San Diego - September 2011

I guess it's about high time I updated our blog about our busy month of September.  We did a lot of traveling that month, which I highly recommend to those living in Phoenix.  September may be my least favorite month here on account of the weather.  It's already been hot for several months and the relief of cooler weather still seems out of reach.  So, we got out of town and it was great.  We kicked off our traveling month with a trip to San Diego for three days.

We go to the Blessed City every six months or so.  It's our favorite getaway spot.  We do nothing but play on the beach while we are there.  It's the most relaxing and enjoyable thing we can think to do.  This time it was a little bit chilly on the beach, but it actually felt great to have to wear a jacket after enduring searing heat for several months.  We went to a different beach every day and played in the sand until we got hungry and had to leave to get food.  Our favorite beach was the last one we went to, Del Mar.  It was much less touristy than the other beaches like La Jolla and Ocean Beach.  Because it was a bit chilly we had basically the entire beach to ourselves.  We pulled out our buckets, shovels, and balls and just played and played.  It was like a dream.  And, gratefully, our car didn't break down this time so we were able to enjoy all three days we had to the fullest!

On the drive to San Diego we gave Tommy a little road trip present.  It's a tradition we started this past summer that kept him happy and occupied in the car.  It was nothing more than a small green Hot Wheels fire truck, but that thing kept him occupied not only in the car, but throughout the entire trip.  He played with it on the beach, in the hotel, in the car, during meal times.  Best $0.97 we've ever spent!

I wish we could somehow capture the feeling of relaxation in a video.  The sound of splashing waves does a pretty good job, but I always feel like I leave my stress and anxiety on the beach and come home feeling a lot happier and a lot lighter.  We spent precious time together as a family without any distractions.  It was just what a vacation should be.  Below are a couple of videos of the things we did the most on the beach.  Tommy and Daddy dug lots of holes, made lots of tunnels, and built lots of sandcastles.  Tommy and Mommy played a lot of "football", which was really just Tommy running around with the ball while I chased and tackled him.  We searched for cool rocks and sea shells, played "football net" (volleyball with a football), and challenged each other to soccer games.  For the record, Ben beat me in soccer every time, but I blame that on being pregnant:)  We had such a great time together and hope we can go back to relax on the beach soon!

Our San Diego Getaway (and how we can never seem to get away from trouble)

Last weekend we gratefully left town to spend some quality time with the beach. All we really wanted was time together as a family relaxing and playing together. As you can see by the millions of pictures we took, we had an amazing time. We drove into San Diego at about 2:30 pm, checked into our hotel, and headed out for the ocean. We played in the water and the sand until until the sun went down, spending about 3 1/2 hours total at the beach. Our family has been under a lot of stress and pressure this past month so it was amazing to be able to sit, relax, have fun, laugh, and get a little bit dirty. One day when Ben makes it big we dream of actually living in San Diego paradise. We can always dream big, right?

Tommy and Daddy played a lot of ball ball, of course. That little boy has a pretty amazing throw. Tommy loved being able to run around and have lots of freedom while he played in the sand. He was covered from head to toe in sandy goodness by the time we left. I am happy to report this year that Tommy's swimsuit doesn't reach all the way down to his ankles:)

Tommy was a little bit afraid of the water this time around. I think it was because it was a bit chilly on his little toes when we first dipped our feet in. We played Ocean Tag with him, which he loved. The rules are that you run into the waves as they break, touch the water, and then run away as fast as you can so the water doesn't "tag" you again. Hauling 35 pounds of Tommy made it difficult to outrun the water, but it was fun anyway. That game wore Ben and I right out while Tommy begged for more.

After we watched the sun set we headed back to our hotel, intending to return for another glorious beach day the following day. This didn't actually happen, unfortunately. We woke up Saturday morning with high hopes of eating breakfast quickly and getting back to our sandy paradise as early as possible. Ben left to get McDonald's for breakfast. He returned to the hotel without breakfast and without our car. Awesome. At this point we didn't know what to do. The front desk hooked us up with a mechanic and a tow company. Our car always seems to die on us on roadtrips. Next time we are renting a car!

