SAN DIEGO!!!

We finally got to go on a family vacation!!! It was so much fun to just get away with the 3 of us and leave all the worries of home and work and all the stress behind!

I scheduled our take off time to leave to San Diego at 3pm and that was a HUGE mistake.. Kinsey woke up at 7 am ( i think she knew and was just too excited ) and from that time on seemed like time was at a stand still... I would check the time and it would be 11am and then what seemed like 2 hours was only 15 min! I felt like a little kid haha One the way to the airport, I realized I had forgotten our camera! I was devastated and yes, I even cried.. But thankfully Brandon has an amazing phone with a great camera so we were saved. The plane was empty on our way there so even though I didnt pay to have Kinsey in her own seat, she got one anyways :)  She was so excited and jumping around and I even got her to clap and laugh during take-off so she wouldnt focus on the butterflies in her belly!



she was so tired but still smiling :)



reading all the material

she was a WILD woman!!

Our first night there we just walked around the blocks of our hotel.  We stayed at the Days Inn and I TOTALLY recommend it to anyone going out there! It was in such a great location.  Walgreens right next door, a TON of restaurants all around, grocery store across the street, and they even provided transportation to the Zoo, Sea World, Old Town, the Harbor, and pretty much anywhere you wanted to go for no cost! All we had to do was call the front desk the night before and tell them the time we wanted to go to our destination and what time we wanted to come back and they were there to take us. AND free breakfast every morning (pancakes, hashbrowns, eggs, toast, muffins, you name it)!

The first day we decided to go to Sea World.  The weather was perfect with a few clouds and the sun was shinning!! We saw all the shows they had to offer and saw almost the whole park.. we missed a few things because we ran out of time but it was still so much fun! I even got to pet a dolphin and this cute little boy that was next to me touched it and said "Dad, it feels like a grape!" I couldnt help but laugh cuz they really do feel like a grape! Kinsey had such a blast watching all the animals and just walking around :) My favorite shows were the otter show because it was a comedy and I laughed the whole time! and the dolphin show was awesome as well because they mixed it with birds and so ppl dressed in these neat bird costumes danced around and were flying everywhere haha When we got home we realized we were all BURNT!! I caked the sunscreen on Kinsey but unfortunately i missed a spot right under her eye :( i was so sad and felt like a horrible mom!! Brandon was a lobster everywhere but his neck because i put sunscreen on that area for him haha and i was fried on my legs.  The best part about that was i had a line from where Kinsey was sitting on my lap and everything else around that was red haha For dinner we walked about a mile away from our hotel to Phil's BBQ.  Our shuttle driver told us it was amazing and even on the food network channel, and boy was he right!! the ribs just fell of the bone and everything was so yummy! i wish they had one around here..

Kinsey calling the dolphins

She loves her daddy :)

watching the otters

always happy when food is around haha

The second day we went to the San Diego Zoo. The weather this day was very cold!!! and we were all in shorts and t-shirts with just a light jacket.. Thankfully I have such a manly husband and he gave up his jacket so Kinsey could have it wrapped around her :)  We started the day with the tour bus that took us around the whole zoo! This was awesome because we got to see where we wanted to go and where we didnt really care to see ha because this zoo is HUGE!!! i feel safe saying its 5x the size of our local Hoogle Zoo! They have over 2000 different animals and they even have plants they are growing to help preserve the rain forests.  It is so pretty there and I learned so much about all the animals! One of my favorite parts was when we were looking at the very LARGE turtles from the Galapagos Islands.  These guys weigh up to 600 lbs and live to be over a 100 years old! I got to pet one and his name was Oliver :) poor Oliver is going blind so he had a hard time finding his food.. Another part I LOVED was the giraffes.  They are my favorite animal and there was a baby there that was only 6 weeks old that we got to see!

the tour bus

being a goof with her new cup and sweatshirt :)



Best friends forever!!




As if the zoo wasnt enough fun for one day, we decided to go to Old Town that night.  Im so glad we did because we ate at this authentic Mexican restaurant and Kinsey had so much fun it was hilarious!!! 3 men walked around singing and playing the guitar and she would dance and just laugh when they would get close to us haha.  We were sitting outside and Kinsey found out if she dropped a chip on the ground a little bird would come over and eat it! So all night she would take a bite of her food then drop some on the floor and laugh when the bird would come! I love how smart she is and how much personality she has!!

Talking to grandma Kristy telling her all about the Zoo

her fav restaurant haha

Or third day there we decided to relax a little bit in the morning since we had been getting up early to get out and see everything. So we ate breakfast, lounged around watching TV, and even took a family nap :) That afternoon we went to the Harbor.  There were so many neat shops and really neat marine boats docked and open to the public! Kinsey was still in her resting mood so she slept most the time we walked around the harbor lol.  We also took a ferry to Coronado to shop in more shops :) we played on the beach for a little bit and Kinsey LOVED the sand! she wiped her lips a few times but learned really fast that sand is not yummy! Then we decided to eat at a nice place for our last night in San Diego so we chose a place called Anthony's.  Our shuttle driver told us it was a very popular place so we decided to try it :).  Brandon and I both got the salmon and it was delicious!!! Kinsey was in heaven with her noodles and red sauce and ate all my vegetables off my plate haha. 

We couldnt get a pic of her looking at us cuz she was too busy watching everything else haha

beach bum!

this guy had like 10 birds and he would just grab your arm and put one on your hand! i was freaking out!

this bird liked brandons gel haha

The next day was the last day we had in San Diego and the day we flew out.. We did not want to leave and I will even admit I was extremely ornery that morning haha We had check out of our hotel by 1230 and our plane didnt leave until 430 so we had to sit in the airport FOREVER!!! Thankfully Kinsey crashed in my arms and slept the whole time, and Brandon had his  phone to play on, and I just got to sit there at watch my angel sleep :) This time the plane was packed full and they even had ask for volunteers to change to another flight! Kinsey did pretty well sitting on our lap! She made the flight very eventful though.. she decided to poop half way through the flight!!! I didnt know what to do.. it stunk so bad (sorry to gross anyone out lol) and i didnt dare change her in my lap because i didnt want the poor guy next to me to be scared for life! so i headed to the nasty nasty bathrooms! I put a mat down on top of the toliet and did the best i could.. about that same time i heard the pilot announce there was going to be turbulence! GREAT!!!!! Long story short.. i hope NO ONE ever has to go through that!! I felt so bad for Kinsey.. She got a bath in my hand sanitizer when we got back to our seat :( Well that was just the beginning of our adventures on that plane.. everyone around us got sick because of the bad turbulence and they even used those nice "barf" bags put in front of the seats! THANK GOODNESS Kinsey, Brandon, and I were ok.. Brandon got to be very pasty and Kinsey just layed on my chest and I was smart enough to take a zofran before getting on the flight ;) We finally landed and headed home!!

I am so glad we got to go on this vacation with the 3 (well 4) of us because with another one on the way it will prob be a long time before we get to do this again!