San Diego - San Diego Zoo

You just have to love Meercats!

A cactus in bloom.

I know, Rhino. Sometimes I feel that way, too.

This baby giraffe was about 20 minutes old when we got

to the enclosure! He was still a little wobbly on his legs!

Chillin' and chewing on some bamboo.

San Diego - Hash House A Go Go

Back in 2004, Josh and I vacationed in San Diego and had the opportunity to catch up with a good friend of mine from Washington University. Scott and his wife gave us some recommendations of places to eat while were exploring their corner of the world... one of those recommendations was Hash House a Go Go, a really cool breakfast joint.

We have talked about Hash House ever since and couldn't pass up the chance to make a return visit with my parents.

One of the notable features of the food served at Hash House is the portion size... check out the size of Josh's snickers pancake. That's right... snickers pancake. Delicious. And huge. (I made him put his hand in the picture so you could get a sense of its ginormity. And yes, that is a word.)

This is my order of french toast. Also delicious. Also ginormous.

Oh, Hash House. We love you so.

San Diego - Maritime Museum

After my dad's presidential breakfast presentation, he had to attend to some other work... so my mom, my uncle, Josh and I all headed over to the Maritime Museum to kill some time.

Getting to the museum was half the battle - San Diego was unusually cool and windy while we were there. And by windy, I mean gale force gusts that practically knocked you off your feet.

The Star of India, originally built in 1863.

My sweet mom getting blown by the wind...

and who will be mad at me for posting this picture.

The HMS Surprise... built as a replica and used in the movie,

"Master and Commander" starring Russell Crowe.

Josh steering the HMS Surprise.

Torpedo chutes in a Russian sub. Never, and I mean never,

could I stomach being stationed on a sub like this one.

(Two toilets for 80+ crew members... we read that disposable

underwear were popular due to unpredictable access to the facilities. Yuck.)

San Diego - Hard Rock Hotel

Last week Josh and I trekked across the country to San Diego to hear my dad give a presentation at the NCME (National Council on Measurement in Education) convention. His address marked the end of his term as president of the organization and was preceded by a introduction that was more like a roast! We enjoyed the opportunity to see my dad "in his element" and couldn't argue with a trip to San Diego.

As president, my dad was provided with a suite in the host hotel for the convention... the Hard Rock Hotel. The room had floor to ceiling windows that looked out at the convention center downtown. Pretty nice.

The hotel was filled with rock and roll memorabilia, including this ornate costume worn by Elton John. Crazy! The rock and roll theme continued into the various meeting rooms. The room that was used for the NCME President's Reception was called the "Celebrate" room... it had a huge painting of Madonna on one wall and lyrics from her song "Holiday" on another.

Okay, okay...

I have been AWOL from the blog world for a little while.

The truth is, I haven't felt much inspiration to post.

Josh is coming to the end of the busiest part of the recruiting season... in the last month he has been to Indianapolis, Atlanta, Dallas, Long Beach, and Baltimore. We have joked about getting him a pedometer so he can track how many miles he walks at the qualifiers. They are huge events that often have upwards of 100 volleyball courts with multiple waves of play each day.

I was able to tag along on his trip to Atlanta and used the opportunity to catch up with two great friends from college. It had been at least 5 years (probably longer) since I had seen either one of them and it was wonderful to reconnect.

The Georgia Aquarium was our last stop for the weekend... I am a sucker for an aquarium and this is a great one. We were tired and the aquarium was very crowded, but I still enjoyed it immensely. Two of my favorites from the day:

Dragonfish... not the best picture, but these were amazing!

Whale sharks ... this tank was enormous.

I could have sat and looked at it for hours.