Juan was considering taking a CE course there and of course, I invited myself to go with him. After Juan recruited some of his friends to go to the course, I got busy recruiting their wives. It didn't take a lot to convince them that a vacation was in order. After taking a more relaxed approach to "planning" our trip, this is how it all played out (and yes, once again these are just dinky pics from my phone:)
Thursday night, Juan and I dropped off the kids at various houses (Siena had to stay in town because she had school the next day, while Qiana and Ezra were left with my parents.) After a quick, but bumpy flight we made it to the hotel, which incidentally was the exact hotel I stayed at last September--I liked it that much. The next morning the boys all met up to carpool to the CE course at Paradise Point Resort while the girls and I met up for brunch at The Cottage in La Jolla. (By the way, about 50% of this trip was just a repeat of last September because it seemed to be a perfect match for the group we were with.) We then got pedicures and walked along La Jolla Cove. Of course, we did a lot of local shopping and got that mostly out of our systems. Finally, the boys were done for the day so we told them to meet up with us for dinner. I wanted to see how adventurous everyone would be so I suggested an Ethiopian restaurant (it had rave reviews.) It turned out to be a delicious choice and broke the ice quite nicely since we didn't have utensils and had to eat family style. Afterwards, I thought it would be fun to have pie since it was Pi Day (3.14) but when we got to the pie place I found, it turned out to be a hippy joint with questionable desserts. I was embarrassed, but we all laughed about it. Juan and I dropped off Kurt and his office manager back at the Resort where they were staying and met everyone else back at our hotel. They redeemed the pie fiasco by getting pie at Marie Callender's and bringing it back to eat around a fire pit at the pool. It was a great end to a long, but relaxing day.
----------------------Saturday-------------------------
Saturday, the boys left early again for the last day of their CE and we girls met up to go to the Farmers Market in Little Italy. It was a great place to have breakfast (I had fresh-squeezed California Blood Orange Juice, artisan cheese and a fresh mini baguette!) and find little mementos from the trip. We went to Balboa Park next and explored a little. Luck had it that the San Diego Floral Association was putting on an Ikebana Floral Show for free at the park, demonstrations included. I was amazed to see the Grandmaster, Akiko Bourland (almost 90 years old) in her last public floral show before retiring. Her works were amazing and she was hilarious to watch as she bossed her assistants around. Megan and Natalia were so, so kind to indulge me in staying for a workshop. Turns out, we all loved it. We met Megan's friend, Michele there at the Botanical Garden and afterward went to eat a late lunch at an authentic Mexican restaurant in the Gay District. Natalia and I wrote one of our life's dreams on a Bucket List wall, but then quickly deserted the area since it was a little weird lingering there. We met Michele's family down at Tamarack Beach, and collected sea shells along the coast while we waited for the boys to catch up with us. I think that night was the first time I've ever been patient enough to actually watch the sun go down until it disappeared into the horizon. Talk about a relaxing evening. The boys wanted to eat, so we all went to Sammy's, a wood-fired pizza place which was quite nice. We couldn't just call it a night after eating dinner, so we all trekked over to Fleming's for some sinfully delicious molten chocolate cake. We were all falling asleep at the table, marking a productive day of having fun.
----------------------Sunday-------------------------
Sunday morning we all rushed to get ready for 8:30 church about 30 minutes away. We attended the Spanish Branch Megan attended while on her mission and were once again reminded how different, yet amazing being in such humble circumstances feels. I miss all of our past Spanish Branches/Wards! We then drove to the beach in Encinitas and soaked up some sun a little bit until it was time to meet up with one of the women Megan helped teach on her mission, Rocio. She and her family were so kind and made us some tasty taquitos which kept us filled until late that night. Vince wasn't feeling too hot, so he went back to the hotel with Megan while Jon, Natalia, Juan and I visited Old Town San Diego, specifically The Mormon Batallion site. It was a great production and appropriate for the Sabbath. That night, the boys wanted to eat something so we went to get some more Mexican food. I don't think there is such a thing as too much Mexican food.
----------------------Monday-------------------------
(don't mind my horrible posture)
Monday was our last day on our trip, so we decided to take the boys to experience The Cottage brunch for themselves. Good choice, of course. Then we went to Coronado and took in the beauty of the Hotel del Coronado and the white, sandy beach it neighbored. In order to satisfy the boys, we went over to South Park and they all discovered the deliciousness called "Mariscos Germán" (or the Nine Seas taco truck.) Nobody could finish their plates because we were all still full from brunch, but they needed those fish tacos to complete their San Diego experience. :) After visiting one last shop, we headed back to the hotel and parted ways with the Dilley's, who were staying one more day. We drove the Clarke's to the airport and used up the last hour visiting the Maritime Museum area and getting oysters in a half shell--something on Juan's California bucket list. The flight back wasn't too bad, besides the turbulence. (The older we get, the less Juan and I like to fly. It's putting your life at risk and all that turbulence reminds you of it. Sheesh, we're old and cautious!)
Anyway, getting back to the little bumbles asleep in their beds (thanks to my generous mother who we couldn't have done all of this without,) was a world of happiness. Having the break from those kiddos just reminded us how lucky we are to have them.
Until next time, SD... you were good to us.
