San Diego Vacation!

Once again it has been far too long since I've had the chance to blog. We've been very, very busy in the past few weeks, but we've been having a lot of fun too.

2 weeks ago, my focus was completely on making cupcakes for my cousin's fiance's shower and cleaning and packing for our big vacation. My sister Courtney did a great job blogging about that big/ fun bridal shower. The shower was a blast, and I so enjoyed making these cupcakes that I'm considering making a career out of baking down the road...

Anyway, back to the vacation. My wonderful and incredibly generous in-laws gift the family (Caleb, his brothers and their families) with a vacation every 3-5 years. Our last vacation was in HAWAII in June of 2008 when I was pregnant with Elliana.

Over the past 4 years the family has grown from 1 granddaughter (and 1 on the way) to FIVE grandkids.

Since there are 5 kids all ages 5 and under, we all agreed that this vacation would have to be one that both adults and young kids could enjoy. So when Caleb's parents (lovingly named Lito and Lita by the kids) suggested we go to San Diego for this year's vacation, we all thought it was a perfect location!

Here are my wonderful in-laws. The kids adore them, and so do we. :)

We had SUCH a great time in San Diego! We were there from June 9th-June 16th. I simply couldn't fit everything we did in one blog post, so I thought I would try to highlight some of our best experiences and pictures.

The first few days, we enjoyed getting to explore our vacation home for the week. It was so beautiful and was right on the beach.

And, of course we spent some time on the beach. I love these pictures of Ellie and Ethan.

Of course, we couldn't go to San Diego and miss out on Seaworld. Seaworld might have been one of my favorite days. We watched the Shamu show, saw dolphins, penguins, sealions...

... and we played, rode on a few rides with the kids, and Ellie even splashed around a bit in the fountains.

See the picture of Ellie and Ethan stuffing their faces with cotton candy? That's one of my new favorites. Ha ha. ;)

We went to Balboa Park and LOVED it! We had so much fun looking at the fountains and old unique buildings,

and playing with the kids at the park. We captured some of their best smiles there.

After the park, Ellie and Ethan enjoyed a ride on the carousel.

We went to Legoland and had a BLAST!

 I had no idea what to expect of Legoland. It's basically like a mini Disneyland with a Legos theme and it's especially geared toward younger kids (ages 2-12). It was PERFECT for our group. The kids rode many rides and had so much fun!

One night the adults got away for a dinner cruise. This was SO much fun. The dinner was so delicious, and after dinner we listened to music and danced.

Most of all, we enjoyed spending time with family. This is Nate, Caleb's younger brother and his wife Amanda. They are starting up their own photography business and they spent most of the week taking zillions of pictures on their new camera. I can't wait to see and share some of the photos they took.

A few other highlights for me that I sadly don't have any pictures of was walking and biking on the boardwalk next to the beach, splashing in the waves, watching the kids make sand castles, trying a SUP (Stand Up Board) for the first time, kayaking on the bay with the kids, spending an afternoon in Old Town, and taking professional family photos at Balboa Park (can't wait to see how those turned out). If you ask Ellie, the highlight of the vacation was having our own hot tub that she spent lots and lots (and lots and lots) of time in. She absolutely loves "swimming"- just like I did as a child.

When it was over, I was so sad to head home. We had been talking about and planning this vacation for a few years. It was fun to see Elliana and her cousin Abby sit together on the plane though.

Thank you Mom and Dad H for giving us such a wonderful vacation. I know we all had a great time and will be talking about it for years.

Carlsbad on Dwellable