We love the San Diego area and have been there several times. We love this fun place we stay in Oceanside! I've been having issues getting photos to upload, and we have so many more than this, but I'm just going to go ahead and post what I have right now with these random photos...or I'm afraid it won't ever happen! Several weeks ago we took a week long trip to California and it was fabulous. About 2 days into the trip, Dave said to me, "This is great and things are going well, but I've come to the conclusion that when you vacation with young kids, it just really isn't that relaxing." Well said. But we are very grateful for busy kids that keep us on our toes! We wouldn't change a thing.
Here was our schedule we hung on the fridge at the condo:
Sea world was the highlight of the trip. This is my poor attempt at getting a picture of the sharks behind Parker and Kam.
Each of the kids were in charge of a day to choose meals and help prepare them. This girl chose to put together a "fruit mix" for her breakfast. Not to be confused with "mixed fruit" or "fruit salad." She would correct us if we called it anything but fruit mix.
Well, that certainly was a random group of pictures, but I'm just trying to make the record keeping happen. It was a fabulous trip. On our way home, we stayed a night with Dave's college roommate Quincy and his family in Las Vegas. It was so fun to catch up with them and they were so good to let us stay and feed us. Our kids had a ball with theirs and we just think the world of them!
We always make a top ten list after a vacation, so in no particular order, here they are. I typed these up on my phone on our drive home, so excuse the grammar/punctuation. I don't love typing on my phone.
Top ten (or 12) in no particular order:
1- sea world. Each of the kids said it was their favorite day. They touched Dolphins, pet a kangaroo, touched sharks and sting rays. We loved the shows too! We got to celebrate a killer whale's birthday.
2- Parker got a sunburn Monday and he is allergic and get hives when he gets burned. He did fine with it Tuesday but was miserable all day Wednesday. We felt it was a tender mercy he felt well on Tuesday for sea world- we would have expected that to be the worst day.
3- Wet suits! Dave tried to persuade Candace to use her new wetsuit, but it was so muggy and hard to get on, she kept declining. Finally on our last night she squeezed into it to boogie board with Parker. It was a hit! She loved wearing it and the waves were perfect.
4- Master boogie boarder Parker would yell out tips and instructions as he zoomed past us on his board. He had it down!!!
5- Dave took Parker boogie boarding one morning as Candace cleaned up breakfast and let the girls play. Josie was sleeping so Candace was excited to have some time to read after cleaning. The very second she finished cleaning.....Josie woke up. Later as Dave and Candace lay down for a nap, Candace said, "This is great, we can relax and the kids are content." That exact moment when she finished that sentence, Josie woke up. Made us laugh.
6- Out first night there, Dave and Parker rushed to the store to get our food for the week- two shopping carts full. Then they raced home and we quickly headed to the beach with about 45 minutes of daylight left. Dave and Parker had a ball boogie boarding as the girls ran screaming from each wave that came in. Such a fun night!
2- Parker got a sunburn Monday and he is allergic and get hives when he gets burned. He did fine with it Tuesday but was miserable all day Wednesday. We felt it was a tender mercy he felt well on Tuesday for sea world- we would have expected that to be the worst day.
3- Wet suits! Dave tried to persuade Candace to use her new wetsuit, but it was so muggy and hard to get on, she kept declining. Finally on our last night she squeezed into it to boogie board with Parker. It was a hit! She loved wearing it and the waves were perfect.
4- Master boogie boarder Parker would yell out tips and instructions as he zoomed past us on his board. He had it down!!!
5- Dave took Parker boogie boarding one morning as Candace cleaned up breakfast and let the girls play. Josie was sleeping so Candace was excited to have some time to read after cleaning. The very second she finished cleaning.....Josie woke up. Later as Dave and Candace lay down for a nap, Candace said, "This is great, we can relax and the kids are content." That exact moment when she finished that sentence, Josie woke up. Made us laugh.
6- Out first night there, Dave and Parker rushed to the store to get our food for the week- two shopping carts full. Then they raced home and we quickly headed to the beach with about 45 minutes of daylight left. Dave and Parker had a ball boogie boarding as the girls ran screaming from each wave that came in. Such a fun night!
7- Each of the kids planned a day to choose and be in charge of meals. They loved it and were so excited for their days. It worked out great, we ate really well, and completely devoured our two shopping carts of food!!
