The weather was absolutely beautiful our whole time in San Diego. The boys and I extended the trip 7 days, and were able to stay for 2 whole weeks. Here are some of the things we filled our time with:
1. Playing on the deck! Even when it was a lazy day, I could send the boys out on the deck and watch them from inside. This alone was so nice, since we are currently stuck indoors in Utah. They loved the sunshine!
2. Beach days! We took 2 trips to the beach while we were there. I would have been content with just one, but the boys absolutely loved it! So we had to go for a repeat visit. Owen enjoyed splashing in the waves and "building" sandcastles . Porter loved chasing the "ducks" (read: seagulls). This was probably my favorite part of the trip!
3. San Diego Zoo. It was so ridiculously crowded when we pulled into the parking lot. We parked on the last row at 10:00 am! We started to wonder if it was worth it, but figured it was. Luckily, we already had tickets and didn't need to wait in the ticket line (easily over an hour long!) Once inside the crowds dispersed and it didn't seem that busy. The boys loved the elephants and the tram ride.
4. Visiting Grandparents. Since my mom's parents live just down the road from my parent's, we saw them frequently during the 2 week visit. My dad's parents live a little bit further away, so one day we loaded up the kids and went to visit them. It was sweet watching the boys interact with them. Owen wouldn't leave before singing them "Jingle Bells", just like he had sung at the Retirement Home the previous week.
5. Holiday Bowl Big Balloon Parade in Downtown San Diego. My Dad has looked forward to taking Owen to this since we were in San Diego 2 years ago for Christmas. The crowds were a little larger than we anticipated, but we found a good spot and had a great time. Porter got a little fussy towards the end, so we packed up to go and then noticed Thomas the Train coming... we had to wait for Thomas! It was Owen's favorite balloon of the day.
6. Brad and I stayed in San Diego for the rest of the day/evening to celebrate our 7th anniversary! Thank you to all the family who helped with the boys so we could enjoy a night away. We enjoyed relaxing & reading on Coronado beach, lunch in Coronado, and dinner in Little Italy. The next morning we explored Balboa Park before heading home. It was the perfect little retreat.
7. New Years Eve "Just Dance" and Wii with the family. I wish I had video of Brad's version of "Toxic" by Britney Spears, we were all dying laughing. It was pretty funny watching everyone participate. Owen loved bowling on the Wii-- he was pretty good by the end of the night!
8. Catching up with old high school friends and college roommates. Janelle, Tonya, and I went to high school together and now we're all married with 2 kids. We got together for dinner at Janelle's parents' house and let the kiddos run/crawl around while we caught up. I love these girls! I'm so excited that Janelle & her husband just moved 10 minutes away from me. Yay!
Brad with Wyatt & Paul, two of his college buddies. I actually was introduced to Brad through Wyatt & Jeff, so we're all good friends. It was fun to see them and catch up in between parenting moments of "Don't hit him"; "Take that out of your mouth"; "Don't throw that". Good times!
We also got to see the Andrews, our neighbors from Walnut Creek...but we forgot to get a picture. We always love getting together with them when we come into town. I wish we were still neighbors, now that we have kids and I'm not working-- we'd have lots of otter pop parties!
It was so good to be "home" for awhile. I haven't lived in San Diego for almost 10 years, but it will always be home to me!
