6 months after the fact... our trip to San Diego.

It's now been 6 months after the fact, but I'm FINALLY getting around to posting pictures and such from the little vacation I took with Noah and Ian to San Diego during the first week in November.  You're probably questioning why I even care to write about it now, but truth is, I NEED to.  It was an adventure that I shared with my two oldest boys and I don't want to forget about it.

We visited my family in San Diego for one week.  We flew in on a Wednesday and came back home that following Wednesday night.  The first two days while we were in San Diego, I've already written about... click here and here to read about the flight down there and our first day that we spent at Sea World.

Now that I've explained myself, let me start where I last left off...

Friday, November 6TH, 2009...

We visited the San Diego Zoo!
I LOVE the zoo, particularly the San Diego Zoo! There isn't any other zoo in this world that can out preform it!  What more needs to be said?! I mean seriously, if I was Superwoman, I'd figure out some way to go back to college, get some sort of degree so I can work at the zoo with the animals all while juggling my responsibilities of being MOM to my 4 unruly little boys.

Okay, but this vacation wasn't entirely about myself now was it???  I mean what really mattered most was that my two boys were enjoying themselves.  Lucky for me, they like staring at animals too!

We saw a variety of animals that day...

...ranging from flamingos...

...to Komodo Dragons... 

(this one was interested in Ian).

... we even saw a silverback gorrilla...

... a family of giraffes 

(our favorite!)...

... we encountered upon a pride of lazy sunbathing lions...

... we spotted a beautiful jaguar 

(I'm even envious of his polka dots!)...

..

... Noah mistakenly thought this desert camel was one of our relatives

(get it? He thinks his name is Noah Camel).

... we also stopped to see the Orangutans! I love these guys! They're so ugly they're cute! 

(p.s. it always seems to amaze me how people visit the zoo on a weekly basis JUST to see these guys... I mean, I've met people at the Orangutan encounter who know all of the apes by name and they can tell you all sorts of fascinating trivia about them... I wouldn't be surprised if these people considered the Orangutans family!)

... I had my own little monkeys at the zoo keeping me busy and on my toes...

... this little kid in particular (Ian) thought he WAS a monkey!  

Every time I turned my head, I found him climbing on something or other!

... and I picked up this silly looking monkey along the way! 

That's my dad.

  He met my boys and I, along with my niece Paresa, at the zoo  later that afternoon...

... this little guy could have been a brother to my boys...  

he sported the same faux hawk the boys wear!

 ...I'm always fascinated by the baboons painted faces.  

The colors are so VIVID!

I wonder if that's where man got the inspiration to start face painting???

... the hippos were sleeping (how rude!) by the time we made it down to their encounter.

... all of the koalas but this little guy were napping in the tree tops too.

.

... I really enjoyed the new elephant encounter... 

It was about time the zoo remodeled that part; 

before it looked so drab and 1970's.  

I NEVER used to visit that part of the park, but now it's one of my favorite spots.

... we saw the panda bear munching away on its bamboo...

seriously that's all it ever does all day long! 

How B.O.R.I.N.G.! 

I don't get it?! Why is the panda bear so popular?!

... I'm an animal lover and I consider practically all of God's creations beautiful; 

this one below though, 

DIDN'T make it onto the "beautiful list". 

This ugly bird is the California Condor.  

It's hideous huh?!  

Obviously it isn't allowed to live in Hollywood, otherwise it wouldn't look like that.

He needs a plastic surgeon right now!

One thing I did observe while visiting the zoo 

that was absolutely BEAUTIFUL and breath taking 

was the skyline of Balboa Park. 

It's stunning isn't it?! 

San Diego has A LOT of GORGEOUS skylines and horizons. 

If you've never visited Balboa Park, you NEED to, just to see the architecture.

