We headed out to San Diego on Wednesday the 2nd with Papa John and Grandma Pauline for some time together and a way for us Arizonans to escape the heat! Oh and by we...just Sara, Trevor and Ashley. Brian would fly in later. He always misses the fun car ride! Actually it wasn't so bad! We let Ashley face forward so that she could see the DVD player. She loved it and pretty soon wasn't afraid to let us know that she wanted it on!
After the kiddos took their naps we stopped for lunch at Applebees. Ashley was all about Papa John!
After a stop at CostCo we got to our rental house (four houses in from Mission beach!!), unpacked and headed to the beach. Trevor was in his zone. Seriously, he headed straight for the water and never looked back!
Ashley preferred to stay as far away from the water as possible. She much preferred playing in the sand!
Her big brother on the other hand...not afraid to get his feet wet, even if the water was freezing!
Fortunately, Grandma and Papa Hillins helped Ashley get a little closer to the water!
Ashley enjoyed watching big brother in the water but wasn't going to even put her toe in!
And before you knew it, Trevor picked up right where he left off the last time we were at the beach. Running away from the waves!
Or just being one with the water! Oopsie!
The kids slept great in our room. We had a queen bed and then a bunk bed with a full size bed on the bottom. Trevor insisted that he have the top bunk (or double decker as he called it) but Mommy had him sleep on the bottom the first night. Ashley slept in her pack and play with a barricade around it so that she couldn't see anyone else in the room and all went well! Yay! We hit the beach bright and early! Trevor was excited to try boogie boarding.
Papa John is a good teacher and he caught on pretty quick! Cutie!
Monkey see, monkey do!
We stayed at the beach until lunch then headed back to our place (best location ever for easy beach access). Both kids napped (we put Trevor in Papa and Grandma's room) so that they could be nice and rested to go and pick up Daddy from the airport after nap!
After getting Daddy from the airport we headed to Old Town to a restaurant that one of Brian's co-workers recommended. It was pretty good but the most memorable part of the meal was diva here not wanting to sit in her high chair. It is so much fun dining with a 19 month old (sarcasm)!
The next day we headed to the beach (reoccurring theme here!) and Ashley sported some cute pigtails! Papa John went early to scope a spot because we heard the beach would be busy on the 4th of July and it was.
Trevor was so excited to show Daddy his boogie boarding skills!
Pretty girl!!
That evening we waited to catch the ever illusive 'green flash' ... Brian claims he saw it this evening but the rest of us aren't so sure. If that was a green flash it should more be called a green blob.
Still pretty!
Happy 4th of July everyone! And a big thanks to Auntie Dawn for saving this adorable festive outfit for Ashley!
We didn't have to go far to see the fireworks! They shot them off from the jetty which was nice!
Boom!
Our place was on the second floor but we had access to the courtyard as well as we enjoyed our own balcony. We hung out a lot out here. It was just beautiful and peaceful! Although, somewhat noisy if the neighbors were out partying!
The kids were so tired every day that it wasn't hard to get them down for nap. You can see the room set-up here. On this particular day we got them to nap in the same room at the same time. Trevor was very into doing anything for $1!!
Well Mommy and Daddy would have paid him whatever because when they napped, Grandma and Papa often napped and Mommy and Daddy could sneak out and day drink or rollerblade. We lucked out this day and scored the awesome deck chairs that faced the boardwalk at a place not far from where we were staying! We felt like such celebrities...LOL. San Diego is famous for their red bull slushies and this place did not disappoint!
That evening though look who fell asleep before their son. Trevor thought it was hilarious!!!
Every day was gorgeous during our stay, we felt very blessed. We brought our kite along and it was just like last year watching Daddy and son fly it!
Although this year, Trevor could hang onto the kite all by himself and Daddy and Ashley could just watch!
The boys also spent hours upon hours building sand castles...or digging holes to China!
Trevor has become a very strong swimmer this summer but he wasn't interested in swimming in the ocean. He much preferred having Daddy hold him and watching the waves roll in together. Just precious!
Ashley is definitely cut from the same cloth as Grandma Pauline. These two are perfectly content watching the water from afar!
Could she be any cuter?? Sara's mini-me!
Sometimes we napped at home in the afternoon in the double decker, sometimes we needed another little snooze in the stroller! LOL
We often had happy hour at our place...and often ate at our place because like we said earlier it just isn't that relaxing going out with two kids! One night we broke out the bag/washer game. The kids thought that was fun!!
Ashley is such a smart girl. She wanted to sit by the coffee table but being on the ground was too low so she found a way to make it work! She and her brother might both be engineers when they grow up!
When we ate at home we always made sure that we popped outside for the sunset. Always hopeful to see the green flash!
Or at least to grab a family pic!
Cute!!
These two really are so cute together. When Ashley fell and claimed she had an 'owie' Big Brother came to the rescue with a band aid. Love!!
After dinner one night we headed to the best custom cookie ice cream sandwich place! Baked Bear!! Yum!! And this year Mommy could enjoy one too!
Then we walked out on the pier to get a few pics!
So cute!
Remember how we said Trevor would do anything for $1...it also worked for a massage. Best dollar spent ever!
Another day...another beach day! Yay!! Trevor looked the part of a preppy Southern California boy with his aviators on while drinking Perrier! Hilarious!!
Back to 'surfing'.....
...Back to playing in the sand and looking all cute!
Papa John was the only one that could get our little princess near the water. Not sure if it was the sound or the cold or what but she wasn't going in.
