San Diego

Ah, this week has been COLD! I'm missing my 74 degree San Diego weather.

Tyler wanted to take me somewhere for my 40th birthday. I opted for spending it with my kids during spring break. We headed south to one of my favorite places on earth. Alex is at a fun age where I knew the older kids would love seeing Sea World and Legoland through his eyes, and I wanted some beach time.

There are a few traditions we have when we go south. We are on the road by about 2am so breakfast in Vegas at Palace Station is a good place to recoup. They have a pretty good breakfast buffet for cheap.

Sea World


The second day at Sea World we hit the rides first, namely Shipwreck Rapids. I had never been on it, there was no line, and we were excited our entire family could ride. The kids kept it from my knowledge how completely soaked I would get. I must have been sitting in just the right area of the boat because I came off watered down from head to toe. Our next destination was a whale show where I wrung out water from my socks and spent the rest of the day basking in the sun in an attempt to warm up and dry out.

Legoland


We have a favorite little restaurant on a pier in Oceanside that we like to eat at when we've been to Legoland. Ruby's is a fun, family diner atmosphere and if you hit it at the right time, it's a great place to watch the sun set.

San Diego Zoo
This zoo is pretty much the bomb. Definitely one of the coolest zoos I've been to. The volunteer at the entrance suggested we ride the sky ride over and see the pandas first since the lines for this tended to get long.

 

Aren't big brothers the best when the day gets long and your feet get tired?

Sunday
I packed Sunday clothes which honestly can be a nuisance since they take up space and you only really wear them for one hour. Sometimes we pack more formally and sometimes I tell the boys to just throw in a white polo shirt. However we pack I'm always glad I pack for Sunday. It makes vacationing over the Sabbath that much better when we've attended sacrament meeting and recommitted ourselves to living the gospel of Jesus Christ.

We found a ward about 15 minutes from our hotel and got there a little early. As we were sitting and waiting for the meeting to start, a young deacon approached Erik and Nate and asked them to help with the sacrament. Nate was wearing his informal polo shirt so this deacon's dad took off his tie and let Nate borrow it until after the sacrament. I loved that the church of Jesus Christ is the same no matter where we end up. I'm glad this young boy sought out two strangers and asked them to be of service. I was kind of kicking myself though for not packing a little more formally.

We checked out and before heading home we made one last stop to the Mormon Battalion Visitor Center. This one little stop meant we didn't get home until 2:30am, early the next morning but it was a place I remember going to as a kid and wanted to visit again. It was actually a stall tactic. No one really wanted to go home to school and work.

On the way home I scored a seat in the back where I got to reread one of my favorite books: These Is My Words. I also got a glimpse into how Erik operates in the backseat. He scores as much food as he can from the breakfast buffet at the hotel and carefully secures his load to be eaten on the way home.


Good things
warm weather
good health
pain relievers