San Diego

We had a wonderful trip to San Diego! The kids had so much fun! In fact, Kirra started crying on our last day and told me she didn't want to fly home but wanted to stay in "San A Dego" forever. Our first day was a travel day. We arrived earlier than Mom and Dad but waited to meet up with them. We got our rental vehicle and then drove to the waterfront and had a delicious meal at Roy's. Monday was our first full day. We headed to a beach to enjoy the sunshine and the breeze off the ocean. It was great to splash around in the waves and feel the sand beneath our feet. Kirra even walked along the beach and played in the sand - a huge feat for her. Jaret's favourite part of being on the beach was finding sand crabs. He couldn't get enough of digging for them and holding them in his hand. He even wanted me to get a cup to save some sand crabs in for us to take home. It didn't happen obviously and we explained to him that we need to leave the sand crabs on the beach for them to survive. Afterwards, we went to Carlsbad Outlets to look around and then drove to La Jolla. La Jolla was a great community and we loved walking along the ocean. We even saw some sea lions lounging on a rock. This wasn't as exciting for Kirra though as she liked seeing all the seagulls up so close. Tuesday was a full day at SeaWorld and was so much fun! How can you not have a fun day surrounded by sea creatures? They have added rides to the park. I don't remember rides there when I was young. The shows were amazing and so much better than I remember as a kid! They have even added a lot of acrobatics into the show. Jaret loved Shamu and came home with a Shamu basketball net for his bedroom door and a Shamu stuffie. He liked sitting in the splash zone and getting splashed at the shows. Kirra loved the penguins the best. It was so cute watching her do her little penguin waddle. She came home with a penguin sun visor that she wouldn't take off in the store and a penguin bracelet. Kirra enjoyed some rides with Grandpa and made a friend on one of the rides. Later that day, she saw her friend again and the gave each other a big hug to say good-bye. It was so adorable. Neither seemed to want to let go or say good-bye. It was a wonderful day! Wednesday we spent a down day at the resort. We stayed at Welk Resort in Escondido which was pretty far out from all the sites. It was a huge resort with so much to offer and we really enjoyed our quiet day soaking up the sun by the pool. Jaret had fun on the waterslide. We can't even count how many times he went down the slide. It was perfect for him to do on his own as it didn't end in a pool but the slide just continued on with shallow water at the end. For Kirra there was a paddling pool and spray park. The evenings at the resort were so peaceful. Once the kids were asleep in bed, it was relaxing to sip wine while sitting on the patio of our condo. However, the last night was a little stressful as Terry and I were sitting out there and a skunk approached the patio. Thankfully we jumped up in time and ran inside and avoided getting sprayed. It was a close call - yikes! Thursday and Friday we spent at LegoLand. The first day we only did rides and the second day we did a few rides and spent time at the waterpark. Jaret loved the roller coasters and couldn't get enough of the rides. The lines were all very long. Even at the waterpark, Terry and Jaret stood in line for over half an hour for each slide. Kirra liked the spray park and again made a friend that she played with most of the afternoon. The only time they didn't play together was when I took her with my parents on the Lazy River and when we played in the pool together. Saturday was our last full day. Mom and Dad went to Balboa Park while we toured the USS Midway with the kids. This was a highlight for Terry. And Jaret really loved seeing all the different airplanes and helicopters. From the tour we met up with my parents and went to a Padres game. The Padres lost to the New York Mets but there is just something about being at a live ball game. Kirra and I even danced our way onto the Jumbotron. We enjoyed many delicious meals while in San Diego. The first was at Roy's. We also ate twice at Karl Strauss Brewery which was an awesome restaurant! Too bad they only have the chain in California. My Dad and Terry enjoyed all the different choices of beer they had to offer. And we ate at PF Changs one evening. My parents love this restaurant but we had never been. We will definitely be on the lookout for this chain next time we are in the US. On the last night, although it was late, we ate at CLevel which was right on the water overlooking San Diego. It was so beautiful to sit there and we even enjoyed seeing fireworks over the water. It was so much fun to be able to visit San Diego for our summer vacation. And great to travel with my parents and have them share in the joy the kids exhibited with all that we did.