Passport to So-Cal & Fun...

Well guys, after being back from vacation for over a month now, I've decided to post some pictures from it and write about it for "memory's sake". We had a fabulous time! I get an itch to ditch Utah and head home for a visit to San Diego about every 3 or 4 months. Noah's always such a good sport tagging along with me. Unfortunately, Spencer doesn't get to visit San Diego with me every time I go (he's usually busy with work or school); so vacations like this last one to San Diego, where we were all together, was extra special.
Our plan was to leave on Labor Day- in the later part of the afternoon- but after scrambling around all day to get stuff packed for myself, Noah and Ian- I was left exhausted! By 5 p.m. I was packed and ready to go- despite being totally tired- but Spencer still hadn't packed his own stuff! He was still doing stuff for work. 6 came and went, and soon enough it was 7p.m.- Spencer still hadn't packed!!! I was getting impatient so I gave Spencer two choices- either we pack and leave immediately- or he still had to pack that evening, but we would wait until morning to leave. He chose the 2ND option- I was a bit relieved with his decision. I was a little ticked that he didn't pack earlier, but what could I do... I was happy we weren't leaving that evening though because I'd be around to watch the new Hills episode on t.v. that night.

Tuesday September 4Th...The car ride...
We woke up early- I fixed breakfast for the boys and vacuumed the house (I can't stand leaving messes behind when I leave on vacation)- Spencer packed the car. I thought I packed pretty light for this trip- but when I saw that Spencer was having a hard time packing everything into our car- I realized I was completely wrong!!! I travel so much, but yet- I have such a hard time rationing and packing only the necessary stuff. I really need a Packing Light 101 class. Spencer tried to reason with me and leave behind Ian's "Pod" (it's a little seat thing-a-ma-jiggy that helps him sit up)- I refused to leave it claiming we'd need it while we were at my parents, so he managed to find a tiny little corner in the car to cram it into. We left around 10a.m., and according to our calculations, we figured we'd arrive in Escondido by 8p.m... The boys were great travelers- Ian slept almost the entire drive- we really didn't hear a peep from him; Noah slept and otherwise looked at books, played with toys and snacked. Spencer drove the entire way- bless his heart- he always drives even when I offer too. I spent most of the trip planning out our trip itinerary in my head.
We rode into North Escondido just before 8p.m. We grabbed some food, and then we found our way to my sister's house, where we would be staying. ( She lives in Utah now with her family- their home in San Diego is on the market waiting to sell- so instead of shelling out 1000 bucks for a cheap hotel for 6 days, we camped at her place for free). The stay at her house was actually quite comfortable. Everything was brand new in her place- brand new floors, brand new carpet, brand new tile, vanities, etc. so it was sort of a thrill staying in this big house that was just newly remodeled. There wasn't any furniture there though- so we slept on an air mattress my parents brought over and Noah slept in his playpen; We had entertainment via DVDs we watched on a t.v. my dad brought up for us. My parents were kind enough to stock the refrigerator with some food for us- and they left some pots, pans, plates, cups and utensils for us to use.
When we got to my sister's house, we took the boys upstairs to the room where planned to sleep. We left Ian lying on our bed and we put a Disney movie on for Noah. We went back downstairs and out into the garage to unpack the car. About 5 minutes into our unpacking, we heard a scream come from Ian upstairs. We hurried upstairs only to find the funniest scene one could imagine. Noah had found a 64 ounce can of Ian's baby formula. He had opened it and scooped almost the entire cans contents out onto our bed and Ian's face!!! Ian's face was covered completely in baby formula powder- at least an inch thick!!! It was up his nose, in his ears, in his mouth (he was actually gagging on it a little) in his eyes (all we could see where his long eyelashes sticking out)- he looked like the Sandman!!! Noah couldn't ditch the evidence quick enough- so we caught him standing over Ian with the baby formula scoop in hand!!! He knew immediately he was in trouble- but he didn't know what to do- so he just froze! Spencer and I were laughing so hard, I admit, I almost peed my pants. We tried to brush most of the powder off of Ian's face, but it was still pretty well caked on, so we did our best at removing it with water in the bath tab using the spray nozzle. Ian was totally ticked- he didn't like what his brother had done to him- but it's probably a good thing he's young, cuz 5 years from now he won't remember it well enough to hold it against Noah. (Sorry guys- I didn't get a picture- my camera was still packed in my luggage that was out in the car.)

