Just Another San Diego Day!

Like we always do, we had such a wonderful time visiting my parents down in San Diego for Christmas. I will always love the beautiful city where I grew up!

Some of the highs and lows from our trip:

*Highlight- We were there for three whole weeks! LONG vacation!

Low- I missed my trusty, faithful friend. . . the DVR. Watching the 'So You Think You Can Dance' and 'Survivor' finales without it was most definitely NOT the same.

*Highlight- The beaches are still beautiful in December.

Low- Kirsten got so much sand in her hair, we were still trying to wash it out a whole week later!

*Highlight- Bare feet in the warm, glorious sand. Mmmm. Love that any time of the year!

Low- A poor baby with a nasty cold, who doesn't sleep well on trips even when she's completely healthy. And the cold just wouldn't go away!
The result: Not a lot of pictures with Natalie in them, and not ONE single night for the entire three weeks of Natalie sleeping through the night.
She woke up. . . and woke up. . . and then woke up some more. We also got to share a bedroom with the poor baby.

*Highlight- How happy Kirsten was at the beach. Digging to her heart's content!

*Highlight- Our welcome back to San Diego dinner at the Old Town Mexican Cafe.
I tell you, it's to die for! I fantasize regularly about their chicken tacos in perfect, fresh-made tortillas.

*Highlight- Free babysitting! Two words that will cause any parents' hearts to swell with joy!

*Highlight- Getting to go Christmas shopping and take the time to browse thoughtfully, without being rushed by small, impatient people. Bliss!

Low- The construction zone otherwise known as my parents re-doing their attic. Lots of banging, sawing, and drilling.

*Highlight: Spending time with amazing friends! Some of my oldest and best friends in the world still live in San Diego (or visit for Christmas, like we do), and we take advantage of our free babysitting and spend lots of time with them! I can't think of many things more fun than staying up until all hours of the night, just talking, playing games, and catching up with such awesome people. Thank you, friends, for making our trip so fun!

*Highlight- Getting Natalie together with Hadley, my BFF Carrie's baby! Of course Natalie and Hadley are future best friends, and they were born only a week and a half apart! Natalie's the younger one. It's always so cute to see them together!

Low- Using the slowest internet connection known to man. My parents live "out in the boonies", and you could cook an entire breakfast in the time it takes just to upload one set of five pictures onto a blog post. Yeah, for real!

*Highlight- Kirsten got an entire playground to herself! She called this "the perfect slide."

*(Not sure if this is a highlight or a low)- Watching my little daredevil extremely closely at the playground. This just makes me nervous!

*Highlight- So much quality family time! It was heavenly having so many people around all the time to help entertain Kirsten and Natalie! And of course I loved spending time with my parents and my brother. Stephen enjoyed a nice long break from work!

*Highlight- Celebrating my Grandma's birthday with her! Kirsten helped "Agoo" blow out her candles. We also watched BYU beat Oregon State that night!

*Highlight- SO MANY great places to eat!!!
Oh my heavens! We had fantastic lunches at Rubio's, my favorite dessert in the world from Chili's, great burgers from In 'n Out, awesome meals at Old California Mining Company (where I used to work!), and tried out a yummy new Italian place in La Jolla. Way too much deliciousness!

*Highlight- We got to see lots of good movies! Avatar in IMAX 3D, What About the Morgans, Sherlock Holmes, and the Princess and the Frog! We even took Kirsten with us to see Princess and the Frog, and she did pretty well in it!

*Highlight- Went to the Poinsettia Bowl at Qualcomm Stadium with Stephen!

*Highlight- Hot-tubbing under the stars at Aunt Mary and Uncle Lance's house in Coronado. Hot tubs are a gift from the gods.

Low- The night I spilled my water glass, TWICE in a row. Cleaned it up twice and everything. Hi, I'm two years old. :)

*Highlight- Playing with my amazing new camera in the 5 acres my parents live on. Great shots and backdrops just pop up out of nowhere!

*Highlight- The very best apples, picked fresh from the tree!

*Highlight- Driving the golf cart around the property. I tell my parents it's the old people's version of a 4-wheeler. :p

*Highlight- Kirsten had such a ball jumping "uppy sky on bouncycine!"

*Highlight- Umm. . . gorgeous! Pure joy and happiness on my little girl's face! I love it!

*Highlight- I happen to hate chickens (they should all just be fried or baked!), but Kirsten thinks collecting eggs and feeding the chickens is just about the best thing ever.

*Highlight- Thanks to Facebook, I got to reconnect with some old friends I hadn't seen in about 10 years or more! I love the way Facebook allows us to get back in touch with people.

*Bonfires in the backyard and gooey s'mores under the stars. Oh my gosh, the BEST! I love inviting a bunch of people over for bonfires. When we get a house with a yard, I want a fire pit!

Low- Some family members we were excited to see got sick and weren't able to come visit. We missed them lots!

*Highlight- My cute New Year's baby!!!

*Highlight- Lots of fun with noisemakers and blowers for New Years!

*Highlight- The whole gang over for games and a party on New Year's Eve! (Well, part of the gang. Minus all the sick ones).

*Highlight: Lots of games of Settlers. I learned this game from a guy I dated my junior year at BYU, and it's now the most popular game throughout my entire extended family. I started it all! And now we're hooked! We also played lots of Bang! on this trip.

*Highlight- Our New Year's Eve bonfire. Did I mention how much I love roasting hot dogs and making s'mores around a fire? Is it just me or does everyone look about 10 times more attractive than usual when they're in firelight?

*Highlight- Kirsten actually rode a horse! For the first time ever!

*Highlight- Died and went to Ghirardelli Cookie-bottom Hot Fudge Sundae heaven! Me and Stephen love going there whenever we go back to San Diego. It was where we went on our first date!

*Highlight- Driving 85 in the fast lane and still getting passed on the right. How I miss California drivers! Everyone should learn to drive in California.

Low- Packing up our massive piles of stuff to go home. You would not believe the amount of luggage we had to take home! And then I had to put it all away and get it all organized after I got back. Ugh!

Amazing trip, yes it was! Many more highs than lows! I also have a couple other highlights from our trip to post about, but they each deserve their own blog post.

It was nice to come home to Seattle and be in my own house again, but I do miss my family, friends, and all those highlights. I love San Diego!