The Rest of Sunny San Diego

 On Monday we were able to switch plans and still make it out on a whale watching trip.

"See whales with my kids" is one of the first things I have written down on my bucket list, and it's just magic. We saw lots of them in Hawaii but this time we got pretty close to a pair of grey whales and it made me so happy. And before that, we came upon two different pods of dolphins that had 100+ dolphins each, and I have never seen something like that! The boys loved it, especially spotting the little babies. So fun. The day started out foggy, which means grey water fading into grey sky and no horizon. Seasick people need to keep their eyes on the horizon, so, that had Michael and Westin feeling pretty iffy for a bit there. Everyone kept everything down though :) Then we walked around downtown a bit after, drove through a protest that spoke to our hearts, ate some clam chowder in a bread bowl, and went home to watch the finale of Beast Games that the boys have been obsessed with.

Shelley and Clay came that night for dinner and to play with us the next couple days. That was the best bonus of this vacation!

Tuesday we spent the day at Legoland. Michael and I took Westin and Bennett to Legoland during residency and it was one of the brightest spots of those years. We just had so much fun watching our two cute boys on the rides and loving life and it was our first time doing a semi-big-kid trip. We still joke about New Years in Legoland when the fireworks countdown was at 6pm, and after the first few fireworks Westin yelled, "GET OUT OF HERE! GO! GO! GO!" He totally thought we were under attack and wanted me to wheel that stroller to the nearest exit as fast as I could, haha. Because of that happy trip, lately we have been talking about getting Camden and Asher to Legoland or we probably just won't go back ever again, since it's pretty tailored to little kids. That kind of fueled this whole trip. So Tuesday we spent running around Legoland, sometimes doing big kid rides with Clay and Bennett and Westin, sometimes little rides with Asher and Camden, sometimes rides all together and some lego building and churro eating and 4D show watching thrown in there, too. Asher was very sad whenever he wasn't tall enough for a ride, sweet boy. But everyone had a totally fun day overall and I love the manageable size of Legoland. Also that was the best churro I've ever eaten (dipping it in chocolate was a bonus, but even as a standalone churro I'd still make the claim). 

Then Wednesday, we did SeaWorld. I still remember going to SeaWorld as a kid and totally loving it. I have to admit one of my main memories is when my dad bought us some fish to feed the sea lions and then one of the aggressive sea gulls pooped on my mom's head. But I ALSO remember just loving the Orca show, eating lunch by them, and really loving the day :) What I didn't expect was that this day would be everyone's favorite of the whole trip. We all totally loved it! Westin and Clay and Bennett and Camden LOVED sitting in the splash zone at all the shows, we all loved the orcas so much, we loved talking to some marine biologists throughout the day and we just had super low crowds and fun animal times. They also have some really big roller coasters there now and Westin decided he wasn't going to be into them that day. Near the end of the day I was going to go on the biggest one by myself just because I couldn't not, and then he decided to go with me and Michael came too. It was SO fun. Westin and I ended up going three times, then he ran back and talked his cousin into going so Shelley and Clay rode it three more times with him. Bennett and I sat by a pool of fish that like to nibble on your skin that whole time they rode those last three times, while Asher fell asleep in the stroller. I've never had a fish pedicure, but that is ALSO actually on my bucket list, so this mini fish manicure was a fun runner up haha. I'm surprised I didn't hate it. I made sure to take videos of it to send to Ali knowing it would completely freak her out.

After that we drove to the beach, walked along the water, grabbed tacos for dinner (there were a lot of tacos on this trip I guess?), and made it back home to send Shelley and Clay back to LA. They were so nice to come play with us those days. We just had so much fun.

The next day we had a slow morning, easy flight home, and made it back with enough time to still do swimming lessons for the boys and book club for Michael. They boys were a little disappointed to learn they were going to school Friday and I just thought it was funny they ever thought they weren't :) So Friday was a big catch up day, Saturday Michael had to do anesthesia certifications in Denver while I had to do science fair posters with the boys, and then that night Marta babysat while Michael and I went to a Shepardson trivia night. One point away from third place, too bad... we were not very good contributors to our team haha. Next year! 