We LOVED every minute of our trip to the zoo, especially since Grandpa could be there to share the experience with my boys.  As we wrapping up our visit, Noah kept complaining he was hungry!  I was out of snacks and I told him we'd be eating dinner very shortly, but he whined and whined about his hunger.  I promised him that at the next little food place we found in the zoo I'd buy him something. Eventually we found a little food stand selling over priced cotton candy, popcorn, drinks and churros.  Noah told me he wanted a churro, even though he didn't know what a churro was because he'd never eaten one before.  I asked the vendor for one and he told me that if I bought one, he'd give me another one for free because he was just about to close down his stand.  SCORE! I thought it sounded like a great deal, because I figured once Ian woke up, I could give it to him to eat.  I paid for my churro and we were on our way!  The park was about to close and it was time to go home; we were meeting the rest of my family over at our favorite Mexican restaraunt for dinner.  As we were walking towards the exit, Noah SCARFED down the first churro, then asked for the other one.  It didn't look like Ian would be waking up any time soon to eat the second churro, and I didn't want to take the sugary mess in the car with me, so I let Noah have at it.  He practically INHALED the second churro! Boy was he hungry!  Just as we left the park I remember looking over at Noah who had his shirt up to his neck and he was itching his belly... hmmm.... I thought it was strange since he's always been pretty modest in the past; I urged him to stop scratching and put his shirt back down!

Almost an hour or so after leaving the zoo, we were gathered at Casa Machado Restaurant (our family's FAVORITE Mexican grill) for dinner.  The food at this restaurant is SO good!  I could live off of their chips and salsa alone!  I ordered the boys tacos, but Noah refused to eat.  He was WIRED! He was up walking around the table the ENTIRE time with his shirt pulled up itching his belly!

We finished eating and went back to my parents house so I could get the boys dressed and in bed!  I couldn't figure out what the deal was with Noah itching his stomach until I took off his clothes to put his jammies on him and discovered this!

HIVES!

He had them all over his body, poor thing!  I analyzed our day and tried to think of all the things he'd eaten that day that would have made him break out in hives.  My only conclusion... the churros!  They were HUGE churros and he ate TWO of them!  They were also hot and fresh out of the oven, still a little doughy inside.  It couldn't be... could it???  I've wondered about it before, and my doctors warned me... Was he allergic to flour and gluten like me?!?  It sure looked that way.  I gave him Children's Benadryl to help stop the itching and then sent him off to bed.

The following morning MOST of his hives had disappeared and he said he was feeling better.  Thank GOODNESS!

Saturday, November 7TH, 2009...

I took the boys to my favorite surf shop in my neighborhood I used to frequently visit as a teenager. Clairmont Surf Shop. I used to always stop by there just so I could see cute boys and comb through the racks of the latest girl wear...  It's been part of our community F.O.R.E.V.E.R.  I wanted to get the boys one of the shops t shirts so they can represent my hood.  I only found one their size, so I bought it and the boys traded off wearing it about two times before they totally stained it (it was white. White shirts NEVER last long if my boys are wearing them).

 Here's a picture of Noah wearing the shirt.

And below is Ian rockin' the same shirt.

We met up for lunch in La Jolla at Islands Bar and Grill with a two of my old friends from high school, Janine and Chalise (Isabel, Jill and Amber we missed you girls!).  I used to play high school soccer with both of these girls.  I hadn't seen or really heard from either of them since graduation (that would be 10 years!).  They both still looked the same, young and cute, just a little more mature.  It was wild to see each of them with babies of their own.  They probably thought I was NUTS though to have 4 of my own.  It was nice to chat with them and hear how they've been doing; although it's probably best to add here that my boys were HELLIONS at lunch and totally misbehaved!  It was SO embarrassing and annoying.  I was there at lunch to talk with my friends, NOT to reprimand my boys for bad behavior!  I've learned my lesson after that luncheon and that is to NEVER bring my boys along when I'm going to chat with friends.  It's just absolutely impossible!

Here's a snapshot I had taken from our get together.

I should probably also add here, that during lunch Noah did not want to eat, so I just ordered him a fruit smoothie.  Because of what happened with him the night before, I was trying to keep him off of anything that had wheat or flour in it, but it was during one of my conversations with my friends that I was distracted and he grabbed Ian's little dish of ranch dressing and started to slurp it down! (it had flour in it!)  I caught him just as he was licking the dish clean. I was SO embarrassed. I mean what mother allows her kid to DRINK ranch dressing?! Apparently I do.  I was NERVOUS too.... would the flour in the ranch make Noah get hives all over his body again?!  Sure enough, just as we were leaving I spotted little red hives around his mouth and along his neck!  GREAT!  My kid was already WIRED from the Benadryl I gave him the night before (it usually makes adults tired but it has the adverse effect on most young children... it makes them really wild!) but I sped home and gave him another one to help ease the itching.

Soon after, my sister and I took our kids to the beach.  We went to The Cove in La Jolla.  There's a lot of beaches in San Diego that are less touristy but I like the private little beaches at The Cove because the sand is so white and it's made from shells from off the coast found along the reefs.