Wednesday September 5TH...Disneyland...

The crew and I woke up early so we could get to Disneyland by a reasonable hour. We left my sister's place around 9:30 and arrived in Anaheim around 10:30. Before heading into the park, we decided to meet up with one of Spencer's buddies, an old mission companion, Ian Fowles, at the Denny's on Disney Way. It had been close to two years since we had last seen Ian- he still looked the same for the most part- but he's been busy since we last saw him- he's been touring in Japan, Australia, and Europe with his band the Aquabats (he's their guitarist). We talked about his adventures over breakfast- we wanted to hear all about the people he toured with (such as Dashboard Confessionals). He hadn't seen Noah since just after Noah was born, and he was thrilled to meet our Ian, since he bore the same name as him. I think after talking with Ian, Spencer decided he'd like to visit So-Cal more often so he can hang out with Ian and go to all of the concerts he plays; I wouldn't mind tagging along, so long as I can go to the beach and stuff.
After we split from Denny's, we cruised over to Disneyland.

I expected a big crowd, since it was almost noon once we got into the park, but I was totally wrong. In fact- Main Street was nearly empty!!! The crowd was minimal- I mean, absolutely no one was there! We walked onto every ride!!! The only wait in line we had was for the new Nemo Submarine Adventure- we only waited for about 40 minutes. (The ride is a 15 minute ride, so I can understand why there was a little bit of a wait... P.S., if you haven't been on the new Nemo sub ride- you have to go!!! It's sooo cool!!!) Noah got to do quite a bit of walking while we were at Disneyland. Since there weren't any crowds, he was free to walk where ever he pleased with out getting bumped into.

We went on the Buzz Light Year ride first. We rode it twice since no one else was waiting to get on in our place. I thought Noah would love the ride, but he absolutely hated it!!! He didn't cry, but he was mum and he covered his eyes. By the 2ND time around, Spencer figured out that if he covered Noah's eyes for him just a little bit, Noah would at times at least try and peak a sneak through Spencer's fingers .

I was holding Ian on my lap during this ride but you can barely see the top of his head. Notice Noah sneaking a peak.

We journeyed over to Small World after the Buzz ride. Noah seemed excited as we boarded the boat and while we drifted outside in the water, but as soon as we entered the cavern and it got a little darker, he immediately covered his eyes again!!! I tried to get him to uncover them, but he refused. This came as a shock to me, since this was Noah's 3rd trip to Disneyland and both times before when we came, he totally LOVED Small World! (Fear is a new concept to him just lately, and it seems, he's beginning to fear quite a bit of things he enjoyed before- but I can sort of understand- Dolls that sing and dance- that are also the same size as Noah- can be a little freaky I suppose.)
He rode on the spinning Tea Cups with Spencer and he loved it.

Afterwards, we all rode the Alice in Wonderland ride- he didn't mind the ride at first, but as soon as he spotted darkness, he covered his eyes with his hands and kept them covered for the rest of the ride. He rode the Dumbo Flight with Spencer-

he enjoyed that; after, we all rode on the Pinocchio ride, and again, he kept his eyes covered from the darkness and the illuminated characters.
We walked over towards the Haunted Mansion- and to our disappointment, we found it closed (they were decorating it for Halloween). We made our way to Pirates of the Caribbean.

