Our quick get away to San Diego

Alright, so I've been saying I'd fill you all in with the details about our San Diego trip and I'm finally ready to sit down and write. First off, I really wasn't expecting to visit San Diego again until after the baby was born- but due to crummy Utah winter weather, I started to itch for the warm California sunshine and I made it my birthday request to go home for just a few days! Thankfully my parents are such great parents and honored my request flying me down with Noah to San Diego on such short notice to visit. I really was relieved to be back home in San Diego. Please don't misunderstand, home now really is in Utah, since that's where I reside with Noah and Spencer, but home in my heart is also really in San Diego, since that's where I grew up. Utah can be so boring to me- and at the time I was just really over it's unpredictable weather- this winter especially was a weird one for Utah- one day it would snow, the next it would be 60 degrees out and then the following day it would rain or snow again- I couldn't keep up with the ever changing forecast. As a native San Diegan, I've only ever expected days to be sunny and warm or a tid bit overcast with a slight breeze. I'm thankful I left on my trip though when I did because the following day after arriving in California, (which also just happened to be my 26th birthday) both Spencer and my sister Trish called to tell me it had just snowed!!! I for one, along with Noah actually enjoyed that day soaking up the warm sunshine at the beach and we also visited the zoo. Noah enjoyed his trip to the zoo much more this time than he has on any other trip there- probably because he finally recognizes some of the animals and they're not too mysterious looking to him. He really liked watching the Orangutans in their encounter- one actually had a bowl haircut similar to Noah's, it was pretty funny- but when one of the Orangutans came up to the glass just an inch from Noah, he started to panic a little! I took him into the petting zoo where there were a lot of goats. Noah was like a broken record and would just walk up to each on of them repeating "Doggy". He wasn't quite sure if he wanted to pet the goats though- I wasn't quite sure either if I wanted him to pet them because I was afraid he may hit one of them. (He's in a hitting stage- so we're teaching him all about being "gentle"- sometimes with luck he is gentle, but most of the time he likes to hit things saying "bam, bam, bam".He's your typical boy, hitting and throwing things.) We visited the zoo a few times while I was in California- I decided to get a year pass there this year rather than a Sea World pass since we've had Sea World passes for the last 2 years. On the Saturday that I was there, which just also happened to be General Conference, my sister Janna was nice enough to take Noah out with her own two kids to visit Sea World for a couple of hours- so I was left home to enjoy conference and relax. Along with visiting the zoo a couple of times, I also took Noah up to the Wild Animal Park. That place is amazing for those of you who have never been there. We went with my sister and her two kids. It was actually the perfect day to visit there because usually it's so stinking hot and miserable- but it was just a bit overcast and breezy that day. Another day while I was visiting we went to Balboa Park along with my sister Janna, her two kids and my oldest sister Celeste's 4 kids. It was pretty much an all day affair. I couldn't believe how crowded it was there- I used to think no one ever visited the museums, but since it was Spring Break for most of southern California there were tourists everywhere! We visited the Science museum to check out the Grossology exhibit- it explained all about how boogers and vomit and pooh, all that gross stuff is made by our bodies- even though it sounds disgusting, it really was fascinating. We also checked out the Natural History museum of Man and Life. Afterwards, we lingered on some grass for a bit so all the kids could play ball- Noah especially loved this! Sometimes I think he often forgets he's still so little compared to older kids- he likes to get a little rough at times. I'm proud to say that while I love shopping in stores around San Diego, I held back for the most part on this trip and tried to make it an inexpensive visit. Although, I did find and buy the cutest pair of Reef flip flops for Noah to wear. They're sooo funny looking on him, but oh my gosh- somehow or other, they sure make that boys feet stink! Noah got to hang out a lot with my nieces and nephews while we were down visiting- and I know he absolutely loved their attention. I was happy to see him having such a good time, since I often worry that at times he may be a little bored with just having adults around the house