Birch Aquarium

Day 3 in San Diego is kind of a blur.  I can't really recall the morning, though I'm sure J and I wanted to stab each other in the eye.  That's what happens when you are cooped up in a tiny, non-baby proofed condo instead of being out in the fresh ocean air.  I don't remember if Genevieve had a nap before we went to the aquarium or if we hoped that she'd fall asleep on the way. 

It didn't take long to arrive at the Birch Aquarium at Scripps in La Jolla.  Before entering I snapped this pic of J and G. 

If you've been to the Seattle Aquarium, as we have, then most other aquariums will be ruined for you.  This one was not even in the same league as Seattle, but there were still some good exhibits. 
I liked this pregnant wolf eel resting on her side.

There were a lot of kids there, but we were able to get plenty of viewing time. 

We went outside to check out the tide pool creatures, but Genevieve was mostly interested in climbing up and down the steps.  She took a break from that to pick up leaves.  We joked about how we payed $17 for J and I and all G cared about was steps and leaves!  Oh well. 

 The view from the outdoor area at the aquarium was pretty nice. 

They have an exploration area outside where Genevieve and J had fun making waves.  We put G into the shark's mouth for a picture, but her favorite thing outside was the shark cage.  She ran in there, danced around, talked to some big kids, ran out, grabbed the bars, danced some more...you get the idea.  Genevieve was being Genevieve. 

After our aquarium visit, it was back to the condo for G's nap.  She slept for about an hour and a half and woke up with just enough time to get ready to meet a friend of mine for dinner.  We went to the Cheesecake Factory and had a great visit with Cinnamon, who is expecting her first baby, a son, in August.  It was a great close to our third day in San Diego!

Sun and Sand...Lots and Lots of Sand!

Day two of our vacation was designated "beach day".  Before we could begin though, we needed to get J some swim shorts since he somehow forgot to bring his.  After showers and breakfast we headed off to a beach wear store.  There was no shortage of them nearby, but I was unaware that J had a specific one in mind.  After walking quite some time and passing no less than 5 viable stores, I tripped on the uneven sidewalk and broke my flip flop.  It was literally hanging on by a thread as we trekked farther up the road, but it wasn't long before there was no flip in the flop.  I'm sure the situation was quite comical to someone on the outside, but I was not laughing at the time.  I tried tieing strings of wipes together to hold my shoe on my foot, but they only kept ripping.  J wanted to keep going to get to the store he had in mind, which I didn't understand because there was a beachwear store RIGHT ACROSS THE STREET!   He offered to go buy me a new pair of flip flops and then come back for me.  Um, no.  That wasn't going to work for me.  Okay, this story is dragging on.  In the end we crossed the street where I found a $60 pair of flip flops (gasp), and J got a nearly equally expensive pair of board shorts.

We walked home where it was time to feed the beebs and get her down for a nap before hitting the beach.  She didn't eat much because she was so tired, so it was off to bed for her.

G slept for nearly two hours.  During that time, J was restless and grumpy.  He was frustrated by how little we had done this day because of Genevieve's schedule.  He walked and grabbed lunch at the Olive Cafe right around the corner from the condo, and when G woke we got in our suits and sunblocked up.  J hated the sunblock I brought because it was difficult to apply.  Anywho...we grabbed the beach chairs, towels and umbrella and walked to Mission Beach. 

After setting up the beach chairs, which unfortunately were a little rusty, we headed out to the waves.  Genevieve was squealing and running around as the waves rolled in. The water was pretty powerful, so we had to have a good handle on the G meister.

To say Genevieve loved the sand would be an understatement!  She sat in it, dug in it, sprawled out in it, threw it, kicked it, and even tasted it...twice.  I guess she didn't learn her lesson the first time.  There are too many pictures to post on the blog, so you'll have to check out the rest on Facebook. 

Do I have sand in my hair?

