Anything to get him off the couch

'Cause I love seeing his cute buns in that baseball uniform and because he said when he grows up he wants to live at home and play the wii all day, and it just so happens I'm beginning to believe him.  Yep, that's why we love sports.

Because apparently a vacation isn't enough

After a whole week of fun I was fully prepared to guiltlessly stick the kids in front of the tv while I carried out all the necessary evils of recovering from a trip.  But five minutes after waking up they were demanding to know what fun things I had planned for them that day.  So I put them to work.  And then we spent the last week of break swimming, snowboarding,

Wal-marting,

friend playing,

 fort building (best $10 gift EVER),

running (trying to embrace the fact that my baby will be TEN next month and enjoying more big girl time together),

and read-a-thoning (I realized Kylie was nowhere near her AR goal so the last day we had a spontaneous read-a-thon which was much more warmly embraced than I had anticipated.  We put up the tent, the weather was beautiful, they had my undivided attention and we had lots of good food to nibble on, so what was not to love?).  I'd say it was a rather fun and exhausting break, thus meaning I am completely justified in eating the 6 no bake cookies I just inhaled.

A So Cal Spring Break

Should I take it as a bad omen that the rain follows us wherever we go?  Once again it spoiled our plans for amusement parks and sunny days on the beach, but Jason was working in LA for a day which meant free gas and one hotel night so it was an opportunity we couldn't pass up.  I spent a fun filled day with the kids at the outlet mall. Shopping, tantrums, diaper blowout, bloody nose and peeing in the parking lot (twice).  It was just as much fun as it sounds. When Jason got back it was nice being able to tag team again.  We strolled around the Irvine Spectrum center, grabbed some dinner, Jayden only ran over 3 people pushing the stroller, and then they rode the ferris wheel.  It was a relaxing and enjoyable end to a rather chaotic day.

Irvine

Then the next day it rained. and rained. and rained.  Jason felt bad leaving me at the hotel with Ryder while he took the kids to see The Lorax.  It was hard being stuck in a quiet room with a sleeping baby and finishing the book I've been trying to tackle for the past 3 weeks, but I managed.  They had a great time at the movies, came back sopping wet and ate taco bell while watching the rain fall. Then we swam for a while in the indoor pool before topping the night off with Wahoo's.  I'd say we made the most of a rainy day.

The next morning the rain had let up, but it was still a wind tunnel outside.  Maddox primped all morning to get ready to go to San Diego.

We hopped on the gorgeous PCH and headed south.  I love the views on that freeway, it's a breath of fresh air after the endless gravel and cactus.  We took our time meandering through the hills and beach cities, just taking it all in.  Jayden made an oath that one day he would live in a charming beach cottage on the Balboa peninsula (I threw in the charming cottage part).

Mormon Battalion Museum and old town San Diego

We spent the afternoon at the Mormon Battalion museum in San Diego.  It was really cool, the kids loved it and we all learned alot about an important event in Mormon history that I had never even heard of. 

That night we cozied up by the fire, ate pizza and popcorn while watching Puss n' Boots.  The next night all 5 of us snuggled onto one queen bed and watched Tin Tin.  Those two nights were some of my favorite parts of the whole vacation.

The next morning Maddox woke up with a fever and wasn't feeling too good, it was so sad.  Jason picked up some medicine at the store and I thought I would be quarantined to those floral wallpapered walls staring at Nick Jr. and the green with gold accented carpet all day while everyone else went and had fun.  Miraculously he perked up and we were able to enjoy the rest of the day as a family.

USS Midway

We went and toured the USS Midway, which was cool. I'm not sure if it was $56 cool, but we learned some really interesting facts on the self guided audio tour about this navy ship, and Jayden dutifully answered every question on the form to earn his golden junior wings.  That kid will do anything for a cheap prize.

Maddox was too short to go on the Bridge tour so I stayed back with him in hopes of spending some one on one time checking out the totally rad planes.  I forgot that the Iphone trumps pretty much everything in the entire world, but I finally got him away from Talking Tom long enough to explore and he loved it.

La Jolla Cove

We actually got some clear skies and somewhat warmer weather on our last day there so we FINALLY went to the beach.  I heard about the sea lion and seal colonies at La Jolla cove from my new friend that I met in the hotel hot tub.  I normally hate small talk with people I don't know, but this time it paid off.  This place was amazing!  It was beautiful and so fun to see these animals in their natural habitat.  They had really cool tide pools too.  We'll definately be coming back here the next time we're around.

Coronado Island

Then we drove across this huge bridge, which somehow we never even knew existed up until this point.

I don't know how we have been to San Diego so many times and never knew about Coronado Island.  It was beautiful and we had it practically all to ourselves.  After being to the Carribean I was worried I would become somewhat of a beach snob, because all beaches are not created equally.  But the white sandy beaches and the blue on blue contrasting colors fooled me, it didn't even feel like the Pacific.  It started out warm but as the wind picked up we slowly started adding layers until Kylie was curled up under two beach towels shivering and they were all begging to go.  It was amazing while it lasted, I just love sitting back listening to the waves and watching the kids play in the sand.

Maddox and his Tom Cruise Risky Business glasses.  The whole reason why we even went to the outlet mall on that memorable day.

There's a navy base on the island so it was totally cool seeing all of the airplanes and helicopters flying so low right over our heads.

I thought the boys would be fascinated by the massive pack of soldiers running right by them. Nope, they were too engaged with their sand castles to even notice.

 
I tried so hard to keep him on a towel and away from the sand. It didn't last long. He may have ingested some sand that day, but boy was he happy.

We ended the day with ice cream at the posh Hotel Del Coronado.  The kids couldn't understand why we didn't stay in their beach front villas instead of the ever so practical Residence Inn.  The $5 a scoop ice cream was just a little inkling.  But it was a great way to gear up for the next 6 long hours in the car with a crying baby (It was almost as long as this post, sheesh). The rain and car ride were worth it though, I just love family vacations where the only thing on my to do list is to spend time with my kids.