San Diego kids fun

We just got back from a weekend in San Diego and I would like to mention both Legoland and the San Diego Zoo.

Legoland is a theme park geared to the under 10 set. It's probably best for kids 4-10 or so, but it has rides and activities for those older and younger as well. The rides are often scaled down amusement park rides, but they are tied to Lego themes, like castles and pirates. There are also Lego creations everywhere. The Safari ride is filled with Lego animals; the streams have Lego salmon in them; there is a test drive area where you build and race Lego cars; there is a factory display showing how Legos are made and there is the miniland. These impressive structures are giant dioramas of key features of American cities including Washington DC, NYC, Las Vegas, New Orleans and San Francisco. The buildings are highly detailed as are the people. The New Orleans Mardi Gras attendees even have beads.

If you don't like zoos, the San Diego Zoo won't convert you. If you do like them, you will be surprised by the size of the facility and the rarity of the collection. Any zoo can have a golden or bald eagle, but how many have harpy eagles or stellar sea eagles? The lizard house had an appealing number of Australian and Chinese snakes and lizards.

The most appealing aspect of the zoo was how they mixed species in habitats. One watery monkey display was also home to river otters. While we watched, a young monkey played chase with a pair of otters in and out of the water. I'd never seen the like.