Then we had a chill Sunday and a fun Linger Longer at church. Our friend in the bishopric said it best while we were watching our kids chase each other after the Linger Longer. He said, "I love that this same place that holds all this worship and the sacrament then becomes this cultural spot of a... rumpus." Right then multiple of our children ran straight through the cultural hall from one door to the other. So funny. Something about the stairs in our church just really fuel chase games.

I loved this week. I loved sunshine and some happy, playful days breaking up our February. I loved traveling with these ages of boys. I'm just so happy we did this trip and it really exceeded my expectations all around. I was bracing myself for some long day meltdowns and different kids wanting to do different things, and really none of that happened and we just had a really good time together. And now my kids want to work at SeaWorld, so we've officially entered that rite of passage.

Just before spotting lots of dolphins!

Asher wasn't too sure about walking around on the wavy boat ride,
he just kept wanting us to stay parked wherever we were :)

The guy who took our picture decided that...

...the skyline was more important than including Westin, haha

These cute kids.

Game room coming in clutch whenever we got home late and still had to throw dinner together.

We found out the Toblers were so close to us!
We managed to meet up at a middle-ish In & Out and I LOVED this.
So grateful for them. We just love them so much.

The kids laughed and laughed while we chatted.
Shelley is such a good sport, we love her so much.

I thought we could be officially done with Legoland but Asher now talks about how he gets to ride these horses once he's 4...
You had to be tall enough AND 4 years old and he only checked one of those boxes, poor guy.

Another ride Asher felt wrongfully excluded from.
I'm with him on this one, totally could have enjoyed the ride with us.

I will forever love penguins.

Ok, the Beluga whale looks so happy all the time.
Just the sweetest resting smiley face.

Look at Clay and Westin so close!
They learned this spot of the splash zone is actually not risky,
so they moved to an extra splashy splash zone part for the next Orca show,
and Michael and Shelley and Asher and I took this secretly dry spot.

Running errands after our trip,
and spotted these two holding hands.
Just makes my heart burst.

Went to a city-sponsored eagle watch on Saturday.
Had to check everyone's wing span!

They had telescopes set up to show us a nest with two eagles taking turns on their eggs.

A Happy Week, and Start of San Diego

We had so much fun having Kindal and Rosie here to start our week.

Bennett was so bummed he had to go to school when Rosie was here, but Rosie and Camden had a lot of fun together Monday! We did a photoshoot while we were in the same state, and Camden, Rosie, and Asher played Cover Your Assets and giggled together all through that hour in the studio. I just loved watching them.

We finished Kindal's thank you cards, reworked the final images of our next book, did some planning, did some healing and chatting and talking and laughing, and just loved being together for the weekend. They left bright and early Tuesday to beat the snowstorms and I followed their dot all the way home to St. George while checking the weather constantly to make sure they stayed ahead of the snow. They had a smooth and sunny drive and we were so grateful for that.

On Tuesday Bennett had the cutest little second grade concert. I loved listening to them sing Hold Your Hand by the Beatles, and we all loved the Valentines Bennett wrote for all of us. Then later Tuesday night we had our annual tea party where the youth invite some older people (or younger people!) from the ward to a little tea party/trivia night, and it was so sweet. It's one of my favorite activities we do. 

Westin was so happy to go to the CSU Women's basketball game on Wednesday for a field trip. He has been looking forward to that. All the parents who went talked about how incredibly, incredibly loud it was -- fourth graders from multiple schools filling the stadium. I can only imagine haha.

