San Diego Trip 2008

We went to San Diego this past week (4/12-4/19) and had a blast!! We got back late Sat night and on Sunday, we celebrated Desmond's baptism. So we have been pretty busy. We decided to take advantage of Dada's conference in San Diego and turn it into a family vacation. Appachen, Amamma, and Aunt Sil came along on the trip as well. We rented a house in beautiful La Jolla, CA that was situated within a few blocks walking distance to the beach. And as usual, San Diego weather was beautiful.

Sat April 12, 2008

Our flight to San Diego got delayed several times, so we didn't get to our house in La Jolla until 10:30 PM local time. Needless to say we were all worn out but the kids were troopers and did marvelously the entire trip. This night marked a milestone for Stella in that she went to sleep by herself in a "big girl" (as opposed to a crib) bed for the first time and slept in it all night long without a problem. She was happy to share her room with Aunt Sil. Desmond also went to bed without a fuss and only woke up once at 4:30 AM for a feed and went back to sleep again until 7:30 AM.

Sun April 13, 2008

Sunday, we took it pretty easy, still recovering from the previous day's travels and jet lag. Dada went to his conference early morning and the rest of us slept in as much as the kids allowed us to. We then took a walk to the nearby restaurants for lunch followed by naps, playing in the yard and enjoying the beautiful weather. Stella thought the orange tree in our neighbor's backyard was pretty cool. When Dada returned, we had dinner in the Gas Lamp district of downtown San Diego. Unfortunately, we were too jet lagged to remember to take any pics on Sunday.

Mon, April 14, 2008

Monday, Dada went to his conference once again early morning and Stella, Aunt Sil, Appachen, and Mama walked to the beach while Amamma stayed behind to keep an eye on the napping Gup.

Stella saw and felt the Pacific Ocean for the first time and was instantly in love. She loved the beach so much that she didn't want to go back. Mama had to bribe her with a lollipop to get her back in the stroller.

A few weeks before our trip, we gave in and purchased a double stroller and here is a shot of it. We really like the double stroller and it came in very handy during this trip.

Monday night, we had a picnic dinner on Sunset Cliffs and watched the sunset. It gets pretty chilly once the sun starts going down but a good time was had by all.

That same night, the Gup got a bath in his brand new inflatable tub that we had purchased just for this trip (it folds away very compactly) and he had fun splashing the water with his hands and his feet. This was the first time we had seen him splash during his bath (b/c his reclining bath seat at home doesn't fill up with as much water like this one), but he was very serious about it and splashed the water like it was his job.

Tues, April 15, 2008

We went to the San Diego Zoo Tues morning. Stella had a blast looking at all of the animals (flamingos, monkeys, elephants, lions, meerkats, birds, hippos, etc).

One of her favorite spots was the petting zoo. Stella has not met an animal that she doesn't like and proceeded to pet all of the goats and sheep in the petting zoo.

When Desmond wasn't napping in the stroller, he was enjoying the sights at the zoo in the Baby Bjorn.

When we later asked Stella, she said her favorite animal she saw at the zoo was the Panda bear and her cub. The panda bear figurine is what she picked out for herself at the gift store.

The Gup was also very curiously observing the Panda bear.

We rounded out our day at the zoo with rides on the skyfari (the aerial sky ride). Stella, Mama, and Aunt Sil were in cart #19...

...and Dada and Des were right behind us taking pictures of us and themselves.

Wed, April 16, 2008

On Wed, we had a leisurely lunch in La Jolla village at a restaurant with magnificent views of La Jolla Cove. Afterwards, we took a walk to the nearby park where Stella was able to run free and the rest of us just enjoyed the sunshine and beautiful scenery. There is a reason why La Jolla means "The Jewel" in spanish...it is absolutely beautiful!!

Desmond got his daily dose of sunshine...


...as well as some lovin'.


Here's the Gup enjoying some lap time with Aunt Sil...


...as well as some tummy time


...and some cereal alfresco.


Mama just loves the following picture showing the brown highlights in Desmond's hair...evidence of Dada's blond hair genes trying to surface through =;)

Once again, Stella found an animal to play with and pet at the park...a cute little white dog who was just as thrilled to play with Stella.

Thurs, April 17, 2008

On Thurs, Dada and Stella went to the beach in the morning and Stella went into the cold, cold ocean all the way in until the water was at her chest level. She did not care how cold the water was and had a blast just splashing around. That is the one thing about kids...they are unaffected by climate and weather as long as they are having fun.

Here she is showing off her Minnie Mouse bathing suit and sunglasses...Stella is a huge Mickey Mouse Clubhouse fan!

In the afternoon, the whole family headed to Balboa Park and walked around the beautiful grounds and enjoyed their science museum. Stella absolutely loved the science museum...running around and wreaking havoc. Her favorite was playing the xylophone in the sound/music room.

Stella, Mama, Aunt Sil, Amamma, and Appachen watched a movie about dolphins at the Imax theater while Dada stayed in the science center with a napping Desmond. Stella enjoyed the first 15 min of the program where dolphins would dive out of the ocean seemingly into your lap, but lost interest when the educational part of the show started. But she was a good little girl and amused herself by singing and clapping for the duration of the 40 minute movie. Here she is in the Imax theater sitting with Mama waiting for the show to begin.

Desmond took a long nap in the science center but woke up in time to enjoy our walk outside in beautiful Balboa park.

Fri, April 18, 2008

Our last day started with Dada, Mama, and Stella heading off to the beach in the morning for one last romp in the ocean for Stella. Once again, Stella had a blast and kept venturing further and further out into the ocean despite the chilly water temperature.

We knew it was time to leave when Stella's lips turned purple, but she was absolutely heartbroken to leave...

Her lips stayed purple for awhile even after we got her home and got her warmed up. Mama was getting concerned, but luckily, Stella's lips returned to their normal color after about an hour or so.

Sat, April 19, 2008

No one wanted to leave beautiful San Diego, but our vacation had come to an end and we sadly headed off to the airport to return home. The Gup was still in a good mood, but then again, life is one big vacation for him as a baby. He especially enjoyed sitting in his sister's carseat at the airport like a big boy. Aunt Sil was making him laugh hysterically while in the carseat and we hope to post that video in another post.

Despite the long hours, the kids did great again on the return trip. We had a fabulous time in San Diego and we hope to return for another visit soon.