I wish the weather was nicer during my visit.  San Diego is notorious for SUN but it was anything but while I was in town.  It was gloomy and overcast 99% of my stay.  Regardless, I had to spend some of my time there at the beach and let the boys build sand castles.

 

It was too cold to go in the water, but that didn't stop us from getting our feet wet.  In fact, two of the boys, Noah and his cousin Kyse, got swept away by some of the white wash and got soaked head to toe!

After our trip to the beach, we drove on over to P.B. (Pacific Beach) to grab some ice cream from our family's favorite ice cream shop: Mr. Frostie!

Mr Frostie has been around for as long as I can remember.  As kids, my parents used to bring my brother, sisters and I here for a sweet treat.  It was always tradition every Mother's Day and Father's Day to blind fold my mom or my dad and then drive them around town in circles till we ended up here to celebrate.

The line for ice cream was kinda long, so I asked my sister Janna to get my boys twist cones, while I held a spot at a table with all the kids.  I COMPLETELY forgot that I needed to keep Noah from eating anything with flour in it until AFTER he'd had 5 or 6 bites of his cone!!!  AHHH!

You can already see the hives starting to form along the side of his face.

 I took his cone away immediately but it was already too late.  He'd eaten just enough of the cone to upset his system.  Boy did it REALLY upset him too!  He was up all night, vomiting and itching and scratching (he was actually already asleep when he woke up sick; he vomited from the top bunk onto the carpet below him making QUITE the mess for me to clean up.  Keep in mind that happened after I'd already cleaned up the mess my boys made earlier that night when they got into my make up bag and got foundation, powder mascara and lipstick all over the carpet and the bedding).  At one time he was even having a little bit of a difficult time breathing! (Thinking back now, I probably should have taken him to the hospital).  I gave him some more Benadryl and eventually he stopped vomiting and his conditions started to improve; he was EXHAUSTED and fell asleep in my dad's computer chair.  And so, from that whole scary experience, I've learned that Noah is positively allergic to wheat/flour/gluten just like me!  Only unlike me, his little body has started to reject it at a much earlier age.  The doctors warned me that my disease/allergy was hereditary; I didn't completely believe them until that awful night!

Poor Noah was MISERABLE!

His symptoms seemed to improve over night and by the next morning he still just had only a few hives left on his little body.

Sunday, November 8TH, 2009...

After a cRaZy evening the night before, my boys were both a little moody and tired... I couldn't let that hamper any of my plans though of course.  We were in San Diego and I wanted to make the most out of my time there... or so I thought...

Sunday morning my sister Janna, along with her 3 kids, my dad and I drove up to Carlsbad to visit the Legoland Sea Life Aquarium.

That fish and those sea horses are made entirely of Legos!

None of us had ever been before.  It was pretty neat.  What wasn't cool though was how Noah was throwing a fit and bumped my camera off of the top of my stroller; it fell to the ground and my lens broke!  I could still use it if I held onto it carefully, (and eventually I got if fixed free of charge after I got back home, thanks to my protection plan I purchased with it) but it just wasn't ideal or even how I pictured starting my day.  The boys sure were challenging that morning at the aquarium.  I didn't get to enjoy it that much because I spent half my time there chasing down Noah or dealing with one of Ian's temper tantrums!  They were tired.  I was tired too.  Our travels were beginning to take their toll on my boys.  They weren't getting the naps they were used to; they woke up MUCH earlier in the mornings than they're often used too and they weren't getting to bed at night till WAY past their normal bedtime.  Not to mention, Noah's behavioral problem was probably due in part to all the Benadryl he had in his system!  The boys DESPERATELY needed sleep; no need to worry though, they were both asleep before we even left the parking lot of the aquarium and they slept that entire afternoon!

Later that same afternoon, after the boys slept, we went back to Sea World for a second visit.  We met up there with my brother Jeff and his wife, Corina, and daughter Tatiana.

The trainers had moved the Killer Whales temporarily out of this tank below and transferred in a Pilot Whale and some dolphins so they could do some training with them.  My boys were fascinated with how the Pilot Whale and dolphins kept looking at their reflections in this mirror the trainers were holding.

I guess vanity isn't solely a human characteristic... is it?