Daddy and Papa John taught Trevor how to throw the Frisbee and by golly he got the hang of it quickly. See him in action here!
Well look at this! Is she actually near the water?
Ha! She'll follow her brother anywhere except in the water. She's outta here!
She is very vocal about what she wears these days. Not only does she ask for a bow in her hair first thing in the morning before she even gets out of her crib but she picks what she wants to wear and when. She had to wear her sun bonnet and she was not getting out of her coverup this day. That's okay...Mommy and Daddy would rather have her covered up for sun protection.
We let Trevor sleep on the top bunk of the double decker and he did pretty good! We told him he had to stay near the wall and if he had to go potty in the middle of the night to let us know. Thank goodness he never did because if he did it would have been a nightmare because Ashley would have woken up and then our whole room set-up would have been blown! Thank you angels for keeping our babies sleeping!
After the 4th of July holiday settled down we did venture out another night for a restaurant outing.
Luckily they had games and things to keep the kids occupied while waiting for our food!
And when not even the games could keep them entertained, thank goodness for silly selfies!
Other memorable things from our trip include Trevor riding his bike up and down the boardwalk pretending to be Mommy and Daddy's personal trainers. Mind you Sara is not a runner but when you have your 4 year old saying 'you can do it Mommy' 'make it to the blue sign Mommy' 'keep going' etc. you do what you can!
On the second time he was so good he got rewarded with ice cream. His behavior after getting the ice cream was less than stellar though. Stinker!
But twice was enough for him though and another morning we went on our own while the Grandparents took the kiddos to the park
Ashley was super excited to find playground equipment to stretch her legs and play on!
This was on the bay side and of course Trevor had to be one with the water! If we go again Trevor has already stated that he wants to scuba dive in it!
After that though it was back to the beach. It was just so precious to see our two little ones play so nicely together. Even though Ashley's favorite word by far is 'mine' she did play rather nicely with sand toys!
You can never have too many pics of your kids right? LOL (Never mind the few hundred that didn't even make the blog and that was without taking our good camera!)
After rollerblading down to the farmers market we scored the chairs again!
San Diego is such a beautiful place. The Heavens agree!
One night we checked out the local hot spots that were just a block or two away from our house. The Beachcomber and well, hmmm..can't remember. That is where Sara was doing a shot with an um, dancer. (yes that's her tatted up arm on the left) Never a dull time!
Ashley is so funny about shoes. She wants everyone's shoes on her feet. Could she be any cuter??
Daddy also got a chance to do his first pony! Pretty good!
On Wednesday morning after Papa John took Daddy to the airport we took the kids to the park again. Someone really liked the swings!
And someone really liked jumping off the pirate ship!
And then back to the slide!
With Daddy back at work Mommy lost her buddy during nap-time. A big thank you to Grandma Pauline and Papa John
though for letting her go read on the beach. First non-parenting book
since Trevor was born ha ha!
After that, Papa introduced Trevor to the nearby amusement park while the ladies were at the beach. Trevor insisted that we go back all of us so after a quick stop at the Wave House to check out the surfers we were on our way!
Trevor was happy as a lark at this place!
Not a fear in the world!
Hands up in the air like you just don't care!
Mommy got in on the action and rode the bumper cars!
And after that it was time for ice cream! Trevor was such a good sharer with his little sis!
Fortunately he doesn't like the cone and she loves it. Win!
Towards the end of the trip Ashley would wake up in the middle of the night so Mommy would pull her in bed with her and then the little stinker would sleep so long. This is at like 8 in the morning!! Passed out!!
Big headline from this trip is that we talked about going to Disneyland with the kids so that Trevor could go back and so that Grandma and Papa John could have a quiet day/night but we were having so much fun we didn't really want to go. Plus it's two hours each way and it would be expensive!! So we gave Trevor the choice to go to Disney or to go to Target and pick any toy he wanted. Without hesitation he picked Target! WHEW!!!! So he chose an Imaginext dinasour as well as we ordered all of the Lego Movie mini figures for him and Ashley got a new baby stroller. Trevor loved being pushed around in it. Is there a weight limit??
Naked girl! She sure loved her Papa John this trip! Lots of cuddles from him!
'Mine'
As you will see Trevor scored a new San Diego Fire Department t-shirt from Papa on his excursion (along with a Lifeguard magnet and firetruck) and he wanted to wear his new shirt to our last night out! Check out their superhero poses!
We went to a restaurant on the boardwalk and scored a table that had an open area next to it for the kids to have fun. Of course Ashley always finds the doggies! She will point and say dog over and over and over.
Since we didn't get a good pic of the 6 of us on vacation (the one came out really dark) at least we got a good one of the five of us. Sorry Brian!
And you know where we headed after dinner...the amusement park! One of Trevor's favorite rides was the one that went straight down. He laughed and laughed and raised his arms. No kid around him was scared because he was having so much fun!
And not to be out done, Mommy and son did a silly face selfie before calling it a night. Thank goodness we didn't discover (read introduce) the amusement park until the end of the trip of you know where we would be every single night!
The trip home went great as well! Papa John was a work mule packing everything in the car so we could go. We would have left in time but their closet door came off the track so we left later than we wanted but that's okay! We stopped on the way home to eat a late lunch at the Space Alien place. Good burger and fries :)
We had another wonderful trip together! Thankful for good travel buddies that go with the flow. And who are a-okay watching the sleeping kids so that we could go out. And for cooking and cleaning and going out and staying in. We enjoyed every minute of our time together. We are blessed. XOXO
