San Diego - 2011

This summer I had the opportunity to attend a conference in San Diego. The funny part is the conference was held at the same hotel my dad would take us every summer for his work conference. So, needless to say, I was very familiar with the hotel and the surrounding area. Also, lucky for us, my parents, brother Bert, and two nephews were down in San Diego with us most of the time we were there. So... we had lots of fun and time with family. My parents came down with their crew from Northern California to help my grandma clean out her attic and house of stuff she has been collecting for many years.

My parents got to our house LATE Friday night. We all drove down together on Saturday morning and went to dinner with my Grandma that evening at Hometown Buffet. Haven't seen my Grandma in a year so its always nice to see her and spend time!

Day 2- Sunday
We picked up some breakfast and went to work on cleaning at my grandma's. The job was much easier than anticipated and we had fun spending the day together. My friend Sarah and her two kids drove over from Temecula for the day with us. After we were done cleaning, eating and transporting stuff to the Thirft Store/Junk yard we spend Sunday afternoon at Coronado Island. My mom grew up in SD so she was familiar with the beach, but we have never been there. It was very crowded and took over 30 minutes to find a place to park...but it was fun once we stripped down and hot the waves.

My mom, nephew Jon and the boys with Charlie--my grandma's desert tortoise. My kids were deathly afraid of this turtle. Funny how my kids are scared of snails and turtles. Weird.

My grandma gave Petunia a Cabbage Patch doll and a matching bed. Very cute.

My mom found an old training bra...which we all found funny. Not sure if it was hers or her sisters. :)

My grandpa owned LOTS of eyeglasses for his cataracts.

Petunia and Sarah's little girl. They are only 3 weeks apart!

They couldn't wait to dig in the sand like dogs

Petunia and Grandma Baer...taking a break from the cold waves

Just the girls

My mom and dad canoodling on the beach before we left

Big Papa and Mama on the beach

My amiga Sarah! I miss her. I wish we lived closer! But I am thankful she drives an hour to see us every time we come to SD.

Say "Cheese" dad!

The boys love playing with Sarah's little boy.


Day 3- Monday
The conference began. I got ready to go and had to be at the conference by 8:30am. (Of course everyone in the hotel room was still sleeping when I snuck out....and I was jealous. I had to go sit in two three hour tutorials. Torture!!) :)
Monday evening we met my parents, grandma, aunt Thelma and Uncle Dennis for dinner again at Hometown Buffet. Everyone chowed down and afterwards we headed downtown to show the kids the ships.

Hanging out at the hotel during the day

We also found a cool dessert place called "Extraordinary Desserts."

Day 4 - Tuesday
More conference sessions.
Later in the afternoon we all headed to the zoo with six free passes from my Aunt Thelma. My mom went shopping with her sister and mom, so my dad brought my brother and nephews along too. It was a lot of fun and we are so thankful for the tickets!

My dad and the boys--waiting in line for the tour bus

Riding on the top level of the bus with Grandpa

The crazy crew...dragging each other along

Day 5 - Wednesday
My parents left early this morning to head back to Roseville. Which meant we were a little lonely...and were on our own for dinner. I had my last day of conference sessions and it went really well. I spent my lunch break with the family across the street at the beach. (I wish I could skip over to the beach every day during lunch!)

Bubba was grouchy

We love Mission Beach!

I think he was sick of me taking pictures.....

Sweet beach kisses

Picked up a few Sprinkles cupcakes from their La Jolla store. MMMMMMmmmmmMMMMmmmmmm! I can never pick just one cupcake. I need to get at least half a dozen because I love so many of them. In the summer they have Key Lime and a lemon blueberry. so good!

We went to Lucha Libre's for dinner. We saw this place on "Man vs Food" and we had to try it! Luke got the California Surfin burrito and said it was the best thing he's ever eaten. I got the chicken taco and it was pretty darn good. It had a layer of fried cheese on top of the tortilla, underneath the chicken....so that was unique.

If you are ever in San Diego you HAVE to try this place.

After dinner we walked around downtown by the Padres baseball stadium. We found a Pinkberry ice cream yogurt shop and the kids LOVED it.

Day 6 - Thursday
Our last day in San Diego. Boooooooooo.
I do not want to leave. The weather has been PERFECT. Its like a dream! But all good things come to an end.
First up...breakfast at "Hash House a GoGo." Another place we saw on "Man vs Food" a few months ago. It didn't disappoint. I am not sure what I liked most; the food or the fast service. We were out of there in less than an hour---which is prefect when you have a toddler in a high chair.

Luke's breakfast...the chicken fried chicken Eggs Benedict. Delicious.

Banana Cream French Toast

After breakfast we head back to the hotel and hit the beach across the street one last time!

Tubbs found a clam right before we left. He wanted to take it home, but we talked him into sending it back to it's family in the ocean. :)

Next stop....Grandma's house to visit one last time and say goodbye!

We made one last stop at the Pinkberry downtown and Luke picked up another burrito from Lucha Libres!! :) (We couldn't resist!) The boys are BIG fans of the Pinkberry yogurt and toppings. I wish we had one close by....but on second thought it's probably better that we don't.

We love you San Diego. Maybe I'll attend the conference again next summer. Next year the trip would be even better if we were able to attend a Padres game. We can't wait!