I thought I knew Sea World like the back of my hand, since I used to work there and all, but apparently I was wrong.  I never knew about this little fish aquarium place that was right next to the star fish encounter.  The boys spent a good hour inside this enclosure staring at all of the different tropical fish.  I chuckled some after seeing some of the fish; they reminded me of the fish from the Disney movie Bed Knobs and Broomsticks.

Look at the noses on those fish!

We HAD to visit the sharks again in the shark encounter.

There's just something unsettling about having a shark swim over head...

even if we're surrounded by glass!

I recall telling the boys a handful of times to stay off the railings and not to swing on them.  Noah didn't listen and he ended up slipping and hitting his nose of the bar. The result: a bloody nose!  GrEAt of all places to get a bloody nose, the shark encounter is not the place for one, especially with sharks surrounding us!

Thank goodness Uncle Jeffrey was there to come to the rescue.  He sacrificed his white hanky to stop the bleeding.

Monday, November 9TH, 2009...

I decided to take the boys back to the zoo this day with their older cousin Idrese.

We crossed paths with a young zebra that day... it's keeper was taking it for a walk when we discovered the two of them.  The boys had the chance to pet the zebra... pretty cool!  It was so beautiful!

After visiting the zoo again for the second time, we headed over to my brother's house to eat dinner with him and his little family.  It was good to spend some time with them since we rarely see them and get to know this little doll better...

... this is Tatiana, my brother's daughter. 

Isn't she adorable with those big brown eyes?!

Tuesday, November 10TH, 2009...

I took the boys to Disneyland on this day with my sister Janna and her 2 oldest kids.  My brother Jeff and his wife and daughter met us there later in the afternoon.  No surprise here, both my boys have been to "The Happiest Place on Earth" a lot; we go at least once every time we visit San Diego. They already knew just which rides they wanted to go on prior to arriving.  They also know which rides to avoid.

Disneyland post Halloween is my favorite;

I L.O.V.E. how every little thing in the park is Christmasie.

The first ride the boys went on was The Matterhorn.  They had never been on this particular ride before because they were never tall enough.  Noah sat in front of me with my nephew and I sat behind them with Ian.  I was TERRIFIED the entire ride that I was going to loose my grip on Ian and he was going to fly out of the car on any of those bumps and turns!  My gosh that ride can give you whiplash!

Following our ride on The Matterhorn, we hit up Fantasyland.  The boys L.O.V.E. riding on Dumbo The Flying Elephant Ride (It's funny. I can remember LOVING this ride too when I was little!)

Below is my nephew Idrese with Noah...

Janna and Ian...

... they took a twirly whirly on the teacups!

Usually the boys like to meet the Disney characters... but for some odd reason they didn't want to on this visit.  We stood in line for almost 20 minutes to meet Toy Story's Woody, but when we got to the front of the line they freaked out!

So yeah, just in case you were wondering, 

this child in the picture below is NOT either of my children. 

I just thought I'd take the picture so one day when they're older I can tell them this story.

I thought surely the boys would want to meet Pooh and Tigger... they L.O.V.E. Pooh Bear!  We waited in line forever and when it finally came time to meet the two characters they were shy and Ian even started to cry a little.  The old lady who was Pooh's escort asked me to take Noah and Ian away because "their crying would scare Pooh".  Really?!  I was determined to still get the picture of the boys with Pooh even if they were crying but this lady told me Pooh doesn't like kids who cry! The NERVE of that woman having the audacity to tell me something like that after we waited in line for 30 minutes! Instead of making a fuss about it, I obliged and took the boys off to the side...

...I took this picture of my niece Paresa with Pooh instead.

Let's face it.  My boys just weren't being themselves.  They were tired, overwhelmed and had been overstimulated the entire trip.  It was our 2ND to last day in California and they were just SPENT!  Truth is, we should have gone to Disneyland the first day of our trip so that they could have enjoyed it more.

We met up with my brother and his family while we were over in Pooh Corner.

Don't you love Noah's blue tongue in the picture above?  Funny story about that blue tongue...  it wasn't just his tongue that was blue that day.  He also had blue lips, blue fingers and his shirt and shorts were stained because he kept wiping his blue fingers on them.  I C.O.U.L.D. N.O.T. for the life of me, figure out what it was that was making Noah's and Ian's fingers and mouths BLUE!  I thought maybe it was the blue Gatorade they were drinking... nope, that wouldn't explain why their fingers would be blue.  Hmmm.  I was troubled by this ALL afternoon.  It wasn't until that evening that I finally discovered that the bag of Cheetos I bought earlier in the morning from the store were special Cheetos that turned blue in your MOUTH! It was right there, printed on the bag and somehow I didn't see it! 

