San Diego Adventure

About a month ago, I spent my spring break caring for my two sweet boys who got sick with the flu. The very next week I got the flu. In the middle of the pity party of illness, I called Philip at work and said, "We have got to get away!" I found a decently priced trip to San Diego and he said, "Book it!"

Philip and I have always loved to travel! We have been to so many amazing places over the past 6 years of marriage (Cape Cod, NYC, D.C., California, New Orleans, Kona, Oahu, Rome, Dry Tortugas), but since we had Landon last April, we kind of stuck close to home in our travel adventures. We decided it was time to venture out and take him on a mini-adventure across the country. We had been to San Diego about three years ago at the beginning of our two week long drive up the coast of California, and fell in LOVE with the beautiful city and the area surrounding it. So, we decided this would be the perfect place to take Lan Man for a cross-country trip.

Our flight left early Thursday morning (around 8:30 a.m.). This was PERFECT because we got into San Diego around 10 a.m. Pacific Coast Time. This gave us the entire day to play! We were a little nervous to take Landon on his first plane ride, but he was so great! He slept for about an hour on the plane, then played, looked out the window, ate his snacks, and made faces at the people across the aisle. We tried to make sure we had a variety of toys and snacks in the bag, then set them up in the seat pocket in front of us for quick and easy access! The most stressful part was going through security, but we just tried to make sure we had all the liquids together and tried not to let the crazy, rushed people around us stress us out.

When we arrived on Thursday, we checked into our hotel and headed out to get something for lunch. We decided on this trip not to do a lot of restaurant sit down eating. Since Landon is at a pretty messy, active eating stage, we figured it would be a lot easier to do a lot of picnics. Plus he was totally thrown off from the time change, so that made evening meals a little more challenging than usual--he was just so tired! The first day we did a little exploring. We drove up North a bit and found a few beautiful great spots to stop at.   We had our picnic lunch on a rock and then found another beach full of seals (La Jolla Children's Pool). Landon loved to look at the water and later the seals. (He also did a lot of napping in the car). Then we headed back to the hotel to get ready to go downtown.

We walked downtown a little and went to eat. Then we went to the Padres game. The field is such a beautiful field, surrounded by gorgeous downtown and water views. We got the cheap seats and stayed for about...two innings... :) Landon loved the start of the game, but he was so tired he fell asleep in my lap pretty quickly. Then Philip and I started getting cold, so we figured Landon was cold too and decided we better head back. A fun and full day!

Friday morning Landon woke up at 4:30 ready to play! We decided rather than fight it, we would go ahead out and eat breakfast, then come back and nap before our big zoo day! We were so excited about the zoo--Landon's first birthday present from Philip and me. Sadly, the weather forecast was not great. There was between a 40-80% chance of rain ALL day! Luckily it didn't rain until 1 pm.

We arrived at the zoo right when it opened at 9 and had a good 4 hours to see all the animals. Landon LOVED the entire experience! Philip and I were just in awe of him being in awe of all the animals. He was intrigued by all the animals and pointed at them all and babbled as we looked into the enclosures. We rode the sky lift and the train! He loved them both but finally crashed out on the train in my arms (noticing a sleeping pattern here) :) Landon is funny though, he doesn't really get fussy or cry when he needs a nap. He loves to see people and do things, so he will resist a nap as long as possible without even being whiny. Then, all of a sudden if you get him still, he will just fall asleep. (Actually, his Daddy is like that!) It was starting to rain and Lan was so tired, so we headed back to the hotel for a three hour nap. Our intention was to rest up then go back to the zoo to finish, but it never stopped raining.

Instead we went to eat at The Cheesecake Factory and walked around a little at the mall. We called it an early night and all crashed out at the hotel.

Little stinker eating breakfast bright and early!

Landon was so tired he needed a LONG nap!

Mommy really loves the Cheesecake Factory! Landon loved it too!

Saturday we decided to have an exploration day. First we drove a little south to Coronado. We got some Mexican take out and had a picnic at a park. Then we went back through San Diego and drove North. Our goal was to get to Carlsbad, but we stopped at Torrey Pines and lots of beach villages along the way. We would usually just get out and walk around a little. Unfortunately it was way too cold to lay out on the beach! We also found a farmer's market where we got some fresh fruit for a snack.

When we got to Carlsbad, we went to an open house for a beautiful 2.8 million dollar house on the beach! We decided that we should get rich, move to California, and buy the house! :) Then we went to the outlet mall to buy more clothes--it was just getting colder and colder, and we were all running out of long sleeved clothes.

We ended our evening with a pizza picnic on the beach. Landon loved to crawl around in the sand. He has 1 new tooth and 3 more teeth coming in, so he puts everything in his mouth! He enjoyed trying to eat the rocks on the beach, and by the end of the adventure he was COMPLETELY covered in sand. He loved the beach though! We had to change his clothes and give him a quick water bottle face wash before loading him back in the car to head back to the hotel. This was a simple day, but these are always my favorite days, just riding with my boys, talking, and stopping at beautiful places. It doesn't really take an "activity" for us to have a good time together. We just make fun wherever we go and go with the flow.

Landon watching the kids play at the park!

So excited that he gets to play too!

The Farmer's Market

Exploring with Mommy and Daddy is so much fun!!

Mommy's new hat!

Covered in sand!

On Sunday, we woke up early and decided to go to Balboa Park for a little disc golf. Philip loves this new sport introduced to us by our friends the Wilcox and Hammurland families! It is cheap, always has beautiful, natural courses, and Landon and I can tag along easily. We got some breakfast and headed to the course. Landon rode in his stroller as Philip played. The course was absolutely beautiful! I loved the excuse to spend a few hours at a park with my boys!

Munching on animal crackers!

He curled up in his stroller and fell asleep for his morning nap!

So beautiful!

We headed back to the hotel and hoped to have lunch down by the water before we flew out. We packed up pretty quickly, but by the time we got down to the pier, we had trouble finding parking. We got nervous that we were going to be rushed for our flight, so we decided to just eat at the airport. We said "Goodbye" to beautiful San Diego until next time. The San Diego airport was much more family friendly, and Landon was an angel on the plane! In fact, when we were getting off, a woman told Philip that she had never seen a baby behave so well on a plane! :) Good thing! Now we will feel comfortable going on another trip across country with flights involved! A little preparation goes a long way!

What a wonderful trip with my two boys! Can't wait for the next Brown family adventure!