Trip to San Diego

Even before I became pregnant last summer, my family had been planning on traveling to San Diego around Memorial Day. My oldest brother lives there with his family, and we've never taken a trip where the ENTIRE covey visited them at the same time... so, Grizz and I waited until Peanut was born to determine if we could actually travel with her via plane when she was so little. Our 14 hour car trip back to SD when she was a month old helped us realize that yes, we could take the plunge, buy tickets, and travel with a 2 month old to California :)

She spent some quality time with the grandparents and her aunt and uncle that she met in SD, and she got to meet her aunt, uncle and two boy cousins! Well, actually, she was a tad fussy while we were there, so she spent a lot of time in my arms, too... but it was worth it :) She ate in a restaurant for the first time ;) and took a stroll on the beach... she also got to show off her smile to grandma and grandpa!

Here's the morning stroll on the beach! Grizz and I actually got to go on two short runs together, since Grandma was there to watch her!

We all got to spend some time on the beach (how many birds does it take to put up a beach tent?).

Peanut's cousin S still doesn't like the water touching his feet that much! We stayed three nights at a duplex cabin on the Navy base on Coronado - right on the beach! (My brother is in the Navy and is doing his surgical residency in San Diego.) It was nice to stay right on the beach, so Grandma could watch the napping kids, while we all played in the sand and water (thanks grandparents!).

 The boys took one afternoon to go deep sea fishing - 3 out of the 4 got sick. Grizz has determined that he doesn't have to go again. The fish tasted good that night, though!

 We spent one night in a hotel on Miramar since their house isn't big enough for all of us - I never thought I'd ever eat a continental breakfast at a Navy hotel! Other highlights were just being with family, seeing how much the nephews had grown, seeing a cousin and her family for the first time in about six years and learning that traveling with Peanut isn't all that scary after all :)

Black and White in Seattle

Like I mentioned in the previous post... we traveled to Seattle/Tacoma for my uncle's funeral at the end of February (just over a month before Peanut arrived). My parents, my oldest brother's family and Grizz and I were able to stay a few days and take in the sights of Seattle. We took a ferry, went in the Space Needle and meandered through the Market.

For how gloomy the weather was, black and white just seemed to make sense for these pictures. 

Greetings from Mt. Helena

OK, we're not actually on top of Mt. Helena at the moment... 

 ... but a few weeks ago we were!

 Mt. Helena is a mountain on the edge of Helena, MT. We were in the city for an entire week as Grizz had some job training event there.

 On the last day, we decided to hike up Mt. Helena, which is part of a city park. Yup, the mountain is a city park - fun, right?!

There were several trails to hike on, but of course we ended up on the most steep one - right up to the top!

It was a little windy up there, but what an amazing view! It was well worth of the climb!

Here you can see the college in town. Fun, old buildings like these were all over the city.

Two days before hiking up the mountain, we walked around the mansion district... I guess a lot of millionaires used to live in the city, and their houses were amazing! If you look hard enough, you'll see a white house with what I call a "Rapunzel" tower. Sigh. I always wanted a tower bedroom! 

 From the top, you can also see the well-known landmark of "The Sleeping Giant." Can you see him?

 The trail was so steep that we couldn't even safely run down it. We had to stick to walking. It's a odd habit of ours to run down mountain trails after hiking up them... but not this time. Toward the bottom, we found this cute little bird in it's house - Dad, what kind is it?! :)

 As we got on the interstate and headed home, we realized that we never took a picture of the entire mountain. Since it's from a moving vehicle, it's not the best, but it still fun to point and say, we were just up there! :)

Torrey Pines & Mt Soledad

We got to act like tourists a bit on Sunday. The Littlest One wasn't have such a great afternoon, so Brother made the decision for us to let the Littlest One have the house to himself (with his mother of course!). Thus, we went to Torrey Pines State Preserve to do a short hike.

 

  

 This was the Little One's first time in the carrier. He did quite well in it!

 

 The trail we chose led down to the beach, where we ate a little picnic lunch.

 

It was fun to watch my brother being a parent. I enjoyed helping out, too. Good practice for a future someday, right? :)

 

After looking out for snakes throughout the hike, and having the Little One saying "sssss" for most of it, we did finally see one. Now, I am not a fan of snakes, so I was happy that this "California Racer" was not poisonous and that it didn't pop out and surprise us.

 

 Before heading home to see how Sister and the Littlest One was doing, we took a quick trip up to Mount Soledad. This is a memorial for the Korean War, but there is some controversy surrounding the fact that it's a Christian cross on government-owned property.

 One step at a time :)

 A little fun with photography...

 On the top of his uncle's shoulder... what a great view!

La Jolla Beach and Old-Town

On the first afternoon, we headed to La Jolla Beach. It was a little breezy, but regardless, you can't go to Southern California and NOT visit a beach :) The very first time my other brother and I visited the Cali-Gang, two boogie-boards were bought. A few years later and they are still a fun time.

 This guy had the hardest time learning the correct way to say "La Jolla," but he loved his first time in a wet suit and the first time on a boogie-board. He hopes to learn to surf the next time we visit. I'll just stick to the boogie-boards!

Oldest Brother took the Little One to play in the water a bit, but then he was content in just playing on the beach with his sand toys.

On the last night, we headed to Old-Town. They have a favorite Mexican restaurant there that they like to take visitors. Again, it was a little chilly, but as we ate outside, we were next to fun heaters. The Little One loved the flames from the heaters.

 Before we could eat though, we had to wait for about 20 minutes for a table to open up. We decided to take the Little One for a walk to distract him.

 That's a great dress, Grizz ;)

 After eating, we walked around Old-Town a bit more. Look at that smile!

Isn't he just the cutest?!

The Crew

A few years ago, my oldest brother and his wife moved to San Diego, CA. Since then, they've added two little boys to the family! We were blessed to be able to visit them last weekend!

 It was a fabulous way to jump start our summer!!!

Here is a quick introduction to our family, entertainment, hosts and tour guides ;)

 

The Oldest Brother

 

My First Sister

 The Little One

 The Littler One

We had such a great time, and we're so thankful to these guys for letting us come visit! We look forward to seeing them back in the "home" state this August!

A Few Cali Details

 

California Coast

California Crab

 

California Pink

 California Waves

California Yellow

Instagram Overview of San Diego

 We flew out of Bozeman because it was cheaper. To get there we had to go through Helena. Things were going wonderfully, but then we heard a weird noise by the back tire - I though we ran over something but Grizz thought maybe something just flew into us. We didn't worry about it until we were a few miles outside of Helena when the tell-tale thuds of a flat tire halted us in our path. Grizz and I put that doughnut on it no time (the first time either of us have had to do it on an interstate!) and we were heading toward Walmart. Forty-five minutes later, we were on our way again. After getting stuck behind a semi, getting through construction (including following a pilot car for a bit), and checking Google Maps on my phone like every ten minutes for updated estimated arrival times, we were through security at the airport with 20 minutes to spare. We had planned on having an hour and a half to spare. Thank goodness we scheduled that extra time in!

During our layover, we gladly relaxed and ate lunch: me with my cheeseburgers and Grizz with his Chinese!

 While in Cali, we were surrounded by unusual things - spiky plants, slimy bugs and of course the ocean. I'm blessed to have a brother who lives in a perfect place to visit :)

 We had so much fun visiting with my brother and sister-in-law, oohing and ahhing over the new baby, and of course hanging with this little dude. I do believe I have the cutest little relatives ever (that of course includes the niece and nephew in SD!).

Sadly, all trips must end... but I did get some sewing in! We had over a 2 hour layover on the way back... hexie time!