It's both mine and Spencer's favorite ride at Disneyland. I love the musty smell of the ride. (Ever since I was little- whether I'm in a cellar or in a warehouse- whenever I smell something musty- I'll quickly say it reminds me of Pirates of the Caribbean.) We all loaded onto our boat. We floated past the restaurant that's off to our right- (I've always wanted to eat there just because it looks cool, but I can never find the entrance to the restaurant). We passed the bayou, and we made our way to the first drop off. Noah started to cover his eyes- he sensed the darkness I guess- but then, to our surprise, he decided NOT to cover his eyes. He held onto the handle in front of us as we plunged into the darkness, and he looked all around him as we sailed through the ride. I was totally amazed by his courage!!! He wasn't even the slightest bit scared! In fact he liked the ride so much, we chose to stay on it as it ended and we rode around on it for a 2ND time!!! It's funny what kinda things, like singing dolls(Small World), illuminated action heroes(Buzz Light Year) and dancing puppets (Pinocchio), scare children; mean, filthy pirates (Pirates of the Caribbean),on the other hand can be considered friendly! Who would have thought?!?!!!
We cruised along on the Jungle Cruise. Noah loved the Elephants- he thought they were actually real. He couldn't keep quite about them!
Spencer stayed back with the kids and waited while I rode on the Indiana Jones ride. I'd never been on it before- somehow I've always managed to overlook the ride despite being to Disneyland something like 100 times since it was built. I kinda felt like a loner going on the ride just by myself- you know- sort of how you'd imagine it if you were to go to the movies by yourself. I bet people were even wondering if I'd come to Disneyland by myself- I'm sure they really weren't; but now that I've mentioned that, I really am curious and wonder if there's actually people who do go to Disneyland all by themselves??? Hmmmm. Kudos to them. Anyhow, I rode the ride by myself. I totally loved it! I felt totally awkward at times screaming or laughing as I sat on it alone. Oh well... It was a lot of fun.
We watched the Tikki Show in the Tikki Room- it was nice to still be entertained but get a chance to sit and relax. Afterwards, we cooled off by buying a whipped Pineapple Sorbet from the Dole stand- it was delicious!!! I wish Dole sold these other places than just Disneyland- I'd eat one every day!

We walked over to Toon Town to meet Mickey Mouse in his house.

Noah's met Mickey before, but this chance at meeting him was extra special because he actually knows who Mickey is at this point in his young life. In fact, "Mickey Mouse" was one of first things he learned to say! It's actually funny, cuz for weeks and weeks during family prayer just before bed, we'd been trying to teach Noah to say "Jesus". One night- back in January- Spencer and I were prompting Noah, trying to get him to say "Jesus", and out of no where he says "Mickey Mouse"! Not quite sure where he learned that from! I don't think he'd ever watched a show with "Mickey Mouse" in it before. It's almost as if kids these days are naturally drawn to commercial icons like Mickey Mouse and Barbie, or Thomas the Train! Seriously! Anyhow, so, when we got to Toon Town, we headed straight to Mickeys. When Noah walked through the door to the room that Mickey was standing in, he was beside himself with joy. He was flabbergasted- speechless- I could only imagine what he was thinking in that little mind of his when he saw Mickey. We got our picture taken beside him,

and just before leaving, Noah insisted on leaving Mickey with his signature handshake. It begins with a "High 5", then a rock (this is a move where both people make a fist with their right hand and proceed to knock knuckles with the other person) and then lastly, he adds his signature touch and that's the "zzzppp" finger touch- (both persons extend their right pointer finger and then touch each others at the tip and say "zzzpppp"- as if they shocked each other). The people who were in the room with us burst into laughter as they watched Noah and Mickey do the special handshake. It was too cute! I think we better patent it, otherwise, Mickey might start using it as his own. JK ;)
We had a wonderful time at Disneyland! We watched some of the parade, and by 6pm, we'd seen everything in the park, been on every ride, and bought all the goodies we wanted- we were ready to head home!!! It's amazing- we saw and did everything we wanted to in 6 hours at Disneyland! There have been occasions that I've gone to Disneyland where we have had to stand in line for Small World for nearly an hour and a half, or Splash Mountain for 2 and half hours!!!


Thursday September 6Th...R&R and the beach...
We relaxed at my sisters house for the morning; later in the afternoon we went to the beach with the boys. We went to Torry Pines state beach (I used to go there to surf back in the day.) Noah knew immediately that we were at the beach even before we parked. He sounded like a broken record as he repeated "beach" over and over again. It was a nice day to be at the beach. It was probably 75, maybe 80 degrees at the most. We got lucky during our vacation and beat the heat wave Southern California got hit with. (Just two days before we went to Disneyland- I read in the paper that it was 103 degrees there)! The water was still warm, so Noah didn't mind playing around in the whitewash. He entertained himself for nearly an hour by throwing smooth, round rocks into the waves. I didn't mind this, so long as he was throwing them at the waves and not us. This was Ian's first time at the beach. He seemed to enjoy it- there weren't any complaints or crys from him as the water hit his feet or the sand touched his toes.

