San Diego

With my pregnancy sickness mostly gone, a new van, summer still in full swing, and a looming fear that we won't see Cam & Auds for about 4 years (Cam got accepted to periodontal school in Maryland so they'll be moving), D & I didn't question setting aside a week to drive to San Diego with the boys to log some family and beach time.

Sunflower in Cam & Audrey's neighborhood

The drive went so well... we left around 6 am and got there around dinnertime.  The boys were true angels the whole drive down and didn't sleep hardly a wink.  We got to Cam & Auds' house and they picked right up from where they left off.


 

We had dinner and the kids played... then after putting them down, Auds taught me how to blanch peaches while Cam and D watched the Olympics

Lennox & Claire

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D went for a run one morning and I got out for a walk one of the mornings too... their neighborhood is so pretty

Jig was dying to be with Grant all of the time.  Thinks he's the coolest and most hilarious.  They had some classic piano playing moments!

We stayed the first night with them, but then moved out for a couple nights to the Residence Inn nearby... Croz & I had a little pool time!

That afternoon we dropped the boys off to Cam & Auds and drove up to Ocean Beach where Hodad's to-go was waiting for us.  We just ate on the beach, took in the sights, got to talk.  So nice.  And then walked around hippietown; people-watching galore!

Pier

Ocean Beach

Love it so much out here!

Back to our little nest #10

At bedtime D & I were going to banish the boys to the living room/kitchen area with Jig in his crib and Croz in the sofa bed.  We couldn't stand it though... after bathtime Croz snuggled into this cloud bed in the main room and was so incredibly happy there so the boys slept in there together... Crosby was sawing some serious logs in that dreamboat bed!

We ate breakfast together, took our time, played in the room, D was playing his guitar.  It was such a vacation :)

Coppertone butt

Vacation.  My boys.  Trying to picture one more baby face in this crowd; he'll be here before we know it.

Beach day with Cam and Audrey and kids!  Croz couldn't WAIT!

We drove up to Laguna and landed at Treasure Island beach... let the fun begin

Seriously?  They are cute!

Our baby shark.  The water was so gorgeously blue.

Even though the sand was quite on the abrasive side and we were in an undertow danger zone,  after eating some hoagies and cookies and splashing in the ocean we all felt pretty darn fancy free!

Auds & I splashed in the ocean; it was so so fun!

D's always the designated sand digger with the kids

Our Yoda kite; Grant became a master flyer!  We left it stuck in the sand for someone else to have.  Crosby is still asking me about it; "Who got our kite?  Do you think they liked it?"

Fresh from the surf

Perfect V

After lots of beach, we took a short drive up to Alta Laguna Park, also known as the "top of the world"

 

Up a trail from the park are a couple short trails to get you to the top of the world/beautiful view of Laguna and surrounding 

I am so thankful for our new van!  It made for such a smooth and comfortable ride everywhere we went... we had only just gotten it about 4 days before the trip so it was good timing.  Packing up to head back to Chez Beck for the rest of our stay.  

We hit La Jolla Beach; Jig wanted to put his own sunscreen on

D & I grew accustomed to noshing on the beach...  my finicky pregnant self was DYING for burritos the whole trip for some reason so we kept trying little Mexican spots and it tasted soooo good!

La Jolla was extremely crowded... parking was insane

But once we scored an awesome spot the boys were in their glory again... endless sandbox!!

The crew

That night D & I stayed with the kids while Cam & Auds went to the Navy Ball... oooh la la... they looked so classy and nice!  We went for Frosty's and goofed around; the kids were in a wacky mood that night so it was nice & memorable :)

Saturday was another fun day spent together... we all admitted we wanted to check out Hash House A-Go-Go with their larger than sin portions and delicious food... not disappointed!  At least we knew to share!

This is just a dinky kids' pancake... WOW... notice that the plate could hold 4 of Grant's heads

We had a two-hour tour of the harbor on a boat; it was such a fun San Diego-y thing to do that none of us had ever done!  It was very beautiful; end of the day light out on the water

Beautiful fam

So pretty with the sun on the water

The kids were a tad on the antsy side toward the end; Jig was running in circles

I will ride on a sailboat someday.  Like on "What About Bob"... I'm sailing!

Those dimples spell danger.  Holy cuteness, Brig!

The U.S.S. Midway.  This is where Cam & Auds attended the Navy Ball the night before!

San Diego, we love you.

Later that night we partied with Marie Callendar's pie, ice cream, dancing to Vanilla Ice on the patio, and star gazing on the tramp.  It didn't feel like a sad goodbye the next morning for some reason.  I think part of it is driving.  It feels friendlier as you drive away, as if you'll be back the next day.  We love you guys so much Cam, Audrey, Grant, Claire, and Brig!  It was so wonderful to spend that time with you all... here's to soon, we hope!

We had planned to split our trip on the way back and stay in Vegas Sunday night, so we already had our place reserved.  D & I made an extremely last-minute decision to forgo Aliso Viejo beach in Laguna on our way to Vegas and hit Venice Beach, because he still hasn't seen it in full swing! Then after a jaunt along the crazy we'd let the boys wander the canals.  So after driving the extra hour we made it to Venice no prob BUT there was not a single place to put our vehicle; it was insanely crowded.  Packed.  We were there almost 2 straight hours with absolutely no luck; you can imagine the sadness and frustration.  So I had to take pictures from the window of my beloved Venice Beachtown :(

D drove around while I took the boys to at least wander the bridges & canals and move their little legguns.  Poor us; literally NO place in the city to park... nowhere!

Croz loved all the bridges.  Sigh.

Once we headed back on the road we were all so beat.  Our detour set us back 3 or so hours so we didn't get to Vegas til 11 pm and I had a mega case of swollen walrus foot by the time we made it to the Springhill Suites.  Even though we were painfully tired some of the best memories of the trip were from that night; everyone was giddy and it was a spankin' new hotel with fancy sliding doors to the bathrooms and Croz and Jig were going nuts with those.  We had to track down some EasyMac to feed the boys and they were eating it under this spotlight and there was wrestling and Spongebob and laughing. This palm tree was at some gas station on the way; I love it.

Next morning we woke up and went down for breakfast and got on the road to the Bellagio!  The conservatory is a must-see in my book; it is always so lovely.  The HYDRANGEAS!

The light streaming in was so gorgeous.  My sweet Crosby.

Giant bees.  There were giant ladybugs too!

Now where to go next?