 

 When we got back to the condo, we had to shower up.  Unfortunately for us there was no shower outside of our condo like many of the other beach properties had.  One of the friendly neighbors was out and offered us the use of her hose.  Luckily for G, the water wasn't too cold.  Unluckily for G, the hose was not dislodging the sand that completely covered her.  G screamed her head off when being washed in the shower, so I had to do the best I could and then pass her off to J.  He got her ready for her nap while I finished my shower.

After G's nap, we got ready to go out to dinner.  I packed up some food for Genevieve and I, and we all walked down Mission Blvd.  J wanted to carry her rather than using the stroller, and I thought he was a little crazy.  I really thought he was crazy the farther we got from our condo.  We happened upon this Thai restaurant, which made me excited because I am able to eat green curry without giving Genevieve any problems!  The food was great, and we left a little bit of a bigger tip than normal because G made a mess of their lovely tablecloth.  :\  

After dinner, we went across the street to The Baked Bear so J could see what a customized ice cream sandwich shop was all about.  Basically, you choose the outer cookies and the flavor of ice cream.  J knew that all of that sugar would kill him, so he opted for a single scoop of mint chocolate chip ice cream in a waffle cone.  On our looooong walk home (okay, it wouldn't have felt that long if we weren't carrying Genevieve), G made friends with just about everyone we walked by.  She kept waving to people behind us and saying, "hi".

Okay, that's it for our 2nd day in San Diego.  If you're not bored yet, there will be more to come! 

To San Diego!

We decided for our 15th anniversary that we wanted to take a trip as a family, and I thought it would be fun to take Genevieve to the beach.  San Diego seemed like a good option, so we rented a condo, packed up food and belongings, and headed west!

J thought we should wake G up early in the hopes that she would fall back asleep for the first leg of the trip.  Based on our previous experiences with Genevieve and sleep, I wasn't sold on this idea.  We got her up at 5:00, changed her diaper, gave her some milk, and got in the car close to 5:15.  After putting gas in the car and ice on our food, we were off!  G was not falling back to sleep.  I gave her some food and water and that at least stopped her from fussing.  We made a pit stop at the Fry's in Yuma, and luckily for J, there was a Starbucks inside.  There was a gas station in the same parking lot, so J filled up while I nursed the beebs.  Then we were on the road again.  I gave G her baby to hold, and then just ignored her.  She was asleep by 8:00. 

G sleeping with her "deedee"

 

 

Genevieve slept for about an hour and a half, and then we stopped at the Golden Acorn Casino in Campo, CA.  J and I took turns using the facilities and walking G around.  One older couple joked that we were "teaching her early".  After nursing G again, we headed out for the last stretch of the road trip.  I read G's new Peekaboo Baby book, and then we played a few rounds of peekaboo ourselves.

Genevieve also played with her new magnet doodle board.

When we got into San Diego, J was hungry.  We stopped at a little commercial area and found a Fuddruckers.  G and I had turkey, green beans and some apple while J chomped down on a burger and fries.  Yes, I was a tad jealous.  After lunch, we headed to Fiesta Park on the bay while we waited for confirmation that we could check in to our condo early.  It was only around 2:00, and check in time wasn't until 3:00. 

The sidewalk was quite sandy, so the first thing that happened was Genevieve scraped her knees.  That didn't squelch her excitement for the park though.  She ran in the grass, though we had to be careful of all of the bees.  She checked out the water, and took a ride on a swing before we got the confirmation to check into our condo. 

We made our way to the condo and very carefully parked the car in our little parking spot.  After glancing around and setting up the pack and plan, we all went down for a nap.  To our surprise, G slept for a little more than two hours.  When she awoke, we got in warmer clothes as it was after 6:00.  We decided to walk 4 minutes across the street to walk along the boardwalk to find dinner. 

Our first view of Mission Beach

J decided on a pizza place where G and I had turkey, green beans, apples, and a pumpkin muffin.  We then walked along Mission Blvd. rather than the boardwalk to get back to our condo where we called day one a success.