As we were leaving the beach, Spencer went to roll the windows down in our SUV; we'd spent all summer long in the heat of Utah driving around with AC on; we wanted to enjoy the fresh salty beach air. Just our luck though- my window broke!!! The glass itself didn't actually break, but the motor that made the window go up and down broke, so we couldn't get the thing to roll up. We weren't in Happy Valley, Orem, Utah anymore, where car theft is a rarity- we were in San Diego, where car theft is the norm; we had to get my window up some how or other. Once we got to my parents house, we managed to manually pull my window all the way up so it closed. We wedged some folded pieces of cardboard into the window to keep it from sliding down- and viola- there was the temporary solution to fixing our broken window. (Actually it's been a long term solution since we still haven't fixed it and it's going on being broken now for nearly 2 months! We just haven't had the time or remembered to fix it.) It may have looked ghetto, but it worked- and there was absolutely no way I was going to drive back through Nevada in the heat with my window rolled down!
We tried to go that evening to a birthday party my friend was throwing for her little boy; we showed up where we were told the party was gonna be, but no one was there!!! Turns out, my friend forgot to tell me they moved party locations. Oh well- we weren't far from my parents house, so we headed back there to hang out with them some.

Friday September 7Th...Wild Animal Park and the San Diego Temple...
We went to the Wild Animal Park.

I had an annual pass for myself, and a free pass for Spencer. He'd never been there before- so I took it upon myself to show him around as his personal tour guide. It can be miserable walking around the park on a hot day, but it wasn't too hot while we were there. We fed the Lorikeets, stared at the lions,

Noah played on the little water playground,

and we rode the tram that took us into the park to look at all of the animals. There were tons of baby animals that had just been recently born- including a baby giraffe. It was sooo cute. We saw the most amazing bird- it was huge!

We bought Noah a giraffe backpack to add to his collection of giraffe stuff. He wanted to wear it on his back immediately. It looked so stinking cute on him!

In the evening, we dropped the boys off with my parents- they baby sat them so we could go to the temple and do a session.

It was late before we got back to my sisters where we were staying. Our friends, Danny and Rachel, and their baby boy Ethan, were already at my sisters when we got there. They'd just driven down from Orem to stay with us at my sisters over the weekend. We talked some with them, and then we all hit the sack.

Saturday September 8Th...BYU vs. UCLA & the San Diego Zoo...
Long ago, back in May, Spencer and his friend Danny bought tickets to the San Diego Chargers- Chicago Bears game. (Spencer and Danny are major Chicago Bears fans). They also decided since they'd be San Diego for the game, that they'd go ahead and buy tickets to the BYU - UCLA college football game that was being held in Pasadena. I had the option of getting tickets for myself- but I figured I could use the money doing something else fun in San Diego.
Spencer and Danny took off early Saturday morning to drive up to Pasadena for the game. I stuck around and took Danny's wife Rachel and her son Ethan to the San Diego Zoo.

She'd never been there before, so I took it upon myself to show her around the park.

It was a nice day- not too hot, not too cold- but with all the hills we had to walk up and down pushing strollers- man- sweat was rolling down our backs! I just had my single stroller to push the boys around in-

so I figured Noah could take turns riding in it- but he was a little lazy and wanted to ride in it almost the entire day while we were at the zoo! Luckily I'd brought along my sling I carry Ian around in, but after 4 hours of pushing a stroller up hill, and carrying Ian with all of his weight on my back and shoulders, I was beat.
We saw almost all of the animals there. Look at these two hippos below, aren't they so cute how they look like they're cuddling each other under water!

We parked our strollers in front of the Orangutan exhibit and let Noah walk around there some. (The Orangutans are my favorite animals at the zoo to watch).



We sat on the benches there in front of the glass for nearly an hour before we were ready to get up and see more of the animals. I had a great time at the zoo and I enjoyed Rachel's company. I'd never really gotten much of chance to know her, aside from just seeing her occasionally at friends gatherings; It turns out after talking all day, we have quite a bit in common with one another.