While we were in Pooh Corner we also stopped in the gift shop to buy some of these...

Tigger Tails!...

... and Mickey Mouse ears!

(our old ones were just that, old and ruined.)

The boys were pretty tired, but they got their 2ND wind later in the afternoon.

We rode the ferry over to Tom Sawyer Island...

... and played around there for some time...

... until the boys discovered the pirate treasure!  They REALLY wanted to keep it.  It took me a while to convince them it wasn't real.

b.t.w. don't you love that Ian's picking his nose is this picture below?

We rode The Pirates of the Caribbean. 

Noah had his hands over his ears the ENTIRE time!  

The boys had a grand time climbing around in the Tarzan tree!

My favorite ride at Disneyland is The Haunted Mansion when it's been decorated for The Nightmare Before Christmas.  I tried and tried to get Noah to go on this ride with me, but he refused!... so like any good mom, I sat outside with him while the rest of the gang enjoyed the ride.

Before we knew it, the park was scheduled to close in an hour and a half and we still hadn't seen Mickey!  We separated from the rest of our group and trucked it over to Toontown to meet the mouse.

There's almost ALWAYS a HUGE line to meet Mickey, but not this time!   We marched right into the production studio and met him.  The boys were SO excited to see him! (I was instantly relieved because they hadn't been so excited to meet characters earlier in the day).

We all look TERRIBLE in this picture; 

my hair is a mess and the boys shirts were dirty and they had blue faces,

but what did you expect?!  

It had been a L.O.N.G. day!

We hung around Toontown for a little while longer since most of the park guests had long since left and the place was nearly vacant...

... this will probably be what things look like in another 12-13 years 

when Noah and Ian are driving and have to share a car...

...they were arguing over who got the drivers seat and who had to be the passenger!

They loved pretending to play this mini piano that was in Goofy's home...

Just before leaving Toontown, I took the boys on the Gadget's Go Coaster (it's the little red roller coaster next to Mickey's House).  It looked harmless and the boys met the height requirement to ride the coaster... BOY what a deception! That little coaster twisted and turned every which way and was SO FAST!  Noah rode in front of me and Ian sat beside me.  I panicked nearly the entire ride, imagining my boys flying out of their seats!  I wanted to get off after we flew through that first twist!  Needless to say, NOTHING happened to any of us, but STILL, MY GOSH! I won't let them ride that coaster again till they're adults!

Just as the park was closing, we met back up with my sister Janna and her kids and my brother Jeff and his family for one last picture at the park.

Wednesday, November 11TH, 2009...

This was our last day in San Diego.  It was bittersweet since I LOVE everything about the city, (i.e. the beaches, the weather, the people, the places to visit, the shopping, MY FAMILY) and it's where I spent 20+ years of my life but I was tired after our busy trip and EXCITED to get back home to see Spencer and my two babies, Cohen and Bentley.  Just in case you forgot, my WONDERFUL husband stayed behind in Utah to watch Cohen, our 1 year old, and Bentley, our then 2 1/2 month old baby.

We spent the day hanging around my parents house with my family.  We also did a little bit of shopping down in Mission Beach at Sun Diego (it's my favorite clothing store for girls surf/beach apparel).  We also made a little stop off at the water... I had to get my last "fix" in at that beach before heading back to the mountains.

Man how I wish these boys knew what is like to grow up by the beach! 

They would L.O.V.E. it!

 

We had a fabulous time visiting family and friends in San Diego!  Writing about it definitely makes me want to go back now!  You don't think Spencer would mind watching the two babies again while I'm gone do you??? Just kidding of course!

These boys were SO excited to get back home and see their Dad and brothers!

 

... but it was only a matter of days after being home that they started to ask me again if they could go back to the beach and visit Grandma and Grandpa!

Two last things...

These maps SAVED me on the trip home!  We collected maps from all the places we visited and my mom laminated them so the boys could keep them to look at.  They like to read over these for HOURS during bedtime and naptime.  B.E.S.T. idea ever!!!

I also wanted to add this picture I took... I borrowed my niece Paresa's bedroom while I was in San Diego staying with my parents; I shared a bunk bed with my boys.  They slept on the top bunk and I slept on the bottom... this is what I saw every night plastered above my bed as I fell asleep. Big Kitty conquering the city!