Spring Break Fun in Santa Barbara

We've never had a bad day at the Santa Barbara Zoo. It's less than an hour away, it's small enough to easily maneuver, yet has such a wonderful variety of animals and other things to do that we've had annual passes for a while now and still love it.

Plus, who doesn't like seeing lions with an ocean view?

There is also an "Ant Hill" which is super fun if you have a piece of cardboard to slide down on. We were prepared this time and brought a piece. I should clarify: Christian brought a piece from home and carried it the whole time.

WooHoo! Go Christian! He's excited that he can now go down the hill standing up. That new haircut is giving him serious confidence!

Madison shredding the hill.

The zoo has a new resident: this cute little baby giraffe. We still miss the giraffe with the crooked neck. This little guy was so fun - he was galloping all over the place then came over to us and posed. I want a giraffe for a pet!

On the way home from the zoo, we stopped in Carpinteria for a treat. I wish we could have walked along the beach to the tide pools, but there was no time, and it was a bit chilly out.

We went to a cute cupcake store called Crushcakes, but the kids (except for Ashlyn) wanted the traditional Fosters Freeze instead. So off to Fosters it was - and it was strange to be there in the daytime, not smelling like campfire smoke.

Christian was so hilarious with his giant Dipped Cone! And this is a medium size!!

When we got home we blew off track practice (since Madison was the only one who had it anyway). Christian and Ashlyn were invited to an outdoor screening of Tangled at our friends' house so I seized the opportunity and took Madison and Brooke to see Soul Surfer. SUCH a good movie! Go see it.