San Diego Vacation

I am sitting here in awe that it is already August 8th... this summer seems to have gone so fast for us and the vacation we looked forward to for weeks and weeks is now a thing of the past.
Suri and I just returned from vacationing for the past week in San Diego California!!  It was a well deserved and much needed vacation for the both of us and we had such an incredible time I hope Suri is able to one day remember some of the things we were able to do together while we were there. Now that we are home, we are counting the days until we can go again!

Here is a brief recap of our trip... 

Suri and I left for Chula Visa California on Thursday July 31st. We made a stop at Grammy's house and had breakfast with her before making our way onto California. Suri was aching to see the beach and we had been talking about it for weeks and looking at pictures of it on the internet. She was all smiles and ready to get on the road after breakfast. Suri was a champion in the car for the whole 5 hours. She didn't want to eat, didn't need to pee... so much for my well stocked cooler of munchies- she was such a rock star! We arrived in Chula Vista just as Sarina was getting home from school!  Suri hadn't seen Stacy and Sarina since Christmas but ran and hugged them just like they were together yesterday. Suri and Sarina had fun playing together the 3 days we stayed at their house. Together we all went to Coronado island (Suri's first beach she set foot on in San Diego California), we went to the San Diego zoo and to Gator Beach. We had 3 fun filled days together before Suri and I headed to La Jolla to spend Monday and Tuesday together on the beach with Suri's Dad. We met up with him on Sunday night and had pizza on the beach and spent some time riding the rides at Belmont Park on Mission Beach... (Mommy's favorite vacation spot when I was growing up) I have many fond memories there and am so thankful I was able to bring Suri there and create memories with her- boy have things changed through... or at least my perspective has changed! ha. Suri LOVED LOVED LOVED the tilt a whirl ride. I think we rode on it a total of 7 times before I had to call it quits (my neck and back aren't as strong as they used to be). We laughed so hard and had so much fun - this kiddo is going to be a lot of fun when she is actually tall enough to ride some of the rides she wanted to ride. Suri definitely has a love for high and fast rides in which I am truly thankful. God knew better than to pair me with a child who was scared of amusement park rides.... ha.

On Monday, we spent some time on the beach building castles in the sand and on Monday evening we went on a ferry boat ride back to Coronado Island for dinner and ice cream. Suri enjoyed her first mini cruise.
On Tuesday Suri and I spent the morning in La Jolla- we played on the beach front playground for most of the morning and then I took her down to Seal Rock so she could see the seals. Suri enjoyed watching them and chatting with everyone who walked by. Later in the afternoon, we met her Dad at Sea World. We watched one of the shows and walked through some of the exhibits. I must say, the San Diego Zoo puts Sea World to shame in my opinion. Suri enjoyed the San Diego zoo far more than she enjoyed Sea World and I thought there was much more to see and do at the zoo than there was at Sea World... just my opinion.

Anyway, we had a fabulous vacation and one of the conversations that sums it up best of all is the conversation I had with Suri as we were driving out of San Diego, heading back to Phoenix...

Me:
"hey Suri, what did you enjoy the most about our vacation to San Diego... the ferry ride, the zoo, Sea World, playing at the beach......
Suri: "um, the part I liked the most was....... jumping on the bed in our hotel"!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Me: "sigh".... laugh....head shake....  

Moral of the story: 

it's the little things in life that make life BIG! 

Oh how I love this kid!!! Our vacation was so much FUN!!!
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                                PHOTOS of our time in San Diego:

Sitting on Stacy's front walk way- Chula Vista, CA

Suri's first view of the beach in California... Coronado Island

Playing at a park near Stacy's House while Sarina was in school:

Sidewalk chalk

 A sand filled afternoon at Gator Beach

even the sand is gold on Coronado...

Not too happy that there is sand on her hands :)

Snack time

Life is Good

Running up the big sand hill that the navy Seals train on

Good Friends

Sarina and Suri

Jumping rope with seaweed

Whoops, someone face planted in the sand....

Our day at the San Diego Zoo

All aboard the 2 story tour bus- such a great way to see so many of the animals!

such awesome tusks- our AZ zoo elephants don't have these!!

Suri's front row view of a rattlesnake!  Had to travel all the way to San Diego to see her first one!

Suri's first ride on the Skytram- super fun!

On the skytram we had a birds eye view of the zoo

The sign of a successful day :-)

Suri's first time

Plum tuckered out

Suri's first time making SMORES:

Nothing like an evening backyard fire in AUGUST :-)
I Love the weather in San Diego!

Yum

Suri and Cody

Stacy and Sarina

Suri and Sarina with their new friends they bought at the zoo

 Onto the second half of our trip... over to Mission Beach to spend some time at Belmont Park

Suri wasnt too sure she was going to like the Tilt a Whirl- a little girl was telling her how much fun it was going to be.

after our 7th time on the ride, I was convinced she LOVED it!!!

Our Morning on Pacific Beach:

Splish splash

burrrh!

Walking under Crystal Pier-
boy Mommy needs a tan!

Zijah wanted his photo taken with the Ship

Taking a cruise over to Coronado Island

Suri and I spent one of our last mornings in La Jolla, playing on the playground and looking at the seals :

The second Suri got out of the car she wants to take her shoes off!

Wouldn't it be great if all swings overlooked the ocean...

Seal Rock at La Jolla Cove

Suri kept saying "it's kinda stinky over here" the seals could be smelled before they could be seen :-)


Suri's first trip to Sea World
(and unfortunately the only photo I took was of her on the ride on the flying fish ride:-)