Yes! We finally went on a real, live, family vacation! This just may be a first time ever for Mike. And definitely a first time for our boys. We spent a week in Heaven...some people call it Coronado, CA. It. Was. Awesome. (Minus that huge bridge we had to drive over almost every day. Panic attack much? Yes, yes I do.)
We drove out on Monday, June 4th, and were the last of the party to arrive. Mel and Dave, Steve and Jen, and Jay and Wanda all were staying at the same hotel as us and all got there earlier. They were at the beach, so we headed on over. When we left AZ it was hot, dry, and sunny. By the time we got to our hotel early that evening it was cool, cloudy, and gorgeous! AKA: Heaven. We took Eli and Isaac to see the ocean for the first time ever. Isaac that pretty much everything was cool, and Eli was in love with the sea...of sand, that is. I'm pretty sure his idea of heaven is sand that goes on for ever and ever and ever. He thought the ocean was cool, but cold and big. The sand was just perfect for throwing, running, digging, and flopping around in. Heaven.
Tuesday our little family went off to Sea World. I was hoping Eli would like Sea World, and figured Isaac would just be frustrated with not being able to crawl around. Wrong. We got there just before the Shamu show started so we got to see that first. Isaac was just begging to get down while we waited for the show to start, but once it did, both boys were hooked. (Hehehe, fish pun.) They loved it! They just started at the huge whales jumping around and doing their tricks. Eli had the cutest little awestruck face. The rest of the day was just as good. The boys didn't get naps, but were troopers spending the day at the park, and they really enjoyed seeing all the animals. Plus the weather was amazing, and aside from the mom-fail moment I had where I forgot the sunblock for us, we had an awesome day. (In my defense, it was cold and cloudy the day before when we got there, who knew it would be so gorgeous?) I think both boys' favorite was Shamu, although Eli really seemed to like everything. He LOVED the little kiddie rides, too. Heaven.
On Wednesday, burned and tired, we packed up, with sunblock, and went to the zoo. Another fun day! The boys were a little worn out from the day before and lack of naps, and they didn't get naps again, but really had a fun time at the zoo. I think the hardest part was Isaac getting tired of the stroller. Who could blame him, really? I'm just not strong enough to carry around 19 lbs all day, so our arms were getting a bit tired. Mike was on camera duty; part of this vacay for him was to be able to play with his new camera and take amazing shots, which meant a lot of baby carrying for me. But we again had a long, fun, happy day and saw tons of amazing animals.
We decided to take it easy on Thursday and headed down to the landing on Coronado. We took the ferry across to San Diego, saw the USS Midway (Eli and Mike loved seeing all the planes on the fight deck), and then headed down to Seaport village. This was the first day we spend with the rest of the fam, as we ran in to them here or there while we were out exploring.
Every day this week had been sunny and gorgeous. Friday was our day to spend at the beach. You can imagine our surprise when we woke up to a cloudy, hazy, chilly Friday morning. We took a stroll around Coronado, had breakfast, caught up with Mel and Dave and their girls, and just as we were deciding what to do the clouds started to clear. So to the beach we went! Steve and his kids were there, and Eli had such a fun time playing with his cousins, building sand castles, chasing waves with me, and loving the ocean. We even went on a walk and found some sea shells, which he treasures. That night we had dinner at the Del, the big hotel across from where we stayed. It was fancy, and the boys were tired, and Isaac hit his mouth on the table and cut his lip, and it was the Best. Dinner. Ever. Seriously, the food was so good. And the kids were good because Eli liked the food and after Isaac hit his head he fell asleep (what, that's not a good thing?). Don't worry, he woke up in time for dessert. It was the perfect ending to our perfect family vacation and we can't wait to go back!
We did linger longer on Saturday after we got all packed up. Met up with Mel and Dave and girls after breakfast and walked around Coronado some more. We got hot chocolate and donuts from a little cafe called Claytons and I think I may never be the same. The hot chocolate was THAT good. Mel and I talk about it almost every time we see each other. Yes, that good. We'll be back!
We had such a fun time, and Eli talks about our "cacation" almost every day. He talks about the HUGE whales, the ocean, the sand, the zoo, and he just can't wait to go back. Neither can we!