Noah behaved himself pretty well at the zoo, but towards the end of the day he was getting restless and irritable. I struggled with him as I tried to buckle him into the stroller- he started to spit and snort- (he was throwing a temper tantrum) and literally he almost threw himself out the of the stroller- he was hanging out of the backside of the stroller- he would have hit his head on the concrete had I not been hanging onto the belt loop of his pants! I vowed to myself during that terrible moment that I wasn't going to exhert any more energy than I needed to and I was going to convince Spencer we needed to buy a double stroller and trade in our single.
Spencer and Danny didn't get home until nearly 10 that evening. The game hadn't gone as they wished. They had fabulous seats- they sat in the 2ND row behind the endzone, but they didn't get to enjoy them the whole game because they got there just as the 1st quarter was ending. They left 4 hours before the game started- but thanks to traffic and a suckey parking attendant at the stadiums parking entrance- they had to make a detour to find an ATM for some more cash, cuz they were $2 in change short! After getting lost a bit on the freeway in Pasadena, looking for an ATM, they finally found one- got their cash and made their way back to the stadium parking, only to find out that it was full and that now they'd have to park a ways off along a golf course! They had to hike a mile to the stadium from where they parked and finally they found their seats- with only 3 quarters left in the game. BYU lost- UCLA won and that was it. Then Spencer and Danny waited another 3-4 hours in traffic just to get back home!

Sunday September 9th...Chicago Bears vs. San Diego Chargers and Sea World...
Danny's wife Rachael left early taking her baby with her to go visit her brother in Corona. Spencer and Danny had tickets to attend the San Diego Charger/Chicago Bears game- they left pretty early in the morning- they didn't want to risk getting stuck in traffic and missing part of the game. I stuck around the house for a little bit just to relax. My sister Janna and her two kids came by to pick me and the boys up, and we went to Sea World. We all have annual passes there. I've been to Sea World so many times- I know my way frontwards and backwards through the park. Noah's been there so many times too through out his short lifetime that everything looked familiar to him. He immediately recognized Shamu when we walked down below to look through the glass of his tank. We gazed at the Belugas, Penguins, and Polar Bears.

Noah didn't even look twice at the sharks as we went through their exhibit- he's seen them so many times he probably just thinks there fixtures in the water. Ian liked looking at the fish that were in some of the aquariums. He spent a long time fixated on the Moray Eels. Maybe he'll be a marine biologist and Noah will be a zoo keeper...
We didn't stay at Sea World for too long. I was a bit tired from all the excitement we'd had in the days before so we went back to my parents house. Noah played with my nephew Idrese and neice Paresa. He loves playing with them- I think it's because they treat him like a big boy. He played in Idrese's bedroom for well over an hour without coming out to see me once! He had a great time getting into all of Idrese's toys. My mom and sister coooood and cuddled Ian- and I poohped out on the Lazy Boy rocking chair. I was ready for bed- but I still had a while before Spencer would be done with the game and be by to pick me and the boys up. We ate dinner at my parents and around 9, Spencer and Danny finally showed up to take me and the boys back up to my sisters where we were staying.
Sadly, Spencer's team, the Chicago Bears lost to the Chargers. It was a great game though and he was lucky to go, cuz it was the first real big game of the NFL season and tickets to it had been completely sold out for months. Spencer seats weren't quite as good as the seats he had for the BYU game- but they were good enough. He said he could see BIG (the bodygaurd for Rob Derdyk from MTV's show "Rob and Big") a few rows seated in front of him with his entourage.

Since the Bears lost- Charger fans were wild about their win, so ofcourse Spencer and Danny got heckled as they made their way out of the stadium to the car. He said it was the scariest experience of his life, cuz most of the fans were HUGE, drunk guys who would heckle them. He tried to think positive though and be greatful he was at a Chargers game and not an Oakland Raiders game- that's where things could have gotten really scary since most Raiders fans are gang bangers.

Monday September 10th...Babies 'R US, Sea World, planes and out to eat...
We got up early to get dressed and go back to Sea World with our friends Danny and Rachel. Before heading off to meet them at Sea World though, we had to stop at a Babies 'R Us to buy a double stroller. I wasn't going to go another day of vacation without a double stroller for the boys...
We figured it wouldn't take long to pick out a stroller- I mean a stroller's a stroller right???- Wrong. We were at Babies 'R Us for nearly 2 hours! I had wanted to get a double jogging stroller and Spencer didn't think it was wise because he argued I wouldn't be able to fit the stroller through standard doorways or through aisles in clothing stores at the mall. He wanted to go with the traditional back to back double stroller. I was opposed to this idea because I've always thought they were so long in front that they look like limos- and I have the tendancy to run my grocery cart into things in front of me since I can't see over and in front of them. I tried to push that fact that I would be a disaster driving that stroller around. We couldn't come up with an aggreement- we even test drove both strollers through the store. It was getting rediculous- so in time- I gave in and agreed to buy the big limo stroller that Spencer wanted. I only agreed because I knew it would be impossible to assemble the Jogging stroller for our use that very same day without tools, and out in front of the store next to our car. I let Spencer figure out how to assemble the limo- while I entertained the boys as they sat in their carseats. Spencer managed to put the thing together fairly quickly and with that, we where off and on our way to Sea World.
Once we arrived, we packed the boys into the limo (a.k.a. double stroller) and I have to admitt, I actually started liking it a lot cuz there was so much storage space below the stroller.

