San Diego

We tacked on a couple nights in San Diego to our trip. And reminiscing about the San Diego portion, I have to say I have mixed feelings. There was so much that was glorious and fun, and a lot that felt kind of disappointing to me. We had dinner at Hodad's which Tanner loves and the burgers and fries were amazing. That part was all good. We got checked into our hotel and had some fun enjoying the excitement of a new hotel. 

Beautiful sunrise. When Tanner and I came here when I was pregnant with Lottie we ate at this place called Snooze. I LOVED it and just remember it being so cool and delicious so I wanted the fam to enjoy it too. BIG mistake. It took awhile to get there, had a TERRIBLY long wait, and not a super kid friendly menu (none of those things were a big deal when it was just Tanner and I). So the kids were losing their minds and it was just awful. And took so much of our time. We went back and I put Lottie down while my parents and Tanner and kids swam at the pool, which unfortunately it was rather cold. So that was kind of a bummer too.

After that we grabbed some snacks at a grocery store and went to the beach. We didn't plan very well and just randomly picked a beach. It was fun but not the coolest of beaches, I guess, and the weather wasn't awesome. Pretty windy. Greta was so tired and ended up falling asleep and both the kids were afraid of the water. Harvey had a blast playing in the sand though, so that part was cool. My mom mostly sat with a sleeping Greta so that probably wasn't the most fun for her. I liked playing in the water and found a few sea shells. So not a total bust, but could have been better.

Tanner went to sport's bar to watch the world series, and Kathryn met up with us for dinner by the hotel. Our hotel was cool as it was close to the water and really pretty but there wasn't much within walking distance. We tried out a restaurant that boasted the best fish and chips in San Diego and no one was very impressed. It was awesome sitting by the dock and the sunset was gorgeous and the weather just felt so nice and it was fun being with Kathryn. So that part was great. Then we went back to the hotel, put Lottie down and then played games while the kids watched a movie. That part also was really fun.

The next day turned out ok. There were some stressful moments. We were trying to figure out what to do and I really have been wanting to hike around Torrey Pines. So we planned to do that and got all loaded up. It started sprinkling and I thought we'd be okay. We tried looking for a Starbucks to just get a little food for the adults cause the kids ate oatmeal in the hotel. Well, pretty soon it was like a TORRENTIAL downpour. Like all of a sudden rivers were going down the roads. It was crazy. I got soaked rushing into a starbucks and it took forever. And then we had major dilemma's trying to decide what to do. It was complicated a little by us trying to coordinate where and when with Kathryn. I got a little grumpy and it was just dumb. But then we decided on a kids museum, which the kids actually really loved. It was free kids October and a Saturday so it was plenty crowded but they didn't seem to mind.

This part was cool. You could color on a picture and then scan it in and your image would drop into the aquarium thing. So everyone colored something. Except Harvey made a tiny mistake on his and FREAKED out to the max. It took forever to calm him down and then he decided he did want to finish his picture. But refused to scan it in, until we left and then he decided he wanted to. Holy crap.

My mom's and dad's sea creatures swimming in the ocean.

And some more from upstairs because apparently they loaded out of order and I don't want to fix it.

Kathryn picked a Mexican place downtown that ended up being AWESOME. That was not disappointing at all. All the kids did fairly well there too, thank goodness. And then it was off to the airport and saying goodbye to my parents and Kathryn. My parents were on a different flight which was a bummer.

The kids did great on the flight. Lottie had a hard time on the first one - just really fidgety. But thanks to an answered, desperate prayer, she slept the whole second flight that was a little longer anyway. That was heaven for me. The bigger kids just did their movies and life was good.

Overall - only happy feelings and great memories of the whole trip. I love being able to do these things with the fam and again, so fun sharing it all with my parents. I get really excited thinking about trips when Lottie and Greta don't need naps and we can just go go go and have all sorts of fun and adventures!