Travelogue, as promised

Friday: Left at a reasonable hour of the afternoon but approximately 1 hour into the drive, realized we'd forgotten the keys to the place we were to stay. 100% my fault (ouch). By the time we drove back 3/4 of the way home (thanks to Jamie who retrieved the keys from my house & met us in south Chandler for the hand-off, saving us at least half an hour!) and then really got underway, stopping multiple times for food and/or bathroom breaks and/or gas, we finally arrived in San Diego at about 11pm.

Saturday: The kids were up at 6:30am, not even trying to contain their excitement at being there! Loud loud loud. They walked around a little on the beach & got their clothes sandy (Mission Bay, not ocean). They played at the park down the boardwalk. After lunch we went to see Horton Hears a Who, which I highly recommend.

Upon returning from the movie, I insisted that the birthday boy take a late-afternoon boardwalk ride on his longboard, while I hastily assembled his cake (pre-baked at home; everyone knows cakes are better baked ahead of time and frozen overnight!) which meant whipping up a batch of homemade vanilla pudding from scratch since I had no instant mix, in order to make it Boston Cream. When he got back from his ride we had presents and cake (the kids ate mac & cheese for dinner first).

Hubs and I enjoyed some PF Chang's take-out for our dinner after the kids were in bed that night. Yummy!

Sunday: Tried to go to chuch. No really, we did. Bathed, showered, ironed clothes, fixed hair; the whole nine yards. Then we tried to go to a ward which no longer meets in the building we went to (Church website had not been updated), so we shot the breeze in the foyer with a couple of people with Phoenix ties (there are always people with Phoenix ties in San Diego!) and then went back to the condo and had an extended FHE plus singing time to make up for it.

We had a picnic lunch here by the USS Midway (this picture was taken last year)

and then went to Cabrillo, which is on Point Loma, where there's an old lighthouse and some tidepools.

On Monday it was miraculously warm enough for some of this:

After a lovely afternoon at the beach we got all cleaned up and went out to dinner at Anthony's.

On Tuesday Hubs took the kids for a bikeride on the boardwalk and to some other tidepools in La Jolla (we love tidepools) while I did most of the laundry & cleaning, although Hubs did help quite a bit, and Molly had a fever. Then she threw up. Then we left & drove home. And I got a fever. Then the Suns won their 5th straight game. Then Lucy got a fever. Then we were home (after having made very good time on our drive!) and we slept. Might I add that my awesome kids made it the entire 5 1/2 hour drive without a bathroom break!

But I can't close out this post without explaining that we stayed my grandma's condo, which she and my late grandpa bought when I was a baby or before. She lives in Phoenix but spends most of the hot months in San Diego, as well as other visits throughout the year. My family always went there for trips during the summer, my whole life, and there are so many memories there.

Although it has been redecorated and has a remodeled kitchen, there are still so many relics of decades past that are so fun to see when we're there: the brown tile on the patio that my dad installed himself. The old salon-style hair dryer that resides in the master closet. My grandpa's monogrammed scotch glasses. The ancient box of ginormous maxi pads under the guest sink which boast "Beltless!" on the label. The harvest gold pots and pans set. The repainted rattan swivel breakfast room chairs. The beachy/musty smell of the elevator. Now with my own kids I have deja vu every time we go, rinsing off under the beach shower, de-sanding swimsuit linings, playing Chinese checkers and cards. Such fun, such fun!!

(Sorry for the lengthy post - I promise the next one will be brief.)