spring break 2011!

Last week everyone went on vacation! 

The girls went to Nana and Papa's house for FIVE days by themselves!

Rob and I went to San Diego for FIVE days by ourselves!

It was the first time we left the girls for more than a night and were states away from them. It was also the first time that we left them for an extended period and I didn't feel guilty. I missed them terribly and sometimes wished they were with us, but I knew that they were OBVIOUSLY in great hands and were having a wonderful experience themselves. I didn't feel guilty that they were away from us because they were with people that love them just as much as we do. It's important that they have these experiences with their grandparents and it's important for us to have our own experiences too.

It was still so wonderful to come home and see their excited faces (through my tears of joy) and hear them say, "you back from California!".

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Rob and I had an unbelievable time in San Diego. We basically walked and ate our entire vacation and it was so wonderful! The city is amazingly beautiful, easy to get around, and full of different things to do. We spent two nights downtown, staying at a boutique hotel called The Sofia. It was quite small, but very cute and adequate.

Our cute little hotel. Perfect location for walking almost anywhere in the city.

We got to visit Coronado Island, which is very beautiful and full of wealth. Yikes, things were expensive. Gas was $4.65 and a bottle of water was $5. We did manage to eat at the Coronado Brewing Company for a relatively good price. We were dying of hunger and thirst after walking back and forth across the entire island.

Taking the ferry to Coronado Island.

City view from the ferry.

Hotel del Coronado. Originally built in 1888. It had a feel of old luxury. It would be a fun place to stay sometime.

Coronado Beach. It is HUGE! It was actually 85 degrees when we were here, but since we were just walking the island for a couple of hours, we didn't stay long and soak up the sun like some of these people.

Another view of Hotel del Coronado.

While the beach was huge and sandy, it also had parts that were very rocky.

The next part of our city tour took us to the Embarcadero, Seaport Village and the Gaslamp District. Down by the piers you can tour the USS Midway (we didn't have time) and see a WWII memorial. Seaport Village has a TON of shops and the Gaslamp District has lots of really cool restaurants, bars and shops. We walked from our hotel to all three areas where we finally treated ourselves to lunch at a yummy Irish pub called The Field.

The USS Midway

Huge sculpture of the famous WWII photo.

Memorial dedicated to Bob Hope.

Memorial dedicated to Bob Hope

Gaslamp District. We decided it would be really fun to go to a Padres game (a few blocks away) and then hit the bars in this area. Wish they would have been playing at home!

Next we visited Balboa Park. We got a $5 bus pass that got us around the rest of the day on public transportation. We couldn't believe the deal! Balboa Park is a massive public park with lots of museums and gardens. It's also where the famous San Diego Zoo is (something we will do when we bring the girls back some day!). We didn't visit any museums because they were all quite expensive and we weren't planning to spend the entire day there to make it worthwhile. The area is so beautiful and I couldn't help thinking that if I was a SAHM in San Diego, I would have so many amazing things I could expose my children too. It makes me frustrated to live in a climate where we are limited to only indoor activities 6 months of the year.

One of the entrances into the park. We did A LOT of walking in the park because it's so huge.

The botanical building.

The main walkway.

After a full day of walking (we put on a lot of miles!), we took the train to Old Town for some Mexican food. We ate at a great place called the Coyote Cafe. We managed to get one of the best tables in the place. We continued to be amazed at ourselves at how well we planned things and how lucky we were to pick great places to eat and get great tables too!

mmmmmm! Refreshing margaritas!!!

After our fun filled adventures downtown, we ventured toward the coast and spent two nights in La Jolla. La Jolla is now one of my favorite places. I would love to go back there again and again. If we ever win the lottery, we will buy a house in La Jolla. The views and the perfect weather are all I need. We ate fabulous food (again!) and walked and hiked the most beautiful areas. If I was with my girlfriends instead of Rob, we could have shopped 'til we dropped. It is the most perfect place!

Harbor seals give birth and nurse their pups from December to May at this Children's Pool. There is quite the controversy over whether or not people should share this beach with the seals. Some people say the seals abandon their young because they feel threatened by the people. Others say the beach has been successfully "shared" for 9+ years. There are several lawsuits against the city regarding the issue.

Our hotel in La Jolla...The Grand Colonial. Our room is on the top floor in the front...the one with the windows open. Oh how wonderful it was to have open windows again!

La Jolla is home to Torrey Pines State Park. It's a great park to hike and see the beautiful views of the area.

One of the many beautiful views from one of the many hiking trails in the park.

We ran into a rattle snack coming back on one of the trails! We thought we were going to be stranded, but this guy finally left. Then we ran!

Another gorgeous view.

After hiking the trails up on the cliffs, we hiked down to the beach and walked back to the car in our bare feet!

Of course, with golf in our blood, we had to stop at Torrey Pines golf course. It would be really fun to go back with another couple or two and play the course and have a fun weekend in La Jolla. Who's up for it??

I think that I've mentioned a few times that we ate really well while we were in SD. Good thing we walked, ran or hiked all day because we could have gained a lot with all that we ate (and drank!)! For our final meal, we ate at George's on the Cove, a famous place because of it's views and it's celebrity guests. We didn't see any celebrities but we did have the best table on the terrace!

Our view at George's.

The last sunset.

I don't know why, but we couldn't believe the amazing time we had. We sort of felt like our old selves again...the people we were before having kids consumed us. It was nice to go back to that place again, but it was even better to come home to where we are at now.

We are very much looking forward to taking our girls an amazing family vacations in the future.