We met Danny and Rachel in the park and made our way around to see the different exhibits. Below, Noah was petting the starfish.

We'd gotten lucky the day before in getting to see the penguins- cuz the penguin exhibit was closed on this day that we came back. The Manatee exhibit was also closed. Bummer. We traded kids off with our friends so that each couple could go on the rides while the other couple baby sat. Spencer and I got completely soaked on the Rapids water ride. My jeans never did dry even by 11pm that evening! We had a good time at Sea World with our friends. They had to get back up to Utah by Tuesday night- so they just decided to leave from Sea World and head back. We said our short "goodbyes" knowing that we'd see them again soon since they live just a couple blocks from us in Orem.
After enjoying some time at Sea World- we stopped by my parents house to rest up, before heading over to Montgomery Field Airport, where we were meeting my family for dinner. Just before heading into the restaraunt, my dad took us past the security gates so that Noah could get an upclose look at all of the planes. (My dad is a pilot instructor for hobby- so he has his pilots liscense and keys to the plane yard.)

I wish we had let him known earlier that we wanted to check out the planes, cuz maybe he could have taken us up for a short flight around San Diego- but Noah still had a blast just walking around looking at the planes and touching the wings and propellers of the planes. He loves planes- and it's just one of those things like Mickey Mouse- we never encouraged him to love planes- but he just does! In fact- out of all of the fun places we went during our California vacation- walking around by the planes was Noah's favorite thrill!!! He wouldn't stop talking about them.
We walked over to the restaraunt Casa Machada after looking at the planes. My mom,dad, sister Janna, her two kids, and my brother Jeff and his wife Corina, all dined there with us. The Mexican food there is delicious! Gotta eat Mexican when in San Diego!
I wish I had gotten more of chance to visit with my family; We planned this trip as a family vacation for us and the boys, so our priority was to have fun visiting all of the attractions- if we had time in our day, we tried to visit with family and I only had the chance to briefly visit with one friend in San Diego while we were down there.
It's difficult being from San Diego because there's so many fun things to do there and around there; but on top of that, my family lives there, so I always want to hang out with them, but then again, most of my friends live there too and they always want to hang out- it's hard balancing our time there and planning out our days. I apologize to any of you who were in San Diego and we didn't get a chance to meet- I'd need to live in San Diego for year probably to do everything and see everyone I want!

