San Diego part 2

So Friday June 10 we woke up and left for San Diego. It was nice to leave Vegas in the morning and not deal with the traffic we had been stuck in the night before. We got to San Diego without much delay and checked into our rental.

I had found a cheap and (seemingly) nice rental online that was big enough for the seven of us (we met up with Josh's brother and his family). When we got there is wasn't as nice as it had shown in the pictures and I was a little disappointed but we were only going to be there nights to sleep so I didn't think much of it.

Our initial plan was to go to the beach that night after we all got there and unpacked, but Jake and family got stuck in traffic around L.A. so they didn't get there until after 5:00. By the time we got unpacked and did some food shopping, it was after 7:00, so we decided to feed our tired and hungry children and put them to bed.

Once we got everything settled we realized we had another problem. From the minute we unpacked the food, the ants came out and tried to make themselves at home. All our food was in bags or boxes, but the ant were crawling everywhere. Jake did everything he could to kill them, but they kept coming back. We decided to make the most of it, so we went on our way.

Saturday we went to Sea World. It was so fun. It was cold most of the day, overcast all but a couple hours, but I think the adults felt it more than the children. We went to the new Sesame Street Bay of Play and the little ones had a blast, Kallie liked it, but Joseph and Jace could have been there all day.

Here's Joseph on Oscar's Eel ride. It rocks back and forth and spins around. He was in heaven.

Joseph is pretending to be a sea lion. Don't they look alike?

This is at the dolphin show. One of the big jumps. Joseph loved watching the acrobatics of these amazing animals. You can see Kallie right in front of him (he looks like he's going to eat her nose). Joseph loved that he got to experience all of this with his cousins.

I think they are looking at a walrus (it swam out before I took the shot). Joseph and Jace could have stood here all day. It's so nice that they get along.

Saturday night we came home and cleaned up ants again. Then Sunday we woke up and they were in the middle of a festival. I swear, they doubled overnight. So we cleaned them up, got ready and went to church. It was so weird because I got to go to Relief Society. I haven't been in RS for about 3 years. It was so nice to sit and listen and not have to worry about shushing children or teaching a song.

After church we came home and the ants had tripled. Jake went off to talk to the landlord (we were in their basement) and we decided to leave. So Merna and I got on the internet and found a great deal at a Holiday Inn from priceline.com. We quickly packed and moved to an ant free zone. After getting unpacked we decided to salvage what was left of our Sunday and went to the Mormon Battalion site (totally worth it).

They have a presentation that takes you from Winter Quarters to San Diego and talks about the experiences the battalion had. There are many artifacts from the march, and all the stories come from journals kept by those on the march.

After the presentation they have a little courtyard where you can pan for gold (fool's gold of course), wash in a pump, and make bricks in an adobe oven. Again, the kids had a ton of fun. I think everyone on our tour were also members of the church trying to find something free to do on a Sunday.

Here are some pics from that.

Joseph and Jace making bricks while Jake and Merna watch.

Me and my hot man. It was so nice to spent a whole week with him. I am one lucky woman.

Posing out in front. "Jake, turn around"

It's located in Old Town and you wouldn't really think it was an historic site. It fits right in with everything else. But there is an amazing spirit here. I'm so grateful for those who sacrificed to be on this. It helped bless the saints and their westward movement in so many ways.

After we finished we went back to the hotel and ate dinner (thanks to the inventor of the slow cooker). We had sweet and sour chicken. You can see Kallie as she waits for the ice cream maker to finish making our sweet and delicious dessert.

Joseph trying to be silly. He does a good job.

All tired out and ready for bed.

Monday we went to the beach. It's the first time I've ever been to the beach on Mainland USA. Ever. I've been to the beach in Hawai'i, Puerto Rico, and Uruguay (that was just a walk on the beach with my companion). But I've never played on the beach on the North American continent. When Josh and I came to San Diego in '06, we did go to the beach, but it was so cold, I think I dipped my feet in the water and then sat for a few minutes and that was it. My family came to So. Cal in '95, but we only came to the beach on Sunday and it was in December, so not much playing. So it took me until I was almost 36 to play on an American beach. But it was tons of fun. Kallie and I went out into the waves almost as far as she could go (I have about 1 1/2 feet on her). We played out there for about an hour. Josh stayed on the beach with Joseph (they both thought it was too cold). While we played in the waves, we saw a few dolphins go by. They were a little north of us and they were swimming south. They were about 50 feet away from us. It was really cool.
Here I am again with my sweet man. It was getting hot out and I knew I already had a sunburn.

Isn't he cute with his farmer tan? You should see it now that he's partially sunburned. He shoulders have hand prints on them.

My beach baby. He LOVED the beach. He loved digging and throwing and running. Here you can see him completely covered in sand. Reapplying sunscreen was interesting. Oddly, he's the one with the least sunburn.

When it was time to go, Joseph took off running, (see him in is cute red trunks). Josh had to go chase him down. He had a blast. He keeps telling me about going into the ocean and the beach. He spent maybe five minutes in the water.

I'm so glad we got to spent time at the beach. I'm not a big beach fan. I like playing in the water, but I don't like getting sandy and dirty. But Joseph got to have so much fun. So did the rest of us. Joseph and Jace played in the sand, Jake went surfing and boogie boarding, Kallie and I (and even Josh and Merna) played in the water.

We still have a few days left. I'll do another post tomorrow to finish up the trip.