San Diego Day 2 - Beach and Belmont Park

We found a coffee shop that met all of our needs called Baked, along Ocean Front Walk. It had coffee for me, and chocolate croissants for the boys.

Daddy and Bobs enjoyed running up and down the walk. Mads was asleep in the stroller this day for about 2.5 hours. He missed most of the trip.

The beach wasn't very busy before Christmas, but we noticed people started arriving on Christmas Eve. Lots of people from Arizona drive 5 to 6 hours to get here.

At the end of the boardwalk, about 2 kilometres from our hotel was a medium sized amusement park called Belmont Park.

It felt like a small town fair along the beach.

When it warmed up, we played in the sand. Mads was still asleep.

In the evening it gets dark so quickly. We also got hungry early so a few times we went out for dinner as early as 4:00pm.

The hotel grounds were really nice and this is part of why I chose this hotel. It was recommended by a few coworkers of mine.

On the bay side, one of the beach front residents put up a community christmas tree. I like this photo.

San Diego Day 1 - The Zoo & The Beach

We are back from San Diego. The flights were hectic with both kids unfortunately, although we can say it was worth it. I will update each blog post by day. On the first day, we went to the Zoo. My photos are chronologically backwards though. You can see we ended the day off at a genuine taco joint near the hotel. Jamie was in heaven and I was not. I totally dislike Mexican food. I did try it though.

The kids don't like the food either ( and many other types of food ), but at least there were vending machines to keep them busy.

Before supper and after our long day, we checked out the beach. The boys loved throwing sand. Mads even fell into the water at one point. Ooops.

Mads enjoyed kicking the sand. Our hotel straddled Mission Beach and Mission Bay. One side was the Pacific and the other was a man made bay. It was a perfect location.

The sun was up at 6:30am and down by 4:45pm. The kids were up at 5:30 am and down by 7:00 pm. So were we.

Here is a view out of our room. We didn't pay extra for a view and got the pacific side. You can also see the heated pool and spa. We went into the pool everyday. It was a high of 22 and a low of 3 most days.

When Bobs first saw a palm tree, he said " Look at that funny looking tree!"

We did the San Diego Zoo right away and it was a hit. The terrain was interesting though. Many hills and valleys. Here the boys are in the petting Zoo. They really enjoyed the children's Zoo and the playground.

Nearly every day, Mads would fall asleep in the stroller for an hour or two while Bobs got to really get into whatever he wanted and was given our full attention.

Mads is still ball obsessed. Here he wants to play with the ball that belongs to the hippos.

Bobs tried to make funny faces in a lot of the photos.

On our first morning, the boys woke up at 5:00 am. We went shopping in the morning since the stores were open and then to an outdoor playplace at McDonalds.

Tomorrow, we will have more from the beach and Belmont Park.

Merry Christmas

We are in San Diego for Christmas. I have lots of great photos and stories, but we forgot to bring the camera connection cord so it will have to wait until after December 28th.

Here is a photo taken from the computer of the boys on Christmas morning. Santa found his way to their stockings. We plan on spending part of the day at the beach. It's too cold to swim but it's beautiful for sand castle building.

DOE Kids Christmas Party

On saturday we had my office's Kids Christmas Party. Around 15 kids and 15 adults were there. It took place in the reception area.

Santa made a visit and knew all the kids names.

Even the naughty kids got presents.

When Santa first appeared, the kids all ran to the door to greet him. Even Bobs.

The kids played hide and seek - and Mads copied the hiding location of two other kids. It was very sweet.

We also did Ring Around the Rosie. Always a hit.

Other kids enjoyed jumping on the furniture.

There was cookie decorating...

The kids followed the youngest baby there and imitated his crawling.

We did a candy cane scavenger hunt.

Coloured christmas cards, and made ornaments at the craft table.

A seven year old happily worked at the tattoo station.

Dare I say that this party was funner than Daddy's Work's Kids Christmas Party?

Balls and Letters

Our Christmas is scattered all over the place. We got a parcel in the mail from great aunty Jane and opened it. Bobs really enjoyed the alphabets and the bathroom hand towel with numbers on it. Obviously auntie Jane reads the blog and knows what he likes!

Bobs enjoys spelling out his favourite TV show, Mighty Machines/Super Machines.

Mads in the meantime, enjoys putting his collection of balls in and out of the igloo tent.

Bobs was inside the tent with him and said " Look at your hair! "

Tomorrow the kids have a Christmas party at my workplace. We can't wait!

Our All Over The Place Christmas

We are doing things a little differently this year for Christmas since we will be in San Diego. We had spaghetti and meatballs with Mormor and Morfar over after they had come from the Symphony Orchestra's Christmas concert downtown. I think we shovelled the snow three times today since it had snowed all day long.

After Mads had gone to bed and Mormor and Morfar had gone home, we showed Bobs how to play monopoly with very relaxed and imaginative rules.

Next weekend we have Daddy's work party and my work christmas party for kids.

Sledding

We planned on taking Mads and Bobs to the local outdoor arena but they hadn't flooded it yet. Bobs plans on learning to skate in January and we had just picked up a hockey helmet for him.

Instead we had hot chocolate and playtime.

It was about 6 degrees out in the sun. Most people were Christmas shopping so there was lots of space for us to play.

There were only a few other families tobogganing.

Mads and Bobs absolutely loved it.

Mads squealed as he watched his big brother slide down.

The hill wasn't too big so as to tire us out when we walked back up. But long enough to enjoy the ride down.

Mads has been playing with Mr. Potato head lately. He has about 25 words and hasn't learned to say anything new for awhile. He uses already existing words to say what he means. He calls Mr. Potato head "Daddy (for mister) Bobobo (Potato)" haha. We laugh. Daddy Bobobo.

We are looking forward to our Christmas vacation in San Diego, but are also wondering a bit, why we planned it for right now. It's such a busy time of year!