San Diego Fluffy Meet

I always knew that I was not alone. That mommy and me weren't the only two people in the world that loved each other very much. I have very many friends on Facebook. But yesterday, I got to meet a few.

I've heard about things called Fluffy Meets or Fluffy Festivals that took place in Europe, where teddies and monkees and giraffes and all kinds of fluffy friends get to come together and find true friendships. But I live in the USA, in California, so I've really only heard about such things. But I got invited to one.

 

Our mommies have never met. They've never seen photos of each other, they don't know who each other are. We only know fluffy names and stories. But my mommy loves me so much, she wanted me to meet some real friends. So we drove down to the San Diego Zoo super early in the morning. And this is what we find:

Nabe Neverland and Pabela and Mobe Grizzly and Dillon Da Donkey and Horace and so many more. My friends! :)

 

We got to see some wonderful animals together.

 

Polar Bears!

 

And Panda Bears!

 

And Llamas!

 

And Zebras!

 

And so much more...I think we all had a soft spot for bears. I don't know why ;)

It's nice to meet new friends and hear all their stories from around the world. Nabe is from Switzerland, Pabela from Paris, Mobe from Texas, Dillon and Horace from San Jose. Their mommies had stories of their own. One day I hope mommy and I can make it to the International Fluffy Festival in Europe. It's nice to know we're not alone. It's nice to know how much love there is in the world. And that sharing all that love can be just car ride or plane ride away!

Malibu

The beaches of California are legendary, even more so than some of the beaches in Hawaii and other exotic locations. Specially here, in Southern California, our coast is full of infamous surf, movie star houses,  and teddy bears playing in the sand. :)

My mommy took me on my first visit to Malibu. It's a big city of many large houses, where the rich and famous live. But its also a small beach community where miles of coast turn into family fun. You can simply pull off the road, park by the side of Pacific Coast Hwy and walk down to the ocean a few steps away. And that's just what we did!

The water is warm, the foam rushes white to your feet, the sand is clean and glistens with the bright sun. I can see why Malibu is the playground to the rich and famous. But you needn't be either to have fun in their sun. You just need to love the ocean, love the sand, love watching the waves calmly crashing and take your turn splashing around with the people you love. And maybe, just maybe, you'll find a famous little white bear waving to say hello. My life is a beach! I love getting wet and sandy :)

LIFE IS A BEACH

Sometimes a bear just has to get sandy :)

Aquarium of the Pacific

Not too far from our house, in Long Beach, there's a whole other world. Mommy and I love to lounge on the beach and stare into the ocean, but I never really knew what was in there. So mommy took me to the Long Beach Aquarium of the Pacific to show me what life is like under the water.

There are so many colorful fishes in the sea. Some of them are very big. Some of them are babies like me. They're silver and yellow and bright blue. I even found Nemo!

Some of them are a little scary looking. I saw sharks and sting rays swimming by. But mommy said they won't be mean to me if I'm not mean to them. That's good. I'm not a mean bear :)













I even got see the Sea Lions and Sea Otters swimming around.

The sea otters were very playful.







They seemed to like getting their picture taken. I made friends with one of them. He kept swimming up to me to say hi.

I think the prettiest animal was the jellyfish. They seemed really peaceful. But mommy says not to touch them, because they have stingers that hurt.

I may be a little biased, but I like the white ones the best. Hee hee ;)






 Mommy and I even decided to adopt a baby. I'm the daddy of a sting ray! I will visit him often. 

It was a fun adventure to see the world underneath the water I look at all the time as a little teddy beach bum. Now when I stare into the ocean, I'll remember my new friends.

A Teddy Poem

Universal Studios, Hollywood

Little day adventures are some of the funnest times my mommy and I have. Living in sunny southern California, beach bumming is our all time favorite, but sometimes we gotta play tourists. We headed into Hollywood and played around at Universal Studios!



We have a few theme parks not too far away. Universal Studios is actually a studio that makes movies and everything, but they have a bunch of rides based on their movies we can enjoy. First stop, mommy and I always sample the food. :) Our favorite today, BBQ ribs from the Flintstones BBQ Pit.



I was a big boy and ate all my ribs. Yummy!



One of my favorite movies is Jurassic Park. Dinosaurs are so cool! It's a big water ride with huge life-like dinosaurs all around. The T Rex almost got us, but we splashed down the hill too fast for him.



There's a lot of shows with special effects, some of my favorite cartoon characters come out to play, and there's even live animals. But my favorite part of the day was taking the studio tram tour.



We get to drive around the lot and see the sets from a bunch of famous movies. We get to see King Kong in 3D fight the dinosaurs, The Mummy comes after us, and Jaws tries to bite me!



I had so much fun playing in the movies with my mommy. Our mini adventures are so fun, and it makes me even more excited for the next big adventure.

Literature

All kids should read the Classics! I love Dr. Seuss, The Velveteen Rabbit, The Giving Tree, The Secret Garden, and The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn just to name a few…

Caffeine High

Along with being major beach bums, mommy and I are addicted to coffee. There are so many chains out there, but we prefer to visit little mom and pop coffeehouses that really put a lot of love and effort into their yummy drinks. Mommy says Starbucks is only a last resort!

Our favorite coffeehouse is Portfolios in Long Beach


Port is a locals' hangout and has plenty of couches to sit and relax on. They have computers for you to use if you need to get some work done, and original artwork on the walls from local artists for sale. They make the best iced mochas ever! They're so creamy and silky, not like others that can taste chalky.

Next is The Library coffeehouse also in Long Beach


Library is pretty unique because it actually looks like a library. There is wall to wall book shelves with tons of books you could sit and read while you sip your coffee. You could just borrow a book for the day or if you really like it, you could buy their books too. They make really good lattes there, with so many choices for flavors. They even have yummy desert cakes and ice cream to go along with your latte.

An old favorite of ours is Java Man in Hermosa Beach


Java Man is just a short walk to the beach and Hermosa Pier. They are a smaller coffeehouse with just table and chairs, but they don't mind if you hang our there all afternoon. Lots of good people watching outside and great little beach bum community. The best drinks there are their seasonal drinks. They come up with the best flavors for the seasons, their pumpkin spice latte for Thanksgiving is my favorite!

When it comes to chains, the only one mommy and I really like is It's A Grind


IAG started as a mom and pop coffeehouse in Long Beach. It's a franchise now, but all the stores still use the original recipes for their drinks. They have big arm chairs for you to relax in and artwork of jazz and blues legends on their walls. The best things to order at an IAG are their blended mochas, not super sweet, just the right amount of mocha added.

I'm sure there are lots more coffeehouses for mommy and me to explore. And we'll be more than happy to taste what they have to offer!

New Blog Address

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Driving the Coast

Living in California, my mommy and I are big beach bums. There's something about the sound of the ocean that keeps us calm. It's a nice getaway from the city we live in, and mommy says it gives her time to think. So sometimes we just drive up or down Pacific Coast Highway, along the beach the whole way. There's some great views and pretty sunsets along the way. Here's some of our favorites:

Encinitas:



La Jolla Beach:



Aliso Beach:



Long Beach Harbor:



Seal Beach:



Huntington Beach:



Newport Beach:



Hermosa Beach:



Morro Bay:



Jalama Beach:



Big Sur:



San Francisco Bay:




Mommy and me getaways are the best! Surf, sand, water, peace. I'm a beach baby through and through. And we follow the sunset to endless summers!