Thursday was one of my favorite things I've done in a long time. My friend Carrie and I went to this exhibit called Remember Me, where Jane Deschner hand embroiders quotes from obituaries onto black and white photos. It was so poignant, and funny, and sweet, and connecting. Camden and Asher were our little tag-alongs and they did great at the museum. They "played" checkers for a while, which was so cute because it was part of the old-timey display vibe and so there was an ash tray next to them and it just looked so funny. They're such cute little buddies to bring around. Then we went to lunch at the Arboretum, which is a coffee shop run by refugees. There's a woman who has been coming to our ward from Haiti who works there, and they do an incredible job at giving opportunities to refugees from all over and helping them with their English plus connecting them with future opportunities. There is so much terrible sadness right now. It was nice to see a really great thing that's working well for well-deserving people. I just don't understand how messed up the last few weeks have been in this country. 

On Friday I did that pre-trip scramble -- laundry, packing, baking our signature airport bran muffins (not sure when that became a tradition), dropping off Luna (oh that crate), and packing some more. When Michael got home we hit the road and stopped at Jimmy John's before sleeping close to the airport that night. A SUPER early flight out was so much cheaper than later on in the day, so we figured sleeping close to the airport was still saving money and would make it doable. BUT... it was the worst, haha. None of us slept well (ok, Asher and Westin slept well, after Asher accepted that he would be in a Pack n Play that night -- "I'm just too BIG for 'dis bed!" and he was). But Camden and Bennett and Michael and I were awake SO much that night. At one point Michael woke up and looked over and Camden was just wide-eyed smiling at him across the space between the hotel beds. And then just reached his arm out to hold hands with Michael for a while hahaha. It's cute now but when you all want to be asleep it all just drives you a little insane! But we made it to the airport no problem for a early flight out to San Diego.

One nice part of flying out so early is feeling like your travel day is still a total vacation day! That first day we walked around Cabrillo National Monument, drove to the border (why not!), did not cross the border :), ate some fish tacos, saw the sea lions in La Jolla (I could watch them forever), and did a Costco run for the trip. Then we found out our whale watching tour had been canceled the next day because this crash blocked off the bay where our boat was going to leave from -- everyone was ok, but pretty random bad luck for a lot of people! So we switched up our plans to try to find a different whale watching tour for the day after our original plan.

So, the next day ended up being our zoo day, and we LOVED it. What a zoo! We've been to the San Diego Safari Park when Westin and Bennett were little, but we haven't gone to the San Diego Zoo together yet. So many fun animals! Our favorite part was the double decker bus ride early in the morning -- the animals were really active and so many of them were out. We even waited in line for those sweet Pandas. They are incredibly cute.

We brought our stroller along for the first time in forever, and Camden or Asher parked it in that stroller almost the whole day. We walked so much! But it was really so much fun. Then we went back to the Airbnb to make tacos and the boys loved playing in the game room (pool, nintendo, and basketball in the garage). Such a good day, and I just love being on a trip with all my people.

The sweet tea party at the church. I love this activity!

I spy little Bennett at the cutest second grade Valentines program.

Westin is testing out how packaging changes fruit ripening for his science project.

Look at all those thank you cards Kindal and I made it through.
We were very proud of ourselves :)

Bennett is doing smell tests for his science fair project to see if your smell gets better as you get older.
Rosie and Kindal were his first participants!

We have storyboarded this book through so many different circumstances with so many different perspectives. It's been quite a journey and I really am looking forward to holding this next book in our hands.

Genius, talented Kindal.

Our photo shoot was a fun time.
We used the sister photographers that do my family photos and they were really great to work with.

Our little dog feeding boy. He's very responsible. And loves to wear daddy's shoes.

More smell test participants! 
I've been driving Bennett all over to collect his data, because we'll be traveling right before the science fair.
Oh science fairs :)

Some of our smell tests have been hilarious. It's been a fun project.

The Remember Me exhibit was my favorite thing I've seen in so long.
Look at these cute old timey checkers boys.

This one, though.

Made it to San Diego!
Waiting by the water for daddy and the car :)

Border Wall

Spot the sea lions!

Such funny creatures. And stinky! And so cute.

Hide and Seek with three-year-olds is the best.

I really loved our zoo day with these boys.
I just love their ages right now so, so much.

Double decker bus ride!

The game room/garage was a big hit with the boys.

This panda though. SO cute.