and no other kids usually to play with. He also had a blast playing with my parents dog, Buddy (he's a yellow Lab.) When we were home at my parents house, Buddy was all that Noah could keep his attention on. I didn't mind it, in fact, Buddy was in sense a free babysitter to Noah. Sadly, in case you haven't read any of my earlier blogs, we lost Buddy less than a week after I returned home from San Diego- he'd been accidentally struck by a car in the street and died. I truly am happy though that we had the chance to see him the entire week before though. One evening we visited Ruth ( a sister missionary from my mission) and Noah got to play with her little boy, who actually isn't much younger than himself. I was happy to see Noah getting along so well with another kid his age, and they played well together for at least an hour, but after that I could tell Noah was getting a little tired of playing nice and he started to get a little moody and quickly lost interest in playing with someone else his size. I guess it's a baby thing. Noah was actually quite well behaved for most of the trip- aside from when he was tired and moody- I was really worried about our flight down to San Diego being a disaster, but Noah's quite the experienced traveler by now and he just slept as he has always done on flights. I was a little more tired on this last trip but I suppose that's because I chose to solo it with Noah in tow at 8 1/2 months prego. We spent every day at the beach- which I truly enjoyed. The weather was absolutely beautiful and amazingly enough the water was actually really warm too. Unfortunately now that Noah's mobile on his own, I didn't get much of a chance myself to lay out and soak up any sun- instead I kept a constant close eye on his Highness. Noah really loved the beaches and the ocean. This completely thrilled me- since I have such a great love for water and the ocean myself. He couldn't quite keep his balance as the bigger waves (we're talking still small, maybe a foot at it's hightest, but big to Noah) would sweep past him. I managed to usually get to the beach around low tide so he could sit in the water and throw sand without getting swept out to sea. People who passed by us all had to laugh about Noah's profile- with his rolly arms, long side swept blonde hair, chubby cheeks, protruding belly, and sagging swim trunks- he looked like the perfect beach bum just 20 years too young! On the last day we visited the beach, aside from throwing the sand, he actually learned how to help his cousin build a sand castle! It was too cute to watch as Noah eagerly tried to contribute to the big heap of sand. I really wish that we could live closer to the beach for Noah's sake, but I guess I just have to be thankful that my family still all lives down there so we can visit. Now that we're home, I've noticed that Noah wants to spend more time in the bath tub- usually close to an hour everyday- I guess he misses the beach too. My trip seemed shorter than usual this time around- but I was relieved to head back home, since as I mentioned before, this pregnancy is beginning to slow me down when I'm on my own with Noah. I was happy though that I had the chance to vacation alone with just him before the baby arrives so he could get that special solo attention from me. I only wish Spencer could have been with us, but he still had school and work to keep him super busy back at home. I drove back to Utah with my mom and Noah. We made good time- and thankfully I didn't deliver the baby out in the middle of the Nevada desert as I had secretly feared could have happened. My mom stayed to visit with us and my sisters family for 3 more days, and my dad even flew up to accompany her for two of those days. Oh, here's a surprise- on the drive back to Utah, my sister Tricia called to inform us she was pregnant again with her 8th kid! Can you believe that! Here I am consumed by mothering one child, and she's about to have her 8th in a few months! Anyhow, I enjoyed being with my family for so much of the time since I don't get that chance living away from them. Now that we're back home, we've just been busy trying to get back into the routine and get everything ready for the baby. Spencer has just another few days of classes and then he just has finals next week- I'm sure he'll be relieved once skool is done- but I'll be happy for him too. As for me, well I'm already busy dreaming up my next visit to San Diego- let's see Spencer's favorite team the Atlanta Braves play the Padres that first weekend in July, so maybe we'll be out then, and also, Spencer's favorite football team- the Chicago Bears play the San Diego Chargers the first weekend in September- so odds are pretty good that we'll be driving out in the next couple of months to visit good ol' San Diego again. Not a problem for me!