Headed to the Beach

For Travis' graduation and our family vacation, we headed to the beaches of San Diego and to visit our friends and family there. We had a wonderful time in the surf, sun, sand...outlet malls, Padres game, Legoland, Sea World, beaches, golf and numerous restaurants; not to mention all the fun memories created with The Balone and Krc Family.

We drove...and 20 minutes into the trip, Paige would not quit asking, "When are we going to be there?" I call this picture "Ahhh Dramamine".


"Standing on a corner in Winslow, Arizona, such a fine place to be."

We rented a beautiful 2 bedroom, 2 bathroom condo at a resort one mile from Carlsbad Beach and right across the street from Legoland. Day 1 we spent lounging poolside at our resort and later enjoyed dinner at Kristin and Al's. Bella and Paige were so excited to FINALLY get to see where mommy goes twice a year when she visits Kristin. The girls had such a great time with Kendall and Alexis (who followed "Tinkerbell" and Paige everywhere). If Bella so much as went to the bathroom, "Where Tinkerbell?" echoed throughout the house...so cute!

This is from our balcony...

Don't ask.

Day 2 was boys day/girls day. Al treated the boys to a round of golf and dinner at his golf club where he is the PGA Pro and General Manager of the Pro Shop and then they were off to the Padres game. Kristin and I took the girls to Legoland, lunch at Pat & Oscars (love that place!) and then dropped them off at the resort with a sitter so we could shop, go to dinner and shop some more!

Sea World was on the itinerary for day 3 and the boys decided to opt out of this fun since they've been to Sea World a "million times" when we lived in San Diego, albeit they were very small and probably don't really remember, but they thought Sea World was a "waste of a day." It was not the warmest day, I will say that and of course the girls wanted to sit up close and get wet at every show we went to...I finally gave in towards the end of the day when we rode Journey to Atlantis...and I got soaked! Sea World was fun, except for the worry of what the boys were up to. I should have known not to worry - those boys had their own personal chauffer (the courtesy shuttle at the resort), who took them to Pat & Oscars, the outlet mall, the resort, the beach, then back to the resort...they didn't miss us one bit (except that they ran out of money - those tips to the shuttle driver added up). Later that evening, when everyone got back, we had The Balones and the Krcs over to the resort and grilled up some burgers and enjoyed everyone's company.

Day 4 we headed to the beach and, again, not the warmest of days. After breakfast at In and Out Burger, we headed down to Mission Beach. We shopped a little to give the sun a chance to come out, which it never really did. We finally gave in and got our toes in the sand and the surf. It turned out to be a nice day, but not very warm. Bella and Trey were playing out in the ocean when a pod of dolphins swam up behind them and were having their own fun in the waves. After leaving the beach, we headed to The Brigintine in Del Mar for dinner - fish tacos to DIE for! And after that, our family photo session on the beach in Carlsbad...for which the sun (and the dolphins) made an astounding appearance. I love these pictures and the fun time we had taking them - I will always remember this trip with fond memories...even the 14 hour drive home the next day!

So glad I can get a NICE picture of my family...not!