San Diego Vacation

Monday through Thursday we were in San Diego for a fun-packed vacation! We left right after breakfast to face the raging storms outside. Brad was a very careful and prayerful driver and we arrived safely sometime before lunch time. The first day and a half we were there were rainy, so we were nervous about what we were going to do with our time. Monday we visited the Natural History Museum in Balboa Park, forced a nap on the children, which was none to easy, and then had a dinner with Brad's former boss, Tim.

When Brad originally called Tim and said we were coming to his neck of the woods I had said to invite ourselves over to his house for dinner, but that we'd bring the food. No, Tim insisted on treating us to dinner. He said he'd call and make reservations. When Brad told me this I said, "Reservations! He knows we're bringing the kids, right?" We ended up going to a fancy shamancy place where the entrees were $25.00 a plate. As you can assume, we were the only ones with children in the small joint. We both were glad to see Tim, but was that ever hard work for me! Poor Kaeley was so glad when we finally got to leave that place. It wasn't anything about the food, but the environment wasn't very exciting for small children.

On Tuesday we visited the Reuben H. Fleet Science Center, which is one of those fabulous hands-on places for kids. Kaeley and Nathan played for a good two and a half hours without asking for snacks, without complaining, and could have gone there without our help. Nathan was fascinated with a display of Marble Works and Kaeley set herself up in the children's area. There they had a store front with plastic food and so on. Brad and I sat on the side lines for a bit and when we visited that area again Kaeley was lining three boys up in front of her and telling them how much their groceries were going to cost them. One little boy, after finding out he owed sixty-eighty cents, said, "But, I don't have any money." Kaeley told him to go back to the airport and get it, but then whispered, "Just pretend." The little boy didn't get it and ended up walking away disappointed and starving.

After that we went to two or three more museums, one of which was a museum dedicated to model railways. It was extensive. Nathan was fascinated! He kept screaming, "Too Too!" He would grab onto the railings any time we tried to get him to move on to another exhibit.

That night we went to SeaPort Village and ate dinner at Quiznos.

Wednesday was a full day of the San Diego Zoo. I think their favorite part was the insect house. Kaeley loves reptiles and insects. If there was larva in the bug house she would squeal, "Oh, how cute! Babies!" Nathan yelled almost the entire time about the bees that were showhoused there. I could barely spend my time doing anything other than holding him up and let him see the busy bees.

That night we ate at Panda Express before the kids crashed in the hotel by eight o'clock. Brad, being the high-tech guy that he is, had a collection of movies on his iPod, so he and I would hide under the darkness of the sheets and watch our movies.

Thursday included Old Town and the Air and Space Museum.

We're already discussing ideas for our next road trip.