Mission Basilica San Diego de Alcala

Mom, Dad and Papa got into town yesterday for the next 2 weeks!  We are so excited to do some more touristy things with them, explore some new places, and some old.

So we started this morning, with this great mission right down the road from us.  I can't believe we've never been there before!  It is the first of the 21 missions in California, and is known as the "mother of missions."  It is pretty small compared to the Mission at San Juan Capistrano, but still beautiful.

We snapped a few photos as we walked along the walkway in front of the mission first.

Inside the main garden area there were some nice statues, and lots of pretty flowers and plants.

The walkways and fountains were great.  It was small enough to do in about an hour, but we really enjoyed learning some of the mission's history.

Eliza and Audrey were excited to recognize some familiar artifacts and exhibits of the Kumeyaay Indians, like this Ewaa and grinding stone.

It was a great morning, enjoying the peaceful setting and learning some history.  Then we were off to meet Dominic for lunch before hanging out at the house for the afternoon.  The beauty of visiting for 2 whole weeks, is that we don't have to cram too much into each day.