San Diego

We went down to San Diego right after Christmas this year to see the sun.  It was fantastic!  Days get down to about 3 hours of sunlight and it's all kind of twilight sun so we do miss the big yellow ball quite a bit come December.  We usually try and go somewhere and that somewhere is often San Diego.  It rarely disappoints and this year was no exception.

We arrived after flying all night and were greeted with 65 degrees of heaven.  We made  our way to Coronado and spend the next couple of days at the  pool, tennis courts and beach.  The locals kind of think we're crazy swimming when it's 60 degrees outside, but that's July weather for us.  The kids I think could swim 25 hours a day and had practically grown  gills by the time we were done.

Our first trip off the island (Coronado is for  some reason referred to as an island though it is in fact a peninsula) was to see Steven and Alyson who not long thereafter became engaged (Congratulations!!!).  We went to the Wild Animal Park (kind of roaming type zoo) with Aly's sisters and the girls really bonded and had a great time.  I hadn't been to the zoo in a while and we don't have much of one up here (the whole State is kind of like a zoo :)) and it was great to see all the animals running around.  They also had free face painting by some local Jr.High kids which is always fun.

Maama and Popop came down midway into  our trip and it was so great to spend some time with them.  We went over to the Del, took bike rides, ate gelato, knit and played card games in the condo.  Carol and I also got a day on our own while they took the kids to Balboa Park and it sounds like we'll definitely have to be back.  They were there for about 4 hours and could have stayed for a couple more days.  We all went  to the Children's Museum which we hadn't been to before and while the building is nice, I must say that the exhibits need a little work.

The kids right now are prime Disneyland age and so we were all  looking forward to a day in Anaheim.  We drove up with Maama and Popop and the kids got a big surprise when Gram and Gramps met them there during the Jedi show.  They were so excited!  We ran around until we were all ready to fall over.  Autopia seems  to be the preferred ride at this point for all three kids.  The lines weren't bad (we had gone a couple of years ago and waited 2.5 hours do get on Dumbo) and there were of course lots of churros to be eaten (I think I was just shy of double digits at 9 this year).

Maama and Popop left the next day which was sad but fortunately we'll see them again in April.  Gram and Gramps stayed and the kids had a fabulous time running around Coronado and going to Sea World.  The girls did some more knitting and Owen played lots of "Go Fish".  We spent more time at the Del and swimming.  The time went by too fast.  The girls and Carol are already looking forward to seeing them again in March.

Our final days were warm, sunny and a little sad as we get ready to go.  My cousin Eric and Nicole   (his new wife) came down the weekend we left and we were so happy to get to spend an afternoon with them.  They are expecting and we are very excited for them! 

Overall it was a fabulous trip and it was so nice to be warm, see the sun and be with family.  We miss everyone and can't wait to see them again!

More photos here.