Ben has an old roommate (Jake) that lives with his family in San Diego so we gave him a call to see if he could help us. Bless his heart, he dropped everything, drove 40 minutes to pick us up at the hotel, drove us back to his house, and gave us a place to stay that night. He and his wife, Michelle, were so good to us. They have a daughter, Lizzie, who is just a few months older than Tommy, who loved having a little playmate around. The kids played, the adults chatted, we got to listen to Conference. Once the kids were in bed that night the four of us adults went out and lounged in their luxurious hot tub and ate ice cream. It was amazing. We got up early the next morning and drove back to Phoenix without any more trouble from the car. What a miracle.

This is Lizzie and Tommy playing at the park together. Look at those blond little heads!

Even though the trip didn't go exactly as we had planned it, we still had a great time. We are so blessed to have such amazing friends who are willing to drop everything to lend a helping hand. We were able to relax and enjoy our time together, which is really what we were after. And what a blessing that we were able to get our car back quickly and that it ran (and still runs) perfectly fine. We hope we can return to San Diego soon!

San Diego Shores

We enjoyed a quick trip to San Diego last month on our way to Utah (it was actually only about 5 hours out of the way, so why not?). You can't pass up the opportunity to soak up the sun on the beautiful San Diego beaches! At the time it was pushing 115 degrees in Phoenix so we were more than happy to get out of town. When we stepped out of the car for the first time in San Diego the air felt amazing! It was warm and moist and smelled like the ocean. I felt comfortable to be outside during the day. I didn't feel like I was going to melt into a puddle or vaporize on the spot, so that was an improvement over what we were experiencing in Phoenix.

Tommy was amazing on the drive, especially since we woke him up at 4:00 am to leave. We listened to a lot of NPR, which kept Ben and me entertained and put Tommy to sleep, so it worked out for everyone. We went directly to the San Diego Temple for Katie's wedding (a great friend from BYU). The temple was getting a face lift at the time, which I thought was hilarious for all those wedding shots the couple took afterward (see the picture below). After the wedding we went to the beach. Since we couldn't check into our hotel for a couple more hours we had no choice:) The beach was so AMAZING. Seriously, I think it was the first time I have really relaxed for months. Tommy and Ben had a great time digging holes in the sand, building sand castles, and chasing the water. I played a little bit, but spent most of my time looking out into the ocean and just taking in the whole experience. Tommy had a great time. It was his first exposure to sand and he loved it. He dug in it, threw it, ate it, put it in his hair, and just held it. He loved the water, too. Every time the waves washed in Tommy got excited and just giggled. He was covered in sand from head to toe by the time we left, but I don't know that I have ever seen him more happy than he was at the beach. We got checked into the hotel, washed up, and changed just in time to get to Katie's reception. It rained a little bit on our way there. I guess you have to live in the desert to really appreciate a little sprinkle of rain. It was heavenly.

The next day Tommy and I went to the beach early while Ben worked from the hotel. Since we got there around 9:00 am we were some of the first people there. As soon as I put Tommy down on the sand he ran right for the water in pure bliss. We played with his beach ball and found sea shells, dug some more holes, and buried each others' toes. Tommy giggled when I buried his feet in the sand, so of course we did that a lot. We went back to the hotel in the afternoon to get lunch and take a nap and then we returned to the beach with Ben later in the day. It was much more crowded, but we still had just as much fun. By the time we left San Diego the next morning everything was covered in sand, but I didn't really care. It was so much fun that it was worth the mess. We got to meet up with some of Ben's friends from BYU for dinner, Jake and Michelle, which was so much fun. Overall, it was a dream vacation (we are pretty easy to please). We made a promise to ourselves to return to San Diego more often since it's so close and we love it so much.

Tommy in the car playing games with us ( or trying not to listen to us).

Our family in front of the San Diego Temple. Love the construction.Tommy and Mommy on the beach.

Daddy and Tommy on the beach.

Our little Mer-man.

Covered in sand from head to toe.

A picture of all of us on the beach.

Tommy chasing his beach ball.