San Diego!

This month we got the chance to take a family vacation in San Diego. Last year Brad's work started sending him there for a user ESRI conference. Last year he went by himself, and after the conference and meetings each day, he didn't have anything going on. So we thought we'd all go this year and make a little family vacation out of it! We left on the 4th of July and we got there in time to watch some fireworks with his Dad and Step Mom. We spent the weekend at Legoland and had a blast our entire trip there. So glad we got to do it! 

Road Trip

Here we are about 6 hours in, getting car boardroom, butt-itis, etc. We so don't love car trips!

LegoLand!!!

 We went two different days to legoland. The first day we went with Brad's Brother, Dad and neice and explored the whole park. The 2nd day we left Trevor with Grandpa Danny and went with just Brad's brother to the water park portion of legoland, but we didn't take any pictures that day. The boys loved all of it!

 There were some fun shows

 Owen with Grandpa Danny

 Having fun cruising, there is a lot of walking around, so we stopped a lot and tried to make it all fun!

 Checking out the huge Xwing from Star Wars, of course made completely out of legos!

 Trevor was so ready for a nap, wish he would have gotten a longer one since we stayed all day till 9:00!

When you bring in a lego man to legoland, there are workers all over who will trade with you for a new one. Owen had a hay day!

 Owen got picked to be the jouster in one of the cute shows.

The Beach

 Of course you can't go to San Diego without going to the beach! We went almost every day while we were there.

 Trevor ate lots of sand :)

 Had a family BBQ at mission beach one night, chase got buried alive!

I think the kids and I had a little more fun than Brad, cause while he was working we were definitely playing! 

The Beach House

It was hard to say good bye to the fun place. We got to stay there for a week while Brad was at his conference, it was situated perfectly between the beach and the bay, just a few house down to get the either one. 

 The boys loved romping around in the sand and the waves. It was fun to walk out to the beach early in the morning before anyone was there.

 The bay was beautiful too, I actually preferred to go there during the days I was along with the boys since it was quiet and less people. It was easier for me to watch the boys without them drifting off somewhere.

 The short walk to the bay from our house

 A fun tree house above our house, a place to bbq, lounge and hang out

The front of the house by the walkway

It was fun to be on the go, but sometimes it was nice to take a few and relax for a bit.

It was very cozy, but perfect for us. Everything we needed was already there including boogie boards, kayaks, surf boards, towels, etc.

It was really a cute little place, very family oriented and really friendly owners. They even had a cupboard stocked with lincoln logs, tinker toys, family games and all sorts of fun things for kids to play with. 

Right by our house, was a park right on the bay. The kids and I enjoyed how close everything was and we'd walk around exploring.

I loved how the house had a little private courtyard where the boys could play. There was also a great sitting area and Fire pit we used in the evening for relaxing and roasting marshmallows. 

 Hanging out with Cousins

 We got to hang out with Brad's Uncle Brian, Cousin Erin and fiancé Chris. Owen and Chase had tons of fun with their cousin Bryce.

 Trevor wasn't quite sure about going swimming, but I got him to laugh and have fun a few times. 

 Chase took a swim by himself without meaning to, so he got some cuddle time with Daddy to calm down and relax.

Owen had so much fun diving in with his floaties, he said he felt like he could swim everywhere!

 Since we were staying so close to the bay, we got to watch a fisherman catch some cool bay shrimp while we were hanging out.

 Finding some more beach treasures, a live sand dollar

 We got to check out a fun mall in downtown san diego one night and take the kids out to grab some dinner and see despicable me 2.

 It was Chase's first movie theatre experience, He thought it was pretty fun!

Our last night at the house, we went out with Erin and Chris. We walked to dinner, then rode the roller coaster at Belmont park, had ice cream and browsed through the fun beach shops. After Erin and Chris went home, Brad and I grabbed the beach cruisers and headed for a ride around the boardwalk. Our 8 year anniversary was just a few days later, so we celebrated early. After our ride, we sat on the beach and watched the fireworks that go off every night at Sea World. It was a perfect day. :)

 Daddy's Work Conference

 One of the days at the conference was family day where everyone could bring their spouses and kids and enjoy some time that was catered towards them.

 There was a chinese parade and owen got to feed the dragon some golden coins. There were also a bunch of other fun hand outs for the kids and everyone was really nice. The kids went home loaded up with lots of free goodies and gadgets.

 After the conference, some of the families at the conference got together to enjoy some BBQ time. There was so much good food and after we ate we walked to the beach and sat around a fire pit and chatted and made smores. I wish I had gotten some more pictures of it, the ocean was so beautiful at night and everyone was so much fun!

 Another night, the company ESRI rented out the entire Balboa Park area for all of the people who went to the conference. There was tons of food being served all throughout the park, steak and salmon and all kinds of deserts and even foods catered towards kids. I couldn't believe how much they went all out for it!

 We got to eat then walk through any of the museum there for free. There were way too many to go through in one night, but we did spend a lot of time in the Science museum, train museum and dinosaur museum. I though the science museum was really cool. It was pretty much all centered around kids.

 Trevor really loved the train museum, he could have stayed in there forever!

 The kids got some fun balloons, there were balloon artists all through the park.

 Owen got a gun and holster made

 And Trevor got a monkey, he wasn't sure what to do with it, haha.


Whew that was a lot of pictures! We loved our trip, hope we get to go again next year!