San Diego

DISCLAIMER: I apologize in advance for the length of this post. I think I got a little carried away, but there was too much fun not to share it all! =)

We had such a great weekend in San Diego last weekend! We went for Uncle Paul and Auntie Melissa's wedding on Coronado Island on Sunday. Since we don't get the opportunity for a beach weekend too often (we actually hadn't even been back to the beach since we left Santa Barbara over 7 years ago) we decided to make the most of it! We had originally planned to take the boys to Sea World on Saturday. Unfortunately, Joshua came down with a moderate fever on Friday morning, so we knew those plans were tentative at best, despite the fact that we had already bought our tickets. Aside from the fever, Joshua seemed to be feeling fine and exhibiting no other symptoms, so we didn't feel that we needed to cancel the whole weekend.

At about 1:00 we were on our way to San Diego! We decided to make the drive with nothing more than our iPods (one filled with the kids' music), snacks, books, toys and crafts. In other words, no DVD player! We had such a great time. We had to give Joshua another dose of Motrin right before we left, and once that kicked in, he was feeling good, and we all really enjoyed our 6 hour drive.

We were able to talk about the things we saw out the window along the way, like the sand dunes and windmills, we sang songs, and Joshua made Andrew a bracelet out of beads. We made the whole 6 hour drive without a tear or much of a complaint. It was some great family time!

At about 6:30 we arrived at our hotel (after following the ill fated directions from Google, ending up nowhere close to our hotel and then having to call the hotel for directions). The boys were happy to be out of the car, and Andrew and I were happy to be that much closer to bedtime!

At about 4:00 in the morning, Joshua woke up crying. We took his temperature and found him to be 102.7. His fever had spiked partially, if not mostly, because we had dressed him in flannel PJ's. After changing him into a Tshirt and giving him a drink, we went back to sleep and woke up 4 hours later good as new. However, because of his spike, we decided to forgo our trip to Sea World that day. We were a little bummed, but really wanted them both to be feeling their best so they could fully enjoy themselves.So instead of going to Sea World, we decided to give the boys their first ever beach experience. We went to Mission Beach, which was about a 5 minute drive from our hotel. They both LOVED the beach, although Ben was a little apprehensive of the ocean.

First time in the soft beach sand.

Letting the waves come get us.

Ben loved playing in all of the sand, but decided he didn't think much of the cold ocean water, so he found himself a bucket, a shovel and had a blast making "cake"!

Cute little sandy feet.

Josh on the other hand LOVED having the waves come and get him.

After spending a couple hours on the beach, we headed over to Belmont Park to ride some rides. The boys loved the carousel and I got to take Josh for his first spin on the bumper cars. It was so much fun!

After our busy morning, we headed back to the hotel for some lunch and a much needed nap. Later that day we went back to Mission Beach to take in the coastal sunset.

The beach was a bit nippy after the sun went down. Can you tell Josh was a little chilly?

While Josh and I cuddled in my jacket, Andrew and Ben ventured down the beach a ways. As they were checking things out, some random guy came up and gave Ben a kite! So the rest of our time at the beach was spent sunset kite flying!

After the sun set our tummies were all rumbling, so we grabbed some dinner at a little corner taco shop, and then picked some ice cream to enjoy in the hotel before going to bed.

On Sunday morning Andrew and I woke to the sound of Joshua reading Ben a book in the other room. It was so sweet to hear their interaction and conversation with each other without any adults around. After breakfast we asked the hotel clerk for directions to Balboa Park so that we could meet up with Grandma, Grandpa and cousin Stevin to ride the train and get in some good playtime. Just so you know, this is NOT how you get to Balboa Park from our hotel:

The directions were correct, despite the fact that THERE IS NO 6TH AVE. EXIT! Eventually we found Balboa Park and Grandma and Grandpa and had a nice time at the park.

After Grandma and Grandpa took Stevin home for a nap, we decided to ride the carousel. The carousel at Balboa was great because they had a game for those sitting on the outer ring. There was an arm that extended out that dispensed little rings. One of the rings was brass, and if you got the brass ring you win a free carousel ride. Andrew decided to give it a try, and he won!

I've got the golden ticket!

After checking out the rest of Balboa Park and having some lunch and our free carousel ride, we headed back to the hotel so that the kids could get in a good nap before heading to Coronado for the wedding.

I had never been to Coronado Island. What a pretty little town! The wedding was on a nice little beach, and was so beautiful!

Because the ceremony was on the beach, we brought buckets and shovels to keep the boys busy, which proved to be a very wise idea.

Here are a few more cute pictures we took on the beach.

A Sand Dollar we found on the beach in Coronado.

The reception was at Buster's Beach House at Seaport Village. What a nice time! The boys had a blast dancing (it wasn't a dancing reception, but they weren't going to let that stop them) and playing with their cousins.

Mmmmm. Wedding cake!

By the time we got back to the hotel, Ben was officially partied out. Andrew was able to bring him up to the room, take off his clothes, change his diaper and put on his jammies, all without him so much as stirring in his sleep.

Before we headed home on Monday morning, we stopped at Pacific Beach where we had read was a good place to go to look for seashells. We walked along Crystal Pier, and then along the beach while Josh stuffed his pockets full of seashells.

For some reason Ben thought the best place to keep his seashells was on his head.

We then headed home. I can't say the car ride home was just as good as the ride there... there were a couple instances of pulling over to the side of the road for an attitude adjustment, but all in all, it was still pretty good.

We've decided that since we weren't able to go to Sea World, and we have our tickets which are good until the end of the year, we'll head back to San Diego next month to celebrate by 30th birthday, so all's well that ends well (that is, if everyone can STAY well!)