Pair-o-Doxies: San Diego, part 2

How do I love thee, Coronado? Let me count the ways.

This was Nolan's first time to experience the beach. Do you think he was a fan??

After the beach, we walked a few short blocks to the main street and enjoyed a quick dinner outside. It was such a beautiful day.

*****

We knew we had to get back to Coronado Sunday. After some breakfast, of course.

Again in the interest of prolonging the outdoor happy hours (and in lieu of getting super sandy very first thing of the day), we went - you guessed it! - to a playground on the island. Oh, how can you people stand how exciting we are?!

We did walk a mile-ish to get there from our parking area. The sights of Coronado are simply breathtaking. If I can score like $5 million to buy the tiniest house there (no, not exaggerating -- we looked at Zillow), I'll be moving.

While standing at the swings, I got to chatting with a nice gal who lives there locally. She happened to mention that there was a dog surfing competition scheduled at Imperial Beach, just down the way, later that morning. Mikel and I said -- this we gotta see. So after a while, we hopped back in the car and made the 20 minute drive to Imperial.

...How it could be so sunny and nice in Coronado and so overcast and cold at Imperial Beach, I have no idea. But it was. Still, it was plenty entertaining to watch these amazing pups surf!

All of these volunteers stood in the choppy, freezing water, ready to grab a dog or a wayward surfboard after each run. It was quite a production.

Below is a woman who is getting a sunburn but doesn't know it because she is freezing to death. Nolan, however, seemed perfectly fine -- and was the only one not sunburned later! Quite the mystery and miracle.

I had to keep a grip on him so I could hoist him high when a big wave would come. That boy is so fearless, he would have probably been right out there with those volunteers!

I think there were probably about 200 people viewing the event - and the majority had a dog with them. It was quite the popular attraction!

That afternoon - after a group nap - took us back to Coronado's beach. Sadly the clouds (and a bit of ocean debris from the previous night's high tide) had found their way there, too, but it was still lovely.

Fearless. And this water was COLD!

Nolan - being Nolan - kept wanting to play in the water, so Mikel - being brilliant - brought a bucketful of water to him. Perfect!

The Super-Sized Seagulls heard that we came packing goldfish crackers, and after grabbing a sample, they kept a close eye on us. Gross.

Do you spy the dolphins??

(Dad, you have all but ruined the V-shaped bird formations for me.)

A few sights on our walk to dinner. Such a beautiful town.

This doggie had a prime window watching spot.

Another great day.

*****

Monday morning meant it was time to pack up from out little apartment and start thinking about heading home. We did manage to squeeze in one more experience: the San Diego Children's Museum! I have developed a strange (or maybe not that strange) affinity for children's museums. They are usually as much fun for the adults as the toddlers, in my experience.

The Rain House

The Bubble Station: Mikel showed Nolan how almost anything can be a bubble maker.

You were supposed to smell the box and guess what was inside. I thought that was a risky station (could be stinky!), but we all recall how excellent of a sniffer Nolan is, so we had to give it a go.

For a boy who is crazy about "things that go", it was no surprise that the truck room was where we spent most of our time.

The museum owns several chickens, which they bring out intermittently for the kids to pet and feed.

The museum workers made a super ultra major huge deal about everyone making sure sure sure sure to wash their hands after touching the chicken... which didn't make me want to touch the chicken.