ammon was pretty good and only tried to jump out of the trolley window a couple of times. Abe was great at catching him.
After the tour, we wandered around Old Town and discovered its connection to the Mormon Battalion. The Mormon Battalion was recruited by the U.S. government to fight in the war against Mexico, but by the time they reached San Diego the war was over. So instead they helped build up San Diego. We went to the courthouse they built, and we explored the original town square of San Diego–the “birthplace of California.”
Then we walked in the blazing heat to the model train museum down the road. Ammon LOVED it but immediately got in trouble with the host because he tried to touch stuff. As I was reaching out to pull him away, the host beat me to the punch and yanked him off of the display with a sharp reprimand. I spent the rest of our time there both enjoying the trains and trying not to feel upset at the host for touching Ammon so harshly. Of course, I completely understood her frustration, but I still felt upset about the interaction.
Ammon broke into tears upon our announcement that it was finally time to leave the model train museum, and the only thing that consoled him was when we used Clarissa’s carrier to let him ride piggy-back on my back. He loved that, and even though it was swelteringly hot, I did too. We hiked up the hill to the Church’s site dedicated to the Mormon Battalion and they took our photo there.
Then we headed back to the car, gave everyone snacks and water, and drove to Balboa Park. At Balboa Park we got really lucky with the parking and found a spot in the lot right across from the Museum of Man, which was on our pass. We headed to the museum and enjoyed the exhibit on monsters with the kids. They loved learning all about monster myths.
Then we headed upstairs to an excellent exhibit on race. I tried religiously to read all of the most important sections to the kids, and then I tried to ask them questions to see if they understood what the exhibit was about. They were very distracted by a coloring station they had spotted en route to the race exhibit, so finally I gave up and just let them go color while I read the rest of the exhibit to myself.
After the exhibit, we headed to a dinosaur sculpture where the kids played. Abe was a hero and ran a mile to a vegetarian fast food restaurant called Evolution. He picked up the most delicious fast food we have ever eaten and literally ran it back to us. In the meantime, while we were waiting, Ammon pooped again and Mary had an enormous temper tantrum. After dealing with that, I packed up the kids and walked them around the square until Mary calmed down. While we were walking, the kindest balloon man came up to us and just gave us three amazing balloons: a spiderman, an octopus, and some other shape which I couldn’t quite figure out.
With the balloons in hand and a calmer Mary, we walked back to the dinosaur exhibit and Abe showed up shortly after. He was so fast! I couldn’t believe he had actually run a mile, fetched our food, and run back so quickly. We ate while the kids played some more and then wandered over to the Spreckles outdoor Organ. Abe took Ammon to grab the best seats in the outdoor seating–right in front of the organ. I stayed by the fountain at the theater entrance holding Clarissa in the carrier while the girls fished pennies out of the fountain, made wishes, and threw the pennies back in again.
Then we headed in to join Abe for the organ concert. By that point, Clarissa was done so I had to immediately retreat to the side of the theater to a walkway with bushes. It was out of the way so I felt free to dance around with Clarissa to the music. We were just in the middle of twirling to Beethoven’s 6th symphony–performed on the organ for the first time ever–when Abe wandered over with Ammon. Ammon was apparently incapable of sitting through the concert, so I loaded him and Clarissa up on the stroller and took them for a walk until Abe and the girls joined up with us.
Walking with Ammon and Clarissa through the Moorish gardens by the Museum of Man was one of my favorite parts of the day. The sun was setting so the heat had subsided, and the gardens were so peaceful. The kids were subdued and it was just a delightful experience.
Then Abe and the girls wanted to show us a tree by the parking lot that had the most incredible roots we had ever seen. The roots looked just like a waterfall. They were massive and tumbled downward from the tree just like streams of falling water.
Again, after this day of adventure, the kids fell asleep in the car on the way home and we transitioned them successfully to the tent. It felt like a full, happy ending to a full, happy day.