Thanksgiving--Beach, Cobras, Chargers & More

We went to San Diego for Thanksgiving (and the suitcases are still sitting in my room unpacked). We were blessed to have the flexibility with Jeremy's job and no kids in school to be able to go for the whole week--not to mention blessed by my parents getting a great hotel room on Shelter Island for all of us. I don't want to gloat, but here is the view from the door of our room to the right:
And to the left:
(If you couldn't tell, that's the harbor with the city skyline in the background on the right and a marina with boats docked on the left.)

We had great moments like celebrating Mom, Kendra, and Sam's (early) birthdays. We only managed to put candles on muffins one morning--we never seemed to have them with us when we were eating dessert. As with every time we see my parents, there was a mountain of citrus fruit for everyone to enjoy.
We had fun hanging out at Aunt Kendra's house--playing on the couch and opening Kinder Eggs that Kendra brought from one of her flying expeditions to an exotic location. Sam gave her specific instructions to get more next time she goes to another country where they don't speak English (if you don't know what the excitement about Kinder Eggs is, they are like a white & milk chocolate covered easter egg with a cool little toy inside--you get to assemble the toys yourself, but of course they have been banned from the U.S. because they pose a choking hazard).
We went to the San Diego Zoo--which is very cool, though I would never attempt it without at least a 1:1 ratio of adults to children.
I kind of felt like I spent the day trying to avoid big hills (there are lots) because of a tired 2 year-old and changing Annie's diaper (2 explosions)--here she is naked in her carrier while I waited to reunite with the backpack that was in the stroller with Grandma at the gorilla exhibit.
One of the boys' favorite exhibits was the reptile house. I don't know if I liked a King Cobra that close to my child's head, even though there was a thick pane of glass in between. Quite a crowd gathered around this window as a zookeeper opened the back door of the cage and began cleaning, keeping the agitated Cobra at bay with a long pole. At one point, the zookeeper stepped out of sight, leaving the door of the cage open. A man in the crowd yelled, "I don't think that's a good idea!" I think I'd always be looking behind my back if I had to work in that exhibit.

One of my favorite moments was when a grumpy and sleepy Evan came to life, not at a real animal sighting, but at a statue of a hippo and jumped on it's back shouting "I SUPER-MAN!"
Here's some highlights from hanging around at the beach by the hotel:



Sam made a sand castle with Aunt Kendra (I sat in a chair and watched...that's what Aunts are for :)).
I stared down a seagull that wanted to steal Evan's lunch
I am slightly scarred from a seagull incident with my lunch when I was a little girl. (This is a re-enactment in which my part is played by an older gentleman and the ice cream cone is my sandwich, but the feeling is the same)
Evan found a beautiful shell with a creature living inside and grudgingly threw it back.
I would love to say I made him do it because I have a huge heart for animals, but it was more because my sister said it would stink too bad if we tried to keep it.

We ate thanksgiving meal at Kendra's, where it seems like I got out of most of the work because of nursing Annie. We went to see Christmas lights up the street from her house in a very pretty neighborhood where people live that don't know that I let my 4 year-old pee in their bushes. It was an emergency.


Here's the annual group picture where 6 out of 8 people are looking at the camera, so it's a keeper:
Sam has been well-trained as to what to do when a Navy ship passes by:


On our way up to my parents' house in the OC, we stopped in Carlsbad, where we lived when Jeremy and I were newlyweds. We visited some of our favorite places and Jeremy surfed at the beach that was by our apartment.
The boys were so excited to see Jeremy's wetsuit and said he looked like Superman. I think he looked like Superman, too. :)



Jeremy and I extended our stay due to the fact we had free babysitters and the Chargers were playing the Chiefs (that's football, to any of my Flagstaff readers). We went to our old church in Carlsbad and then rode the trolley to the football game. Annie got a lot of comments from all the people sitting in our section.
I thought the grumpy man sitting next to me (well, practically on my lap for how close they cram the seats together) was not happy to have a baby next to him, but he later kept holding her hand, which was a little awkward but cute. Not cute was the guy behind us that was a perfect mixture of Chris Farley and Rainman. Or the intoxicated woman throwing up in the line for the trolley home. We ate at our favorite taco shop in Carlsbad.

My mouth waters just looking at the food. I think every taco shop should have soft serve chocolate ice cream (not pictured). What a great idea. We headed home, stopping in Phoenix for Jeremy's class, where we visited with Jeremy's mom and some old friends.
Even though it is bittersweet visiting somewhere as beautiful as San Diego and remembering how sad it was to move away, it is fun to have so many memories and friends scattered around the world. And, we got to come to beautiful Flagstaff, where there was still some snow left on the ground.