San Diego

Is there anything at all like time at the ocean? Seeing San Diego with us has been on Ben's list since traveling there for work a while back. Including San Diego in our trip to Phoenix/Sedona was kind of a no-brainer since it was only a six hour drive from one to the other. 

After our few days in Arizona, we made the very un-scenic drive over to California.  There were very few places to stop for any reason as we drove along Highway 10. Short of mountains, huge windmills, solar panels, a couple of prisons, and the occasional border patrol check point, there was just nothing to look at. We could see the Mexican border for much of the drive. The drive made me feel a little uneasy. I just kept wondering what would happen if our rental car decided to break down. I couldn't reach San Diego quickly enough. We did, at least, have a great audio book to listen to which helped pass the time.  We pulled into the driveway of our rental home around nine in the evening. 

(I will insert here that after leaving our rental home in Sedona that morning, we drove back towards Phoenix and stopped at the best mall I've ever been to. We didn't want the entire day to be spent in the car, and Ben had been to this mall before and suspected that it would be a hit with the group. He was 100% correct. We ate lunch at a burger place he loves and then split up for a couple of hours. The guys saw a movie and went tennis shoe shopping while the girls explored. In 2.5 hours, we only saw about 1/2 the mall. We had a great time together. Grace and Kate both had a little spending money (Grace babysits now and Kate had some souvenir money from Gram as well as a little birthday money left), so they were able to enjoy picking out some treasures- clothes for Gracie and jewelry for Kate (a unicorn necklace and a pair of best friend necklaces) as well as sparkly tennis shoes. We stopped once for Starbucks because girl outings in this family tend to include yummy hot drinks. It was a great afternoon with my favorite girls and included lots of giggles and conversation. Kate is growing up so much. She was so happy to help her sister pick out clothes and watch as she tried them on. Waiting at the airport at the end of the trip, we asked the kids their favorite part of the vacation. Kate's answer was the shopping with the girls at the mall.)

Seriously, does Grace look way too old in this picture? Time. slow. down. 

I snapped this picture to send to my mom.
 Kate wanted Gram to see her sparkly tennis shoes and unicorn necklace. 

Back to the San Diego recap......

We arrived to our rental home late Sunday evening. It, much like our Sedona house, was a great option for us. Hotel rooms as a family of six are just not as relaxing as having a little space to spread out, and if we do it right, renting a home on homeaway doesn't cost much more than getting a nice hotel room. We found two great houses on this trip and they made the trip that much better. I love having a kitchen so that we don't have to eat every meal out. It is so helpful to have multiple bathrooms. I appreciate having a washer and dryer on the trip, especially when the trip involves hiking on 108 degree days or swimming. I like having multiple bedrooms to accommodate different sleeping schedules. I love when Ben and I can stay up after the kids go to bed and watch a movie without disturbing them. Both houses we rented were in quiet residential areas and made us feel like we lived there for a couple of days. 

Monday and Tuesday were spent soaking in San Diego. Torey Pines State Park (my last post) was the highlight of the trip, followed very closely by time on the beach. The weather was colder than we would have hoped (mid 60's and gray), but when near the ocean, one just HAS TO swim despite the weather. Ben and Drew went deep sea fishing on Tuesday morning while I took Grace, Luke, and Kate to the Museum of Man. All six of us had a wonderful morning. The museum was so well done and was educational for all of us, from ages six to 39. We all met back up at Mission Beach for lunch and a surfing lesson for Grace and Luke. They were so excited to try it and worked HARD for their ninety minute lesson. The instructor complimented them on being such determined surfers and warned us the kids would be ravenous for dinner and would sleep really well that night- he was right. Grace woke up the next morning and said that every muscle hurt. Surfing is quite a work out. 

Phil, our great instructor, offered to take Kate out to "surf" once the lesson was over. We were all smiling as he carried her out on the surfboard and then steered the board while she stood on it, and then all laughing as she declare surfing "easy". Love that girl. 

Phil insisted that Drew take a turn as well. He was a great instructor and obviously a father of his own. 

 Surfing in California can now be checked off of Gracie's bucket list. She LOVED California. We giggled at the number of times that Grace commented on how much she would like to live in California. By about the 98th comment, Ben turned to me and asked if we were going to regret this trip because it is responsible for making Gracie move across the country from us once she is old enough. She just loved it there.

Man, it was cold. We kept making our blue-lipped littles stop to warm up. 

 Drew absolutely loves to fish and was pretty excited to spend the morning with Ben out at sea. The two got up super early (I dropped them off at 5:15) to spend some time together. They went on the same trip that Ben had taken for work. They both came back talking non-stop about their time on the boat. The mist on the water, the fish they caught, the pelicans flying along the boat... it was a special memory for them both.

We spent our last night in San Diego downtown. We walked around people watching, shopping, and eating dinner. By about seven, the kids were ready to crash after a busy day with an early start. We put the kids to bed and got suitcases packed up for an early morning departure from CA.

Our time in San Diego was wonderful.