Day 6: zoo day

Ugh.  This day.  So much drama.  I’m not even going to write about it.  Here are some photos…

We went to Healthy Creations (yet again) because their menu has so many things begging to be tried.

I got a strawberry smoothie and immediately regretted it. We came to a place that makes gluten and grain free fare and I ordered a smoothie?!?!  WTF kind of rookie move is that.  The “Berry Happy” smoothie was okay, but nothing great.  It had strawberries, raspberries, Goji berries, stevia, banana, cashew milk and cashew crème.  But honestly?  it just tasted like strawberries.  Not special.  I got a pecan cookie to go also and they picked out the smallest one to give me so I went back and asked for the exact one I wanted and they gave me a different one and at that point they already thought I was a lunatic so I just aborted the mission and went to sit down while the rest of the family’s food arrived.

Kyle got the paleo protein plate.  The kids split the avo toast with fried eggs on top.  And then I gave them my smoothie too because at that point I was super annoyed.  Luckily Kyle talked me down and ordered me a cafe au lait with their home-made chocolate cashew milk drink so that helped turn things around.

Wolf?

Since the zoo was all the way downtown I decided to take advantage of the location and hit up Cafe Gratitude for lunch on the way home.

They were super busy so my take out order took wayyyy longer than it should have.  I didn’t really mind (I was enjoying the time browsing the shelves) but Kyle was in the car with the kids who were completely losing their minds.

If I had all the money in the world I would buy all the organic vegan things ever.  That’s how I’d blow my millions.  It would be so fun, too.

Because my order took a crazy long amount of time, they offered me something from the case.  Twist my arm why don’t you.

I should have gotten a raw cheesecake, but we only had one day left and I was afraid I wouldn’t have time to eat it and the transport home wouldn’t work…so I went with a mighty superfood bar instead.  Looks stellar.

Do I need magnesium oil spray?  Probably.  [I didn’t get it]

We hit soooo much traffic on the way back to Carlsbad that I ended up starting my salad in the car.  It was 2 pm! I need food!

I got the “I Am Local” which was their seasonal special, with kale, radicchio, candied walnuts, persimmons, pomegranate, and a delicious vinaigrette.  I added avocado and blackened tempeh thereby making it a totally winter salad, perfect for my hippie heart.

We had reserved the tennis court at 4, but clearly weren’t making it in time for any of that since the kids hadn’t even napped yet, so Kyle called to cancel tennis.  Once we got home, I got the kids in bed and finished eating lunch.

I almost missed the “cheese” part of the salad because it was in a separate container!  It was kinda confusing to know what went with what because I ended up buying three salads and got extra dressing with each one 🙂

This was eaily the best salad I had all week in SD.

As you can see, he took his nap super well. Not.

The good news was we had a stellar dinner to look forward to.

Our hotel has a Bob’s Steakhouse on the property so obviously we HAD to go.  Aside from Christmas dinner, this was the only place we had a reservation prior to arriving in SD.

Nothing here is small.  That jar of pickles?  Massive.  That roll of bread?  Big enough for the entire family.

And you better believe I had my share of it.  With butter.  Because YOLO.  French bread is the kind of bread that’s worth it.  Not that I had any GI effects from this.  By contrast, I had GI issues ALL DAY leading up to this meal and afterwards my gut was suddenly fine.  So weird.  I don’t know what is up with my body.  I was doing great all vacation long until this day, to be honest.  I had pickles before dinner too, though, so maybe that was what helped my GI system?  I was hoping the fermented/pickled stuff would work some kind of magic, and maybe it did.  They were good pickles too!  The kids had some as well, but obvs Kyle steered clear.

Kyle got the wedge salad because it’s his favorite salad and (as a rule) if it’s on the menu, he orders it.

Kyle and I both got the filet mignon, but he got the 9 oz and I got the 12 oz.  No need to make a comment, I know what you’re thinking.  Go big or go home right?  Vacation Elise was living. it. up.

Of course the portion was GINORMOUS and I couldn’t even touch the potato.  But I’m not lying when I say this was THE BEST STEAK I have ever had in my entire life.  It was insanely good.  Perfectly cooked.  Perfectly seasoned.  100% perfect in every way.

Bob’s is also renowned for the big glazed carrot thing?  It was ok, but weirdly too sweet?  You can pick how you want your potatoes between three options.  Kyle got his fried with gravy, while the kids and I got them baked (and then they come with the toppings options).

This is half of the kids’ filet meal – they each got 4 oz of meat with a glazed carrot and half a baked potato.  You can tell it’s Valley’s portion because her potato has cheese on it.

Every one of us finished off our meat first…we had a lot of potatoes and carrots to take home.  Perfect for leftovers on our last day.