Tuesday September 11th...Newport and shopping...
This day marked 4 years from the exact date I returned home from my mission! It's crazy that I've only been home from Portugal for 4 years now and already I've been married for 3 1/2 years and I have two children!!! Wow!!! I couldn't help but keep thinking on this day what I'd been doing 4 years ago, even 5 years, and 6 years ago when the Twin Towers fell in New York. I felt happy being in San Diego on this day, 4 years from the day I'd gotten back to the U.S. and San Diego from Portugal, and in the company of my family members.
We took the boys and drove up to Newport. I'd been there many times- but it had been almost 6 years since I'd last visited- and Spencer had never been there- so I wanted to show him around.
I managed to get us to Newport, but I bombed when I had to give the tour around Newport. I wanted to eat lunch at the Rubies Diner that used to be out on the pier- but sometime during these last 6 years it had been replaced by some other lousy restaraunt. We chose to eat at Carls Jr. instead. I wanted to show Spencer some really cool shops I remembered, but those were all gone too! I couldn't figure out my way around Newport. Big dissapointment.
I really wanted to visit the Southcoast Plaza, the big mall in Costa Mesa, right next door to Newport. There are two shops there in that mall that I absolutely LOVE! I used to frequently shop both stores while I was on my mission in Portugal- ZARA and MANGO Clothing Company. I love, love, love these two clothes- and Southcoast Plaza is the only mall west of the Mississippi that has both stores- correction- I think both of these stores may also be somewhere in San Fransisco, but I never go there- so it wouldn't matter.
I really, really, really wanted to go to these two stores, but I didn't dare tell Spencer until I purposefully made it look like we accidentally stumbled across the stores at my unknowing. (I knew otherwise if I had told him about them, he would have definately shoot down my idea of shopping there- he hates shopping with me).
I decided after I had no luck showing him around Newport, that I'd ditch the idea of trying to find the Southcoast Plaza- I was lost in Newport and barely new my way back to San Diego- But get this,... after I decided I wouldn't get the chance to go to the mall, we were lost on the wrong road trying to find the freeway entrance and we pass right by the South Coast Plaza!!! I wanted to scream in a fit of JOY and tell Spencer to pull over so we could go to Zara and Mango, but I bit my tongue and we drove right past it. I'm sure I'll get to go there some other time in the future now that I know where it's at.
On our way back to my sisters in San Diego, I convinced Spencer that we needed to stop by the outlet mall that is in Carlsbad. This outlet mall is absolutely fantastic!!! It tops any outlet mall in Utah by far!!! We shopped at the Etnies outlet store and found Noah 2 cute pairs of shoes. I picked up a hoodie for myself and a cute shirt for Noah. Then we checked out a few other shops before stopping in at Sun Diego. Spencer and I decided that Sun Diego needs to open up some stores in Utah County. It's a surf/skate/boarding shop with every brand name of hip appearal you can imagine. I love this store!!! In fact, I like to imagine the store as my own since for a short while, during winter break in college I worked there... The stores were closing, so we didn't have long to pick things out we liked, but I found a cute dress/shirt I love and Spencer loaded up with 2 hoodies, a shirt, a belt and a pair of shoes he wanted. It wasn't Zara or Mango I shopped at, instead it was Sun Diego, but I love this store so much- I was happy settling for it.

Wednesday September 12th...Balboa Park and the Dead Sea Scrolls, the Cove, and a surprise birthday party...
We decided to sleep in, since we'd been constantly on the "go/go" for over a week now.
We spent a couple hours in the early afternoon down at Balboa Park.

We'd gone to visit the Dead Sea Scrolls exhibit that was at the Natural History of Man Museum.

I'd never seen the scrolls before in my life- Spencer saw them once while he was on his mission in Columbus, OH. and he already knew quite a bit about them from literature he's read and from his dad- (my father-in-law worked at F.A.R.M.S. for a couple of years). We weren't allowed to take pictures or video of the scrolls or artifacts- bummer. It was really fascinating seeing documents and aritifacts that have been around for soooo long! Noah and Ian behaved themselves really well through out the entire museum trip.
We visited the Cove in La Jolla after leaving Balboa Park.

We let Noah play in the water for a little bit- coincidentally we met a family there visiting from Utah- (I have a knack for picking out Utah tourists on vacation in San Diego; I pray that I'll never be mistakened as one)- we took some pictures and then bid farewell to the beach. I'm a bit dissapointed I didn't have more time during our trip to visit the beach- maybe in another 3 or 4 months we can do that more.
We went back to my parents house and waited for them to get home from work. We wanted to see them before we left to go back to Utah. When they did get home, they surprised us with a little birthday party for Noah! They had all the goods- balloons, ice cream and gifts!!! Noah loved his party!
It was already 11p.m. by the time we got back to my sisters house in North Escondido. We weren't tired at the time, so we decided to pack up early and get a head start on our drive back up to Utah. We made it to Barstow at which point we decided to call it a night and find a hotel to stay in overnight. We tried three different places before we found a crummy motel that actually still had rooms to rent.

Thursday September 13TH...The drive home...
We completed our drive back home this day. We made a few stops- but none that kept us from the road for long. I'm always anxious to get home when ever we drive back from San Diego. Spencer nearly scared me too death, when he forgot to gas up in Cedar City and we were driving on an empty tank out in the middle of no where with nothing in sight. We prayed for a miracle and our prayers were answered when we came upon a random gas station! We got home around 6pm that evening, unpacked the car, and settled back into home. We had a great time on vacation- but I must admit- this is the first time I can honestly say that I've been relieved our vacation was over and done with and that I was back in the dull of home. It's exhausting traveling with an extra kid (Ian) and hitting up all of the amusement parks like we had! I expect I'll be itching to visit San Diego again though in another month or two...