San Diego
Andrew’s brother, Jeremy, and his family came down to California for a few days, and we explored the beautiful city of San Diego. For living in Southern California for 3+ years, we are surprised we hadn’t taken a trip with our kids to San Diego before.
First, we stayed at a darling AirBNB in La Mesa. It was the perfect size for our two families and was decorated so stylishly. A flamingo wallpaper wall and blue tiled kitchen, spacious bedrooms, and an enjoyable backyard with cornhole and couches. By talking with some nosey neighbors, we found out that less than a year before, this home had been the eyesore of the neighborhood. So, we did a little digging and found pictures of the original house on Zillow. Wow, we truly were amazed at the transformation. It was the prefect distance, too, from the hub of the city.
On our first night, we walked along Old Town San Diego. Unfortunately, the weather decided to get a bit cold again for this little trip, so Old Town wasn’t as bustling as I imagine it would be on warmer nights. Still, it was fun to walk around, see the decorations prepared for Cinco de Mayo, and eat some delicious Mexican food.
The next day we went to Sea World. I’m going to be honest…I will never go to Sea World again. It was alright, but I feel like a regular aquarium is just as enjoyable and is a fraction of the price. The shows no longer hold the same fun and magic as they had before. But, lest you say we didn’t enjoy our day, let me tell you the funny moment that ended the day. We were at the orca show, and we were seated just one row about the splash zone. The whales had already flung up water onto the crowd, but it had never gotten even close to where we were sitting. Well, Grace, Madelyn, and their cousin Clara started getting a little bored and climbed down two row to sit on their own. Along comes a particularly strong whale with impeccable aim, and suddenly we are faced with a wave of water that even reached us adults past the splash zone. Andrew blocked Harper from getting wet, but all the rest of us got our fair share. The girls got soaked! But the best part was the reactions of the three girls: Madelyn cracked up and laughed so hard. She loved it! Grace looked at us in shock. She didn’t say anything but just held her dripping arms out and stared at us with round eyes, and she later quietly admitted, “I didn’t like that.”. Clara freaked out! She cried and cried and was absolutely horrified that the whale dared to get her wet. Honestly, the full range of emotions from these three girls was the funniest thing. I hope I never forget Maddy’s joy in that moment. It honestly made her day!
On our last day, we were greeted with a rainy morning. We packed up our stuff into the cars and drove by the house where Andrew lived when he was first born. Jeremy and Andrew snapped a quick photo, and then we were off towards the beach, where luckily the rain had decided to stop. We went to the USS Midway Naval ship and museum. With a audio tour by our ears, we walked through the maze of hallways and bunks within the ship. We explored the flight deck with the many unique aircrafts used in war. And we completed the kids’ multiple choice questionnaire to get them their wings. It was really enjoyable and quite fascinating. With tired kids, we went back to the car and started the drive home.
Through it all, it was so nice to spend time with Jeremy, Stacey, Clara, Truman, and baby Eliza. We love visitors, and we loved exploring a new place with them. Eliza is just a week younger than Harper, so it’s fun to see them interact as little baby friends. We definitely miss them when they are in Utah.
