Again, so mad at myself for not blogging about our San Diego trip sooner, because now, lots of little details have escaped my memory! I'll do my best though!
It was our first real vacation as a whole family. Just me, Noah and Matt, not going to visit family, but going to a place none of us had ever been before. None of us had ever been to California, and we found it to be wonderful! The weather was beautiful, the scenery was gorgeous and the resort we stayed in (courtesy of Matt meeting his goals at work) was spectacular! Noah called our room "our San Diego house."
Flying with Noah is a totally different experience when Matt is there with us! The flight went smoothly and Noah behaved quite well! We left St. Louis very early so that we would arrive in CA early. Great idea, except we all ended up being exhausted since we had been up since 3:30am. That plus the time difference made for an early bedtime that first night. Before we hit the hay though, we ate a wonderful lunch at the bayside restaurant at the resort, took Noah to a local playground, got settled in, met up with Gary and Marilyn, swam a bit and then attended the Allstate Welcome Reception, which was equipped with a kid's table and delicious food. I was quite impressed! Noah however was wiped and fell asleep on Matt's shoulder while we were saying our goodbyes at the reception.
The next morning, Noah was up pretty early (5am CA time), so Matt snuggled him up in our bed, and they watched cartoons for a while. I continued to sleep! This began a morning ritual for the remainder of our time there. I was actually happy Noah was staying on Central time, so I didn't have to re-train him once we got home. We had an amazing breakfast at a local cafe, and then spent the whole rest of the day at the San Diego Zoo with Gary and Marilyn. It was such a great time! G and M are such wonderful people, and they totally took the role of stand-in grandparents for Noah! Noah fell in love with Mr. Gary. It was the cutest thing.
Noah and Mr.Gary are flying here. Noah could get Mr. Gary to do anything!
Towards the end of the day, Noah was spent, but didn't want to be held by mommy or daddy. Oh no, it had to be Mr. Gary (whom we actually lovingly refer to as Uncle Gary behind his back)!
We finished off the day with dinner at a restaurant (can't remember the name) in the Gas Lamp District of San Diego. Such a fun day with Mr. Gary and Mrs. Marilyn!
The next day, we explored a little more of the area. We started with breakfast at The Broken Yolk, which we had heard a lot about! Next, we drove up to La Jolla and stopped at a few different beaches. Not to swim though, it was a bit too cold! Noah loved running around on the shore. We also saw sea lions, but surprisingly, Noah didn't seem to give a flip about them. Matt and I were a little disappointed in his lack of enthusiasm, but we figured he just needs to be a little older to be intrigued by them. They were out on rocks, so you had to look hard to make them out. He was just more interested in walking by himself, than looking at anything.
We headed back to the resort for naps. We only had a one room, room, so we shut the tapestries, turned out all the lights, and even Matt and I crawled in bed, in order to give Noah the greatest chance of falling asleep. Of course the child did not sleep though. He tried several things to get us to get him up. My two favorite tries were: "mommy, I need to tell you something" and "daddy, I need a hug." That kid is stinkin' smart and hilarious. Matt and I had to stifle our laughter. We gave it an hour, and then went swimming! There was a pool and a large hot tub, and Noah preferred the "warm pool." It was too chilly to be in a non-heated pool (in my opinion) but there were still plenty of people swimming. That night we had another Allstate dinner to attend, and again, I was super impressed! The meal was delicious, and they had a band and all the kids tore up the dance floor. It was adorable to watch.
And here's where my memory has totally failed me! We had a third full day, but I can not for the life of me remember what we did. I'll ask Matt, but he's sleeping now. So perhaps I'll be editing this post in the near future. How pathetic is this?!
On our last full day in San Diego, we took a trolley tour, which allowed us to get on and off the trolley all over the city. We explored all the main areas of the city, and Noah was over the moon about riding on the trolley. He especially enjoyed looking at all the ships docked on the bay.
We ate delicious mexican food that night at one of the little nooks of the city (again, can't remember the name! Ah!). The next morning before our flight, we ate at the brilliant cafe we had found the first morning, and then drove around looking for antique stores (none of which were open yet).
Overall, it was a wonderful family vacation. Even though he couldn't exactly voice it, I know Noah had an amazing time because he got mommy and daddy all to himself without any of the normal distractions of daily life. We were able to really enjoy each other's company and relax in the pleasure of just being together.
Did I mention that I would live in San Diego in a heartbeat? It was so earthy and friendly and beautiful! Loved it.
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