I've reached 100

This is my 100th post! Yay!



Anyway...I am back from San Diego. Landed Tuesday night around 7 pm local time and was home around 8:30. Glad to be back, did not miss the heat though.



Here is a recap:



Ended up staying at our friends' house for the remainder of the trip. Kinda hard with all of us in one small room. Especially with kids who generally wake around 4-5 am. Better than at a house that could have been broken into, though!


On Friday went to Legoland. It was okay. Not a lot of rides. And not too much that Grace could do. The best thing happened though. Waiting in line, we were approached by a family and they asked if we were in line to buy tickets. Said yes. They said they had a free ticket we could have. Awesome, since adult tickets were $70. Still waiting in line, were approached by a mom and her kids. She asked if we were in line to buy tickets. Again, said yes. She had coupons that would allow her to get us in as her guests, since she had season passes. Score. Can you believe that? It really was great when you consider that we arrived there just after 10 am and left around 1 pm. Headed to Balboa Park, to take Frankin to the Air and Space Museum. Grace was sleeping when we got there, so I stayed in the car with her and napped as well. About an hour later, she woke up. Then drove to another part of Balboa Park and went to the Museum of Photographic Arts. Very small museum, but some amazing photographs of India. And one really great image of Georgia O'Keefe. Then walked to the fountain at the one end of the park and back to the car. After Balboa Park, headed to La Jolla (pronounced La Hoya) to see the Children's Pool at La Jolla Cove. It is a small area of the public beach that was intended for small children and their families, donated to La Jolla in 1934. Well, the harbor seals have taken over. Now the water and the sand in the small cove are considered toxic to the public. It was really neat to see the seals just hanging out. Apparently, there are some people that feel the seals should not be there and want the beach back. They have been clubbing and shooting the seals. There is an organization that is helping to keep the seals there. I made a donation and Franklin got a shirt and Grace got a harbor seal stuffed animal. Funny thing about the stuffed seal though, she wanted to cut the whiskers off and pull out its "nails". So much for my little animal lover!! Then headed to our rental house. It was that night/morning that we had the attempted break-in. Seriously, who has that happen on vacation. Well, we found out that the area where we were renting was full of drug addicts and has lots of break-ins. Great, wish that someone had told us.



Saturday morning after packing everything up, went back to the same Denny's as Friday morning. After breakfast went to the Ocean Beach police station, which oddly enough is at the beach, to get a copy of the police report in order to get a refund on the rental house. Then headed to the zoo. It was nice. Kinda crowded. The kids liked petting the goats, and looking at the reptiles. There were two otters that were completely into letting me take pictures of them. Loved it. Saw some monkeys, apes, etc. Headed to lunch. Great food. After lunch the kids were pretty tired, so we headed back to our friends house. Franklin was asleep in the car, I didn't want to move him-didn't want him to wake up, so again I stayed in the car while he slept. Just put the seat back and slept myself. Thank goodness that California has virtually no humidity and was in the low 70's. Could you imagine trying to sleep in your car here? No way. After Franklin woke up, the kids played. We then headed to downtown San Diego to go to the Maritime Museum. There was a exhibition of Edward Steichen photos that I wanted to see there. The paid admission for the Maritime Museum included 3 other boats and a Russian submarine that you can tour. After touring the photo exhibition, we headed to the other boats and the sub. The sub is not easy to get through. It was interesting seeing everything labeled in Russian. One of the ships was the Star of India. It was built in 1863. A very pretty ship. Very elegant. Then it was off to dinner at the Elephant & Castle. Watched the US Open finish up while eating dinner. The kids did well considering how long dinner took. It also helped that I had packed some yarn and noodles for them to construct necklaces out of! Then back home and off to bed.



Sunday morning the guys left for the US Open. The kids and I joined our friend and her kid at Sea World. We saw the Penguins and rode one Elmo ride before eating lunch. Her daughter would not eat her lunch so we left. Grace feel asleep on the way back to their house, so I left her with our friend. I took Franklin to a free museum in their town that had about 30 retired Marine fighter jets and helicopters. One of the helicopters there was used during the evacuation of Siagon during the Vietnam War and was the one to rescue the Ambassador. That one was open and Franklin and I were able to go inside and learn more about it. Like that the cockpit was painted a matte black paint so that the enemy could not see them coming. We got to see a Corsair-one of Franklin's favorite planes. Franklin wanted his picture taken in front of each plane. It was really cute. After seeing the planes, it was off to the gift shop. I let him pick some planes and then he saw a bomber jacket. It was really cute. So I let him get it. He was so proud of it that he wanted to wear it right away. I let him. He calls himself Pilot Franklin! After naps, my friend and I wanted to take the kids to the mall for dinner. This particular mall was 30 minutes away. As soon as we got there, the guys called to say that they were back at the stadium from the open (were they had to catch the shuttle) and wanted to get together for dinner. They were not willing to drive the 30 minutes to meet us, so we turned around and headed back to meet them for dinner. After dinner, it was off to bed.

Monday morning we went to see the USS Midway, an aircraft carrier. They give you headphones and a receiver for an audio tour. Franklin wasn't old enough to have his own, so I let him use the headphones from mine and kept the receiver around my neck. It proved to be a great way for him to not run ahead of me! After doing the tour, Franklin went on a flight simulator and I took Grace for a snack. At about noonish or so I was done with the aircraft carrier. Took the kids back to La Jolla to go to the beach. They loved splashing around in the water and looking for rocks. The water was not too cold. Got some great photos of them splashing around in the Pacific Ocean. Tried to take them back to the seal beach but were not able to find parking. Headed back to our friends house. Let the kids play. I packed everything up. Off to bed.

Tuesday morning got the car packed up and were on the road by 6:50 am CA time. Took the kids for pancakes on the way to the airport. Good thing because we would not be able to get off the plane in Denver, and there was no food available for purchase. I had bought a hot dog and yogurt right before getting on the plane for the kids. They ate that while waiting for the rest of the people to get on the plane in Denver. I am so glad that I bought that food for them.

Glad to be home. I will try and post some photos from the trip later today. I got home just in time for my period to start. TMI, I know. But how much would it have sucked for it to have started on the plane.

Enjoy the rainy, drizzily day.

Cathy