San Diego

Alan had a business trip to San Diego and since his company was already paying for his hotel room we decided to go with him. Kayla is always asking us to take her to the beach (she's been once in her life when she was 1 year old) so it was exciting to tell her we were finally going to the beach. The ride was a lot longer than Kayla anticipated. She kept asking us where the beach was. When we got to the sand dunes she couldn't figure out why she didn't see any water. Poor thing - it's so hard when you don't understand time or distance. We got to San Diego late in the evening so it was too late to go to the beach or even go swimming in the hotel pool (which we had a perfect view of from our room.) The girls got to bed a little late and I thought since they were so worn out from traveling they would sleep in a little bit. Not Ashlyn. She is always up at the crack of dawn no matter what time she goes to bed. She's the first one awake and comes over to my side of the bed. "Beach, Mama? Beach?" I explained to her we were going to go see Shamu at Sea World first and then go to the beach. "Shampoo?"

Sea World was a blast! I love trying to see things through the eyes of a little child. We headed straight to the Shamu show to get a good seat. We sat in the Splash Zone. It was so freakin' hot! I had put sunblock on the girls at the hotel and then left the sunblock on the bed. Alan and I were toasting quickly. I had to buy sunblock...at Sea World prices. Nine freakin' dollars! Of course, the park doesn't allow outside food and drink (even though I did bring in two bottles of water which did not last long) so we were all dying of thirst. There was a guy selling a souvenir bottle of ice cold lemonade - for nine freakin' dollars!! It was gone in 30 seconds between four of us. Poor Emily had fallen asleep but was so hot and I was trying to keep the sun off her with a light blanket. She was miserable and I was miserable. Ashlyn was so flushed.

We were anxious for the show to start just so we could get splashed. Unfortunately we were two rows too far. Not a single drop of water! After the show was over we had to get the girls some hats to protect them from more sun damage. Because where were the hats that I brought for everyone? At the hotel with the sunblock.

Once we bought the hats (which were really cute) and we got on with our adventure it was really a lot of fun.

The aquarium, dolphins, turtles, sting rays, starfish, manatees, penguins and of course the Sea Lion and Otter Show were all big hits for the girls. Everything was exciting! Emily was such a trooper - she didn't fuss one bit the whole day.

Our goal was to go to Sea World from 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m., go eat lunch, and then head to the beach. Well, we got to Sea World at 10:30 a.m., snacked a lot (no real lunch), and left at 5:30 p.m. Of course, I didn't bring swim suits with us because I thought we would take time to have naps at the hotel before going to the beach. We drove back to the hotel (Kayla kept calling it the "Temple" for some reason), ate a more nutritional snack, got our swim suits on and went to the Children's Pool in La Jolla. The sun was starting to set and the temperature was cooling off but it was perfect. Kayla was trying to collect all the seashells of course and Ashlyn was trying to save all the seashells by throwing them back into the ocean. We saw a couple get engaged right next to us - on the beach at sunset - with Kayla screaming in the background because seaweed touched her foot.

The next day Alan spent the day in meetings while the girls and I attempted to go swimming at the hotel pool. It wasn't too bad until Kayla discovered the hot tub. Then Ashlyn discovered the hot tub. I'm in the pool with Emily trying to "coax" them back to the pool (meaning I was using my meanest voice without yelling because I'm at a public pool where my husband is having a meeting behind the glass doors 50 feet away from me.) As I notice the hotel staff starting to get lunch ready I knew it was time to gather the girls and get them upstairs before 1) anyone recognized me from Alan's office and 2) the girls saw their daddy and go running towards him screaming, "Daddy!" while I am soaking wet and not looking my best and then Alan being forced to introduce me to whoever was nearby. I tried to figure out how to get back to the room without going through the lobby but with no luck. Through the lobby and past the restaurant to the elevator we practically ran.

Again Alan spent the following day in meetings but not at the hotel. The girls and I had to check out by noon and I was worried sick about what I was going to do with them for at least four hours by myself in San Diego. Luckily, I had my good friend Sarah S. to give me really good advice. She directed me to Seaport Village. I had been there once before ten years ago. I was so nervous driving there and it seemed like it took forever to get there. We finally found it, had a stern talk in the car about not running away from mom and no crying and no fits. The first thing Kayla sees before we even get out of the car is the carousel. She was so excited! We rode the carousel, ate shrimp and chips per Kayla's request, ate ice cream in the park and watched the gigantic kites flying in the breeze, climbed trees, and yelled "Ahoy, maties!" to the people in the boats.

Before I knew it Alan was calling me and telling me his meeting were over and he was heading back to the hotel. The girls and I rushed back to the car. I got everyone loaded up and I realized I forgot to have my parking ticket validated. Seven freakin' dollars! I found my way back to the freeway and made it back to the hotel in 15 minutes. (It took me more than 30 minutes to get there in the first place.) Spending the day at Seaport Village was so much fun! It was the perfect way to end our vacation.