Our vacation was a week long. We drove to Mesquite on Sunday, which is half way and 10 minutes away from my grandparents home. We got to visit with them and they took us out to dinner and then we went to bed early because at the butt crack of dawn we woke up and drove the rest of the way to San Diego. I was super nervous about the car ride because Leland gets really car sick, it is a freaking long time for a toddler to sit still, and we both get extremely crabby when we are tired or hungry and so two crabs in the car equals bad news. However, he did phenomenal! We had a little car sickness but nothing too cringe worthy. I had downloaded some episodes of Paw Patrol (love that show!) on my iPad and it was a total life saver! I really was astounded that he did so well! (Insert happy dance here).
Monday night we checked into our hotel, ordered pizza,and hit the pool.
Tuesday we went to Sea World. It was a blast. Leland loved it, though he did fall asleep during the dolphin show, which was my favorite one. They had professional divers, acrobats, ribbon dancers, the whole works! We also went to a whale show, the seal and otter show, and a pet show where they had dogs and cats do funny tricks. I think the pet show was Leland's favorite because he is definitely in a "puppy!" phase right now. He didn't like getting wet though so we made sure to sit in the dry section for all of the other shows haha. We did ride two of the little kiddie rides and Leland loved them so much I had to drag him off kicking and screaming and promising him that we could ride it "one more" time.
Wednesday we headed over to Coronado Island for a beach day. We found a cute little cafe to have breakfast at and then basically had the beach to ourselves for most of the morning. Leland loved having the waves come up and wash over his feet and he thought it was hilarious when the water would go back and suck the sand from beneath his toes. We made lots of sandcastles and then we had a family nap together crowded under an umbrella. As I lay there watching my little family sleeping on the beach together I had a Grinch moment where my heart grew three times its size. It was one of those perfect moments that you wish would never end. I was extremely aware of how blessed I am. I love those kind of moments-- they almost take your breath away in their perfection. The only downer about that day was that I completely forgot to put sunscreen on the back of my legs and they were completely scorched by the end of the day. As in, I can't move, kill me now, kind of burn. So yeah, that was not fun.
On Thursday we explored Balboa Park. It is this amazing place next to the zoo that has over 17 museums, botanical gardens, street performers, nature walks, Japanese gardens, and food vendors. All of the buildings look like they are straight from Spain (not that I have ever been there) and so the atmosphere is quite lovely. This ended up being the perfect spot for my boys. We went to a vintage car museum, an aerospace museum, a railroad museum, and the San Diego History Museum. The car museum was run by all of these WWII veterans and so it was a lot of fun talking to them. One older man even gave Leland a wooden toy car that he had handmade himself which was really neat. At the aerospace museum we got to watch a 3D movie about space travel and when our seats began shaking Leland got a little nervous, but by the end he thought that was pretty hilarious. We decided to go to the San Diego History Museum because they were doing a temporary display of Dr. Seuss. Maybe this is common knowledge, but I had no idea, that Dr. Seuss was from San Diego. The museum had some of his original paintings that never made it into books which was completely fascinating to me. The walls were lined with his quotes and there were sculptures everywhere of his characters. My book nerdy self was ecstatic! By far the best museum however, was the train museum. Leland is obsessed with "choo-choos" right now. This museum was two floors of model trains and my son probably ran the entire museum three times. The halls were lined with windows that you look in at the trains, and every so often they have steps going up so that the younger kids can see. Leland would run up the steps, shout "Wow!.... More!", run down the steps, run down the hallway to the next set of stairs, and repeat. He barely even took time to look at them because he was too excited to see "more!". By the end of it I was almost dying laughing at my son's enthusiasm and excitement. I wish I would have thought to get it on video because it was so freaking funny! So anyway, all of his souvenirs have wheels-- a jeep from Sea World, a car, a plane, and a train. He was in boy heaven!
On Friday we went bowling, went out to lunch, and then hit the pool again. We taught Leland how to hang on to the side of the pool- it took a while, but he got it and we were proud parents indeed. He loved it when I threw him up out of the water and into the arms of his daddy who was standing three feet away. We played "toss the toddler" until our arms couldn't take it anymore. We are definitely raising a fish. Another funny thing at the pool was that when you got out of the water you got pretty cold because of the breeze. Justin and I stayed in the pool so we never got too cold, but Leland kept getting out and in because he liked to jump in. Pretty soon his teeth would be chattering and he would just start pointing, which meant that he was ready to get warm in the hot tub. Oooooh the hot tub, A freezing toddler's best friend haha. I loved spending that much time with him in the pool, he is such a crack up!
Saturday and Sunday were exactly like the first two days of our trip, but in reverse (obviously). Leland did amazing in the car again but this time the days seemed never ending because we were tired and ready to be home. And boy was it good to be home and back in our own beds!
I am just so, so thankful that we took this trip. I am absolutely in love with my family again and life is going pretty great for us. We really got to cherish each other and soak each other up for a few days and it was fabulous. We still have a scary noise making fridge and are still in debt, but the memories we created and the bonding that took place are priceless. I am the type of person who needs vacations. I crave them. These last few years vacations haven't been a priority or they get put on the back burner. But I came to realize that our life is happening now. Leland will never be this age again. We will only be a family of three for so long. (And no, that was not an announcement) Basically what I am saying is, is live life to the fullest right now. Because you will always have bills and mundane things that need attention...blah blah blah. No more excuses. Get out there and create some memories!
*Disclaimer: We are at an age where getting a good picture is downright impossible*
