Uno Mas - if you are into sports - there is the Hall of Champions in Balboa Park (at the end by the Air and Space) and here is more about the Model Railroad Museum:

http://www.balboapark.org/in-the-par...ailroad-museum

BTW - once you park in Balboa Park (say at the Zoo) - you can walk to any of the various museums - all within a mile or so.

I think you can do the zoo in a couple of hours - or linger longer if you like - and then hit a couple/three more museums in the same day.

If it were me - I would go early to the Zoo (and have lunch there)- then the Ruben E. Fleet and/or the Railway Museum next to that, and then down to the far end to the Air and Space and then finish up with the Auto Museum, depending of course, on your preferences.

If yo are interested in California missions (in addition to Mission Purisima, you might also check out Mission Santa Barbara - it is a beautiful mission and within a couple of miles distance from the downtown Santa Barbara town.

SB:
The wharf, the beaches, the harbor, harbor cruise or whale watch, downtown/dining/ (Opal is terrific). Natural History Museum and planetarium, The Mission & Rose Garden, Zoo Gardens, Bird Sanctuary, Botanic Garden, Maritime Museum (surf exhibition), Live performers at the Arlington Theatre, Museum of Art, Celebrity estates in nearby Montecito (foothill hiking trails here, too) , a couple of classic old movie palaces. Nearby Solvang will be decorated for Yulefest and you might have time to stop at Nojoqui Falls Waterfal Park.
Oh, and Crushcakes in SB has the worlds best Oreo cupcakes and Strawberry Lemonade cupcakes.

BTW - the first Mission established in California is just above Old Town in San Diego, and if you like Mexican food and also - watching through the window from the street as the ladies make the tortillas, then Old Town Mexican Cafe is the place to be. Old Town is far from downtown or the good bargain places to stay in Hotel Circle or Sea World.

So much to do!!! very excited thanks everyone!!

Just an FYI I booked the WB studio tour and found $8 off per person by using the code "Ellen"

Hi MBM, I am booking a family trip with our boys that sounds very much like yours! We are doing San Diego and Palm Springs (Joshua Tree), and I'd love to read your trip report and hear your advice. We head out in February. Looking forward to it!
Best,
Laura

I wish I had mentioned this: http://nethercuttcollection.org/

HTTY

With kids that age, I'd visit the La Brea Tar Pits when you are in LA. There is a museum with a display of the skeletons of animals and how they have changed over the years there and a pit out front that is still bubbling oil. It is right on the corner of Wilshire and La Brea as I recall.

I just found out the other night that "Brea" means "tar", so the "La Brea Tar Pits" are the "Tar Tar Pits"!

The museum at the tar pits is the Page Museum, which I think is on the original "to do" list. I only know that because I had to think hard about what the Page Museum is when I looked at the list. I agree that it's a great place to visit. Kids always love to roll down the slope outside the museum before or after visiting the museum itself.