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!

Way Behind....

I cannot believe I have let the blog slip almost two months behind schedule. Its not that we are doing anything super exciting that I absolutely MUST share but everyday has something new or funny to journal.
We are "celebrating" summer break like many of our friends and family. Luke has been off work for 4 weeks now and the boys have been out of school for five weeks. Luke has to go back to work in exactly three weeks, but he is wishing that wasn't the case. Of course he is lucky to have seven weeks off in the summer but the man needs it! I think everyone in education needs it it. This last school year was TOUGH and I wish I had another few months off before Luke OR the boys had to go back. I LOVE summer break!!
We are really enjoying summer. Thankfully we have a pool, or that might not be the case. We are enjoying watching the boys on the Lakeside swim team again this year and we have had the opportunity to go to San Diego for six days so I could attend a conference for work. Luke also went four wheeling in Big Bear Father's Day weekend with the boys, my dad and two nephews. I will try to get these posts done this week since Bubba and Tubbs are off camping with Grandma and Grandpa Hogue for five days this week! Going to miss those little rascals. They will be back Friday just in time for the swim championships on Saturday.

A few random photos fron our long, lazy summer days:

A proud parenting moment for me....

Came across this picture of me when we were at my Grandma's house in SD this summer. Love the hair.

Another picture my Grandma had up. We are debating the year...is it 1984 or 1986? My dad took a family picture of us every Easter Sunday in our back yard. I love these pictures and I try to do the same thing with my family.

Enjoying a McDonald's ice cream cone at the end of the day.

One of daddy's breakfast creations on a lazy summer morning.

Petunia discovered she loves chicken drumsticks.

A movie treat at the end of the day, as they relax on the pull out couch. The boys have been riding with Luke to Walgreens to rent a movie from the $1.00 Redbox machine out front....and they can always manage to get a treat out of daddy while they are there.

First swim meet in June was chilly!

Petunia got a full size big girl bed. So, we are working on transitioning her out of the crib. We got rid of the changing table since she was crawling up on it and scaring us half to death.

The Hogue Tag Team

Amigos.

Lounging in the pool

Mama's shower camp is fun to wear...and she looks like Strawberry Shortcake

They can't live with each other--they can't live without each other

Tubbs...my handsome seven year old.

Bubba my hunky nine year old :)

My silly one year old...who is growing like a weed. I cannot believe she will be two next month.