You stay classy San Diego

Hi, remember me?

Ohhh I am so upset with myself that I waited so long to post the rest of these pictures and stories from our wonderful trip to California! My memory is terrible, which is one of the biggest reasons blogging and journaling is SO important to me! I have no excuses other than I have not been able to work in the time... This whole new world of kids and school and sports and play dates and homework and on and on... has really taken me some getting used to. I can't really say I've gotten used to it all quite yet, but I've come to the realization that I HAVE to TAKE the time for the things that are important to ME. Life is flying by and while I have been fully enjoying it and soaking up every precious moment with my husband and kids, I have not been documenting any of it. I have barely even taken any pictures over the last 6 months... what is up with me? This is something that I LOVE and live for! :) I suddenly feel energized and excited to hop back in and blog again! Who knows if anyone will even read this, and who cares. After all, this is for me, I can't loose track of that most important detail.

So here I go... back to posting the rest of our Cali trip... only 6 months later...

I was excited to hop in the drivers seat for the final stretch into San Diego. It felt so good to be on the Highway that was so recognizable to me even on a dark night. Through it's rolling hills and windy canyons I was overcome with old, nearly forgotten memories of my Jr High and High School years living in Southern California. Many, many fond memories, it was so exciting to go back! I had the petal to the metal as I could hardly wait to get to our hotel and breath in the salty ocean air.

We spent our first day in sunny California at Sea World. I had not been there in probably 15 years (am I really old enough to say that?) It was even better than I remembered it. Which probably had a lot to do with my boys being so enthusiastic about sea life. They could not wait to get there and they just had the time of their little lives! I would say the highlight was definitely the new Polar Bears and Beluga Whales exhibit. SO COOL!! If you haven't been, you must go! Zach was so interested in learning more, he was asking the guides questions and really just taking it all in. Because of his inquisitive little mind, I now know that the word Beluga means "white" in Russian and that's where this beautiful whale got it's name. Very interesting, don't ya think?

Here are a few of my favorite pictures from this leg of our journey...

The next day we drove North towards Anaheim. We took Highway 1 along the coast from Encinitas to Oceanside so I could see my old stomping grounds up close. Of all the wonderful things we did on our trip this was near the top of my highlights. It was pretty awesome to see the Oceanside Pier and beach again. When I moved back to Utah in 1993 the area had basically been taken over by gangs, covered in graffiti, littered, and a lot of the houses along the beach were all boarded up. I was amazed and thrilled to see that has all changed. It looked clean and new, for me it was a breath of fresh air. Thanks to Greg's family for letting me take this little trip down memory lane. It meant the world to me.

That's all I've got in me for tonight... I spent all day on this thang!!! I'm glad to be back to writing... It feels good to let my mind and keyboard dance again.

and P.S. I really do care that you came along and took the time to read this, please let me know you were here :)