The coldest beach vacation ever…(Part 1).
My family grew up spending our summers on the beaches of sunny San Diego where my grandparents lived. A few months ago when my cousin announced her engagement and upcoming southern California wedding, I was so excited to take Shane and the girls to the place where so many of my best childhood memories were made. We envisioned a week of relaxing in the sun where our biggest daily decisions would include: Beach or pool? Eat in or out? SPF 15 or 30?
Unfortunately, sunny San Diego didn’t get the memo on our plans and instead produced a week of record low temps with an overarching fog. So painful.
We did, however, still have a fantastic time of family bonding, eating, celebrating Julie’s wedding (pictures to come), hot-tubbing, eating, chatting around the fire-pit, going to to Seaworld, eating, eating, eating…
And we adjusted our daily decisions to things like: Who will do the morning Starbucks run? What indoor activity can we find to appeal to the masses? And how many days in a row can we wear the only warm outfit we brought before washing it?
All in all, it was a great 10 days in San Diego…and if nothing else, the kids are still on West Coast time so I’m really enjoying the mornings to myself before their 9 (or 10) am wakeup time.
Our first day there was the 4th of July, and sunshine or not, I was determined to have the girls wear their festive dresses.
After being cooped up for a couple days we decided to put on our sweats and head to the beach. The kids had a fantastic time playing in the sand…
….and building sand castles…
…and in some cases “tasting” the sand…
Love this pic.
And this one too (notice the sky…that’s how it looked all week).
The water was seriously FREEEEE-ZING…but Adley didn’t care at all and we couldn’t keep her away from it. It literally made your feet ache it was so cold, but fortunately Mamie was willing to brave it.
Next stop: Seaworld.
Looking for (and spotting) the dolphins prior to the show…not sure which one was more excited.
Charlie loved the Elmo ride…
…Emery was all about the tea cups…
…and we couldn’t peel Adley away from the padded play area.
When going to any theme park with overpriced stuff you don’t need and will never use, you should definitely bring along the grandparents because apparantly after you raise your own kids you get so tired of saying “no” to impractical requests that you just say “yes” to everything. Case in point: the giant Shamu that my mom was about to purchase Emery before I put my foot down (…I wasn’t about to haul that thing home). After a few tears, a lot of negotiating, and some parting hugs, she settled for a small one and has slept with it every night since.
My little model…
Other things to do during a cold beach vacation include…
Bubbles…
The Children’s museum…
…and eating portions that would make a Summo wrestler proud.
Although this trip was nothing like we envisioned, a major highlight was time spent with family (immediate and extended). One night we went to an outdoor concert in a beautiful park and while the music and atmosphere were both unbelievable, I’ll forever remember these three amigos running and dancing and singing together. This is the stuff life is made of.
…more pics to come, but for now…
Dear San Diego: you owe me a beach vacation.
