Coronado beach, Day 4

These two live to swim! The pool was so warm it was like bath water, so no getting them out easily.

Thank goodness Aunt Monica gave True this shark life jacket! I didn't have to worry about holding him the whole time. He loved the independence.

Breakfast on the lanai

I loved just chillin' out here as often as possible. It was warm and quite and beautiful. I would read, or surf the web, write in my journal or plan.

The kids loved to join me in their pjs too. :)

The closest villa to us, and it was beautiful!

My kids were so excited to eat breakfast outside! AND they were really excited to have cereal! We stock a lot of it at home but don't eat it frequently. I make breakfast daily, so cereal on vacation was an special treat.

Look at that sand! So soft and warm. Not a rock to be seen. Loving it!

Warm water to play in and be splashed by was dreamy.

Another day of trying to out run the waves!

Another day of relaxing in the sun

Chastin making more of those cool drip castles he took delight in creating.

Do you see that sky and sand???

Heaven I tell ya. Heaven.

True helping John with his tan, haha

Sand mermaids!

Architecture may be in his future...hmmm

True's tan line after only 4 days in the sun!

Down to the Boardwalk for some Cold Stone Creamery 

Enjoying ice cream in the sun! Something we don't get to experience at home.

A picture for her wedding video one day.

Beautiful!

Sail boats~a view from the bridge

John saw someone in Seattle wearing a 'Lefty's" t shirt and took note that it was in San Diego. So he suggested we try it. I navigated us there and....

The very best pizza I have ever had! Super thin, but tasty crispy crust...MMMM. Wishing I had some now.

Tried my first Chicago style dog, which I will be ok never having again, but they knocked it out of the park with the pizza!

Once home, clean and fed, we put the little ones to bed  and left Jordan to her tv time. We headed down stairs to the game rooms. Chastin and his dad enjoyed a few games of pool. {Which I didn't know either one played}

They had fun! And I'm glad

Then it was my turn to horse around with Chastin. We played my favorite game~ air hockey:)

I'm one of those people who would replace her dinning table with an air hockey table!

{not only men think that way...i think}

I tend to get a little competitive, and I had to play left handed because of my back! But I still won! 

Chastin switched to his left hand to even the playing field.

This was one of the best times I had on this trip! It was so much fun to just let loose and hang out.

La Jolla beach, Day 3

 True is always telling me he needs his sunglasses

 The beach was pretty packed, but not too bad.

 True spent most of his time pretty sandy. Every single time I would get him mostly dried off to eat or leave, he would flip around in the sand like he was break dancing! I'm pretty sure he ate his weight in sand!

 Father like son. Funny.

True went out in waves with Jordan and she's not very tall, so when a big wave came it smashed all over his face it scared him form going back in the water. John thought up a plan: he would throw the football into the water and True would get it. {so pretty much he played fetch with our son...} but it worked! True was mostly content to just splash around where the tide came in & play in other peoples sand holes they had left behind.

 Shilo is a fish! We would be at the beach for 6+ hours and we would have to go out in the water to reapply sunscreen! I had to keep asking her if she was hungry or thirsty, but she just wanted to play in the waves! I'm so glad she loved this trip! She defiantly had the most fun at the beaches!

 My happy girl, who actually developed bruises around her eyes from wearing her goggles so long each day.

 Chastin was digging for whatever he could find to help him build his sandcastle masterpieces. 

 Shilo made friends with various groups of people throughout the day. Some little, some her age, some older.

 She adored body surfing!

 She and I heading out to float in the big waves. We must have staying out there for over an hour, just laughing and talking. She was so happy and so much fun! I'm glad I soaked up all the Shilo love I could!

 Look! One picture over 10 days to prove we took the trip together!

We always make fun of teenage girls {Jordan} for doing the 'duck face' when taking a picture of herself:)

So here's ours.

Jordan laid on the beach and burned herself~ I didn't capture a picture of that...

San Diego Zoo, Day 2

 Just getting to the zoo, so excited! I grew up going to the San Diego zoo, so I knew what to expect, but my kids had no idea how cool this was going to be! And so much different than our zoo at home.

 We first took the double decker bus tour. We sat on the top and had such a wonderful view of all the animals. The narrator stopped when the animals where out and we got to hear all about them and watch them in their environment. It was soooo cool!

And so HOT! Something like 95 degrees. Needless to say, I was in heaven!

 True chillin' on the bus.

 Shilo was thrilled with being able to actually SEE all the animals.

 Shilos favorite animal. Glad she got to see this one up close.

 Funniest thing we saw all day! This poor brown bear was trying to stay cool pressing himself against a boulder:)

 Baby giraffes! Why is everything baby so cute? I learned that they fall from their mommies tummies to the ground during birth to cut the umbilical cord. Yikes!

 This ape was going crazy with excitement for all the people!

 He and True had a good talk...

 Monkeys are so funny! So fun to watch.

 My happy girl

 The animals are so active at this zoo. We hardly missed anything due to not being able to see.

 Camels. Camels people. At the Zoo!! So cool, but so smelly..

 I love this capture

 They have these big sculptures all over the park~ unfortunately, when it's 90+ outside, the sculptures are HOT!

 This zoo is really in to conservation, which I love!

 When I was a kid, you could ride an Elephant! Was kinda hoping you could still do so.

They have some of the coolest birds ever!

 My cute boys

 Chillin' some feet need a rest

The zoo is HUGE! So big you can take a bus from one part to another, they actually have bus stops and everything! 

 The kids favorite treat!

My poor kids are probably tired of me & my camera in their face documenting every moment:)

{you can tell from Chastins fake smile}

 The zebras are white with black stripes, the zoo keeper said their skin is actually white. See, you learn something new every day.

 My favorite part! The flamingos.

 I love the color of flamingos.

 They just bring me peace looking at them.

I have vivid and wonderful memories of standing quietly watching the flamingos with my mom when I was Shilos age. I have pictures of my mom and I standing in front of the flamingos trying to see how long we can balance on one leg. This moment in time meant more than words can explain. I was fulfilling a dream of mine at this very moment.  To share something so close to my heart with my children, was so special to me.

All the hard work, the saving, the waiting, was all worth it.

I'm glad they had as much fun as I remember having here.