Wild Wonders

Before we left for San Diego, I perused Groupon and Living Social, looking for deals on fun and perhaps out-of-the ordinary things to do in the area.  I found one:  Wild Wonders.  Wild Wonders is a wildlife education, rehabilitation, and conservation center that works to benefit endangered animals all over the world.  Since we weren't planning on spending the money to visit the San Diego Zoo this time, Wild Wonders was perfect for my animal lovers.

The grounds are very steep and I would not consider them to be wheelchair or stroller friendly.  When you go, make sure you wear closed toe, sturdy shoes.

Folks who have visited the World Wildlife Zoo and Aquarium in Litchfield Park, Arizona will find a similar look for animal housing here.  Each type of animal has its own enclosure.

The highlights of this tour were the animal encounters.  The tour guide was incredibly knowledgeable about each animal - right down to quirks and characteristics of each individual animal.

I would highly recommend this as an "off the beaten path" kind of outing for families to take in the greater San Diego area.

San Diego Botanic Garden

Without a doubt, the highlight of our recent trip to San Diego was the San Diego Botanic Garden.  We loved it, and had I known how much my kids would enjoy themselves, I would have allotted more time to spend there.

The grounds are immaculate and simply gorgeous.  Paved trails lead visitors through the various thematic gardens.

Whimsical sculptures appeared in random places throughout the gardens.

My kids loved looking for toads, frogs and turtles in the pond.  See if you can spot them in the photos below....

This is also a "working" garden...

The San Diego Botanic Garden also has two areas designed specifically for children.  In the "Seeds of Wonder", the kids are free to explore lots of sculptures, sand play areas, a water pump with plastic sea creatures to play with, a kid-sized clubhouse, a miniature railroad, and they even get to pot their own cactus to take home.  I know my youngest would have loved more time to spend here.

We moved on so we would have some time at the other children's area in the garden.  My jaw dropped when we arrived.  We could easily have spent the entire day here - indulging in all sorts of imaginative play. The feature attraction is a gigantic tree house.

Right next to the tree house was an area for arts and crafts, and a huge expanse of sand, building logs, and sand toys.  My teenager ended up with a following of little kids as he built a house out of the logs.

Also in the children's garden was a section dedicated to music with all sorts of hands-on noisemakers, a hummingbird garden, an alphabet garden, and a small stream with boats.

We happened to come on a day when the Garden was hosting a special summer evening event.  We got to enjoy a musical performance from Disney princesses and a meet-'n-greet afterward.

If I lived locally, I would definitely buy a membership to this place.  We'll put it on our itinerary, but give it a full, long day, the next time we go to San Diego.

The Living Coast Discovery Center

We didn't go to Sea World this time.  Instead, being fans of nature preserves and centers locally, we visited the Living Coast Discovery Center.

A free shuttle takes visitors from a parking lot to the center.  As soon as we got off the shuttle, we joined the crowd gathered in front of the turtle exhibit to watch the scheduled feeding.

After the turtles were fed, we went inside.  The Discovery Center has permanent exhibits and featured exhibits.  Plenty of tanks and highlighted information.

Outside, there are other buildings and sections that house stingrays, sharks, birds of prey, composting, and much more.

There are even trails leading to the waterfront to explore.  If your kids are anything like mine, they'll run along the trails entrenched in imaginative play.

Since my oldest daughter was at camp up at Pendleton, she wasn't able to join us for this.  I think she'd enjoy it.  It's certainly cheaper than Sea World, and we enjoy supporting local nature preserves.  We'll undoubtedly make a repeat visit at some point.