San Diego Trip

Last week we woke the kids up with the announcement that we were skipping school and heading to the airport where we would be leaving on a week long vacation to California. We had booked the trip on a whim months ago and had managed to keep it a secret the entire time. I recorded the announcement but it wasn't as exciting as the Disneyland commercials. The fact that it was 5:00AM may explain the kids' confused disbelief as opposed to the giddy mania I had expected.



We left our van at the office and caught a cab the rest of the way to the airport. We made it through customs and survived the wait and soon we were boarding.





This was Deacon's first trip in a airplane and I like this picture because it shows that he is properly impressed by the experience. I was disappointed when the other kids showed more interest in their tiny TV screens (especially considering that we didn't buy headsets) than they were in seeing the earth rotating tens of thousands of feet below our seats. Deacon cried a little during our descent into San Diego - we couldn't explain to him why his ears hurt - but other than that, everyone did awesome.



From the airport we caught a quick shuttle and picked up our rental van. We visited the aircraft carrier museum and drove to Little Italy for a pizza before heading to our hotel.



Our hotel room looked nice when we first walked in, but we were surprised to find a second room attached with bunk beds and a separate TV for the kids, as well as a cool balcony. After such a luxury it will be difficult to go back to our standard "2 queen" hotel room.







The hotel remained a constant attraction throughout the week and no matter what activity we had done, the kids were always excited to head "home" at the end of the day.





The outdoor pool and hot tub were predictably popular and we found ourselves going for a swim every night (and most mornings as well). To add to the hotel fun we had a case of pop in the fridge that we dipped into every evening. And on the final night, after our swim, we rented Gnomeio and Juliet on pay per view and had a family movie night.

After Disneyland a few years ago, I did a separate blog post for each day of our trip. This time though I don't feel like writing eight posts. To try and make it shorter, but also more interesting, I am going to blog the trip in four more posts, one for each of the following facets: Theme park Activities, Out and About, Food, and Favorite Photos.

So pull up a chair because the first installment will be added soon.



- C