California Dreamin'

We have spent the past two weeks with our beloved daddy (and hub) at home! Dental School is set up on 11 week quarters. Lucky for us:) He completed his first quarter and 24 credit hours November 14th... and like a proud mama bear, I'm happy to report that he did so with flying colors! I am pretty proud of him! He worked really hard and it's nice to know it paid off!
    So, my mom flew in for a few days to help us celebrate (I will post about that later... I need to find those photos:) and then we spent the next few days chillin' in Phoenix by ourselves! It was so crazy to be able to get all those little things done and have a helper around for the kids and the house (I'm sure Ben could've thought of other things to do with his break, but he was a real trooper!) On Friday night, the 20th, our friend Jamie flew into town and Saturday morning we took off for San Diego! This was my first trip to Californ-I-A (does anyone know that song?) and I LOVED SD! I think I would consider moving there, if the state wasn't bankrupt and charging an arm (and a leg... and probably a finger...) to live there! Bear with me while I go through a few things we did on our trip...
      Nov 21st- Saturday- Drove to San Diego. What fun hopping from one desert oasis to the next to the next. I never could really grasp my friend, Cortney's disdain for Gila Bend (she and her husband's first job out of college) until we drove through. Wow. THAT would be a challenging place to live... made me a little sad. Anyway, I fullly appreciate Phoenix now:) We also went through Yuma, Caitlin:) I was thinking of you the whole time on this trip, as this is your "homeland:)" It was nice, if but a little close to the border! There is definitely a border patrol presence! As we pulled up to one of the border patrol checkpoints on the interstate, they had me roll down the window and asked where we were coming from... just looking for anything fishy... and Isaac says "Hey! Zachy looks like a mexican!" Oh my! That little boy is really going to get us in trouble someday! Anyway, lucky for us the b.p. didn't hear him or think anything of it:) It took about 5 hours to get to San Diego, but that included a long stop at the rest area where I fed Zach. The boys were SUPER good on the trip... Whew! Also lucky for us, Jamie has tons of rewards points at Holiday Inn, so we had a great stay in a nice hotel with big beds... always a plus with two little boys in the hotel room!

Our Crew w/ Organ in BackgroundThe Boys Playing around at Balboa Park

    
     Nov. 22nd- Sunday- Today we bummed around and went to church at the San Diego first ward. Cute building on the side of the hill. I think everything is on a hill here though:) This place is beautiful with so much vegetation and tropical trees! It is a little cooler than Phoenix though! This is the first time since we left Laramie that we are wearing jackets- weird! Oh, one thing from church... In the mother's room there were about 5 women nursing, none of which felt the need to cover up! Hallelujah! Welcome to California! I just felt good that for once I didn't have to worry about offending someone if Zach didn't want to stay covered up... I guess I'm turning more hippy than I thought:) What'll be next?!?
      After church, we took a picnic down to Balboa park and walked around to all the cute little international houses (only open on Sundays- lucky break!) and saw the Bohemian/Czech House (my ancestry). It was great because the little old couple working there were giving out traditional pastries, poppy seed bread and the most fantastic cheesecake Ben's ever had! We also attended a organ concert at the Spreckles Organ (the largest outdoor organ in the world) at Balboa Park and took a trolley tour/walked through the rest. It turns out this park got its start for the 1915 World Fair. It has some amazing architecture and was just a real gem of the city. I highly recommend it! There are museums all throughout and then the world famous zoo is adjacent. There are lots of gardens and beautiful huge trees around too. Definitely something for everyone!

      Around sunset, we crossed a huge bridge to go to Coronado. I have been dreaming of this place since I read the book, Somewhere in Time (the movie by the same name is good too- with Jane Seymore and Christopher Reeves. The beach there was amazing and the hotel is just as magnificent as it looks in the movie, or in my imagination:) We had fun walking around and taking lots of pics. I could've stayed there forever! When it got completely dark, we decided to catch some fresh fish at Joe's Crab Shack, which happens to be located in an old historic building on a pier on the ocean. Really awesome building, and really awesome food:)
     Monday Nov. 23- We spent today at the world famous San Diego Zoo. It was just as amazing as everyone says:) I think we all really loved it! The coolest part for me happened before we even got in the gates though. We were trying to do this trip on the "really cheap." Well, this was the one activity we decided to splurge on, but I was still feeling like it was a lot of money... $35 adults, $25 children. Anyway, a lady came up to me in line and just said she'd like to give me a free adult pass to the zoo and $5 off for everyone else! Wow! So, we saved $50! Awesome:) I told Jamie, and I really do believe it... that these sorts of things are little blessings Heavenly Father gives us just when we need it (not that we NEEDED to go to the zoo, but you know...) Ike loved the panda bears (a real treat... I don't think they have them many other places) and we also loved the sky tram and they had an amazing elephant habitat. Ben LOVED taking pics of everything and was really good at it:)

    After the zoo, we headed to the temple, not thinking that it was Monday and they were closed:( So, we got pics through the gates, but it is just as striking and beautiful as I could've imagined:) I loved it!

     Tuesday Nov. 24- Today we spent the day at Cabrillo Lighthouse, on a peninsula with a great view of the ocean, harbor, and downtown. Everything is just so beautiful! Oh, Ike has been into saying funny things on this trip... As we were coming out of the bathroom, he said "That was Chinese!" hmm. I ignored him and rushed him out of the bathroom as fast as I could... HOPING no one heard him:) Well, then this morning, I asked him how he slept and he said "I slept so Chinese!" Now I'm thinking he says that because we love Chinese food and he knows it's good food, so Chinese = good! Oh, his little 3 year old mind! Anyway, we spent the rest of the day at Mission Beach... my new favorite place in the world. There really is nothing like watching your hub and son play in the sand and ocean as the sun sinks slowly behind them... Don't worry, I got in on the action too, and we all came away stinking like ocean and a little wet... Well, Ike was soaked, but had a dandy of a time. I don't think I've ever seen him so amused for so long! His favorite thing to do was run down to the edge where the sand meets the water and wait for a wave to roll in so we could run back through the water. So cute! So serene. I could've stayed there forever in that moment! Zach on the other hand, was not as amused with the ocean breeze that kept hitting him and taking his breath away... he'll love it later!

     Tonight we went downtown (after stopping at Target to buy Ike some new clothes... his were covered in sand and ocean water:) and walked around the huge ships. There was an awesome aircraft carrier that we will tour next time. I've noticed a huge military presence in San Diego, of course, and just so appreciate all that they do for us. I don't think I've ever thought so much about those that protect us as I have this year and I just am so proud to be American and have these individuals protecting our freedoms. I'm trying to teach Ike about the military too... He's actually caught on quickly and really gets it... I think! We also saw the ship from the movie Master and Commander and a few others- really cool to see!

      Wednesday Nov. 24- Headed home to Phoenix to prepare for Thanksgiving. I think all of us LOVED the trip and were sad to say goodbye to our new found love:) I know we'll definitely be heading back to San Diego:) The trip home was really uneventful, other than a stop at a Yuma historical site (so I could feed baby)! What a perfect trip for Ben's little vacay!