8- Church. We found a ward in Oceanside and sacrament meeting was focused on missionary work. The bishopric spoke and it was so inspiring. Dave talked with one of the counselors to get his notes from his talk. The kids went to their classes like champs, even though they get nervous to go when they don't know anyone.
9- Our sand competition. The boys vs. the girls. The boys built a sea turtle and the girls a mermaid. Kam was so excited about making the perfect mermaid.
10- Morning runs. Both Dave and Candace went running each morning. Candace did long runs and Dave would do short runs then take Parker boogie boarding. We had perfect mornings! Dave and Parker also ended each day with boogie boarding. They could not get enough!!
11- The kids were overall so well behaved. Josie, for being 9 months old, did awesome with traveling and being out and about
12- Burritos. We ate out once in California. Dave and I got burritos in a little ghetto burrito place. So gosh darn delicious!!
8- Church. We found a ward in Oceanside and sacrament meeting was focused on missionary work. The bishopric spoke and it was so inspiring. Dave talked with one of the counselors to get his notes from his talk. The kids went to their classes like champs, even though they get nervous to go when they don't know anyone.
9- Our sand competition. The boys vs. the girls. The boys built a sea turtle and the girls a mermaid. Kam was so excited about making the perfect mermaid.
10- Morning runs. Both Dave and Candace went running each morning. Candace did long runs and Dave would do short runs then take Parker boogie boarding. We had perfect mornings! Dave and Parker also ended each day with boogie boarding. They could not get enough!!
11- The kids were overall so well behaved. Josie, for being 9 months old, did awesome with traveling and being out and about
12- Burritos. We ate out once in California. Dave and I got burritos in a little ghetto burrito place. So gosh darn delicious!!
And we thought we'd record the un-top tens (just to keep it real):
1) Parker's sunburn. He was loudly miserable all day Wednesday.
2- We were so excited to take the kids to Cabrillo national park to see the tide pools. We called on our drive to California to make sure we knew when the tide would be low. We were told noon by a very helpful lady. We made sure to be there at noon.... Only to find that the very helpful lady was mistaken. No low tides during summer days. We were bummed but had fun exploring the lighthouse and seeing where the tide pools would have been during low tide.
3- The after beach clean up and showers. We were not aware that children could harbor that much sand inside their swimsuits. We could make our own backyard sand pit with the amount of sand we washed off of them!
4- Dave's multiple trips from our condo to the beach....back and forth, back and forth. He was so good to haul things around while Candace took care of Josie. Good thing we were close to the beach!!
5- We realized that taking 4 young kids on vacation to the beach is inherently not incredibly relaxing. We had little bursts of relaxation and moments of 4 happy kids here and there, but overall it was super busy and somewhat chaotic. But those perfect moments we had made all the work worth it.
6- Dave and Candace were so tired each night. It seemed we would fall asleep mid sentence while talking.
7- Parker's showers....."MOM, DAD, I NEED HELP WITH THE WATER TEMPERATURE....I NEED A TOWEL....ETC." That kid has some healthy lungs.
8- Candace giving Dave grief about the wetsuit. He kept begging her to put it on...she tried once but it was so tight she gave up and complained about it. Then she finally gave in and put it on....and loved it. In her defense she did apologize for her poor wetsuit attitude.
3- The after beach clean up and showers. We were not aware that children could harbor that much sand inside their swimsuits. We could make our own backyard sand pit with the amount of sand we washed off of them!
4- Dave's multiple trips from our condo to the beach....back and forth, back and forth. He was so good to haul things around while Candace took care of Josie. Good thing we were close to the beach!!
5- We realized that taking 4 young kids on vacation to the beach is inherently not incredibly relaxing. We had little bursts of relaxation and moments of 4 happy kids here and there, but overall it was super busy and somewhat chaotic. But those perfect moments we had made all the work worth it.
6- Dave and Candace were so tired each night. It seemed we would fall asleep mid sentence while talking.
7- Parker's showers....."MOM, DAD, I NEED HELP WITH THE WATER TEMPERATURE....I NEED A TOWEL....ETC." That kid has some healthy lungs.
8- Candace giving Dave grief about the wetsuit. He kept begging her to put it on...she tried once but it was so tight she gave up and complained about it. Then she finally gave in and put it on....and loved it. In her defense she did apologize for her poor wetsuit attitude.
No comments:
Post a Comment