San Diego

Well, of course we had a blast. Every single photo of the nearly 250 will be up on my photo site soon.

But here are the highlights our trip.

THURSDAY
Arrived in at our hotel in Oceanside at around 11pm. Which was 12am Denver time. An all-time record for Declan (who is usually in bed strictly by 8pm!). But he was a trooper.

FRIDAY
Went to go get groceries. Car would not start. Coincidentally, the mileage on the Trailblazer they gave us was “666” when we picked it up Thursday. I was stupid enough to make a comment about it, which of course, doomed the car.

But the great part of the day was Sea World. Declan was a bit terrified of the whales at first, somehow he got it into his head that “whales bite.” (We then, um, glossed over the part about Shamu being a ferocious predator in the wild.) We walked, played, ate a bunch of unhealthy stuff. All the things you do when you go to a major “attraction.”

SATURDAY
Jeff & Danielle dropped us off at Legoland while they went and toured the Temecula Wine Country. Legoland rules! Perfect place for the 3-5 year old set. Declan was just big enough for most of the rides and only a few were overwhelming for him. One that was particularly overwhelming was where he piloted his own car (the smiley, happy photo below is before he had to actually drive the thing). He kept running other little kids down, which upset him to no end – and his feelings were hurt further by asshole dads who kept yelling at their kids to go faster, go around him, run him down, etc. I am NOT looking forward to any team sports with idiots like that on the sidelines. What is interesting to me is how Declan is becoming a little perfectionist just like me… Even when I try so hard not to put that kind of pressure on him.

One of the areas we really liked at Legoland was Miniland USA… Where they have reproductions of many major US cities. We particluarly liked their sense of humor, like when they included a call girl in the New York milieu (she’s the sassy one on the phone).

Of course, any Dora that is larger than life, is a good thing.

That evening, we had the most spectacular sunset. Jeff & Danielle were kind enough to hang out and listen for a sleeping Dex to wake up from his nap – and allowed Bryan and I to stroll down to the beach and watch the sunset. It was amazing. One of those evenings that make you believe in a higher power.

Sunsets on the ocean are totally foreign to us, having grown up on the east coast. All I can say is they are fucking cool.

Bryan played photographer for a while and he got some incredible colors in the shots – not to mention – hey, who is that cute chick???

SUNDAY
The lack of sleep was wearing on all of us, especially Declan. Three hard core days is about all he could stand and his nose started phlegming. Of course, a little thing like a cold would not keep him from the Pacific Ocean. So what started as a lazy day turned into Endless Summer – 3 Year Old Style. We gave up trying to keep him dry and stripped him down to his Spider-Man underwear. He just went NUTS. Which was a bit startling, since last year he was very afraid of the waves in Mexico. All 4 adults just looked at each other with glee as we realized we were in for an awesome time when we go back to Mexico next May!

So, since Declan was so into it, and the hotel pool was pleasantly warm (as opposed to the frigid ocean), we kept the water theme going for the rest of the day.

Sunday night, we decided to drive down the coast to La Jolla and had the most expensive dinner, ever. But as Danielle and I said many times yesterday – it was so worth it. That was the best meal I have had in a long time. And with lots of fish – since the seafood here in Denver is crap.

And the crazy thing is, we picked the restaurant from a magazine… and as we entered I realized I had been to that exact restaurant before on my business trip to San Diego a few years ago. Major deja vu. Of course, had I remembered it, we would have saved a bunch of time hemming and hawing about where we were going to eat. C’est la vie, I guess. 🙂

MONDAY
We packed up and checked out of the hotel. Drove down to San Diego, over the bridge to Coronado and then back to the Gaslamp Quarter for lunch. Walked around a bit and headed to the airport.

Surprisingly, there were no lines and we were at the gate nearly 2 hours before our flight. Crudballs. But then, the most amazing thing happened. I laid Danielle’s coat on the ground, asked Declan to lay down on it and he actually fell asleep. WHEN DOES THAT HAPPEN, EVER? When everyone is to the breaking point of exhaustion, that’s when. So we chilled for a while, hopped the plane and got home close to 10pm.

Another late night for Declan. But so worth it.