San Diego

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i’ve been trying to figure out how i want to write this post.
and in addition, how i want remember our trip to San Diego last week.
i want to be positive but i also want to be honest
which is sometimes a hard balance to strike.

so i’ll just start from the beginning and try to tell it how it is.

+ Adam had to opportunity to go to the International Experimental Biology conference in San Diego and present his research. it was a big honor and i’m so proud of him to be able to go!
and since it was a school thing, BYU paid for him to go AND he got extra grant money from the conference which paid for me and Elijah to tag along as well.
so not a bad place for a free trip!

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- it is a 11 hour drive and Elijah screamed most of the way home {torture}. and then Adam was gone at the conference most of the day each day so i was left with a really grumpy Elijah trying to figure out what to do most days (minus one day where Adam only went for a half day. but the morning was brutal!)

+ we were able to visit La Jolla beach and see the tide pools & seals, check out Seaport Village, walk around the Gaslamp District, see the Mormon Battalion visitor center, go to the San Diego Zoo [by the miracle which is my good friend Ginny!!], get to hang out with Adam’s lab, get serenaded in Old Town, see the U.S.S. Midway, and eat lots of yummy food!

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- Elijah fell in the water [twice!!] and is now completely traumatized of water {an after effect we are still dealing with!}, we had to walk everywhere! and when we wanted to take the train we missed it so my legs are still aching, Elijah screamed at every restaurant we went to and we had to take him outside most of the time [or in one instance when i went to lunch with my friend Ginny, we had to give up eating altogether and just leave], Elijah also didn’t sleep 3 out of the 4 nights we were there

[Elijah’s progression of getting taken out by a wave.]
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+ we stayed in a really nice hotel downtown that was actually a suite so we could have a separate sleeping area than Elijah and he had his own corner. and although he didn’t sleep at night, he did take his naps all but one day which was nice.

- although people told us downtown San Diego was nice, walking around by myself with Elijah [and at one time after 8:00 at night] i found out it was NOT the nicest area and at one point i’m pretty certain i saw a drug deal. there were people yelling and some that were drunk along each street and let’s just say i found out i’m a lot more brave than i thought i was!

+ we made lots of good family memories despite all the bad parts! 

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nope, it was not this perfect, glamorous trip.
yep, we are still feeling the effects of what a messed up sleep schedule can do to a toddler.
but overall, i do not regret going.
{although in the first 5 hours i definitely wanted to get on a plane and come home… }

i’m glad i got to go support Adam and we could be together and celebrate his accomplishments.
even though having a 2-year-old puts a whole new twist on family vacations, there were still many moments that i was happy to see Elijah’s face light up in pure joy.
it was definitely a trip we will not forget!

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{Mormon Battalion & zoo will have another post. too many pictures as you can see!}

16 comments:

Jaclyn said...

San Diego is my favorite city I've ever been to in real life (I'd move there in a heartbeat), but I'm so sorry you didn't have an amazing time! Bad vacations can be the worst. You seem to have a really great attitude about it :)

Shauna said...

YOur boy is beautiful. Sorry to hear your time in San Diego was not the best. Im in love with the La Jolla area. Glad you got to see it.

{Shauna}
www.ShaunaWyrick.com

Ashley said...

I have always said that traveling with kids is not a vacation.... it is a trip! Often, when kids are younger it is much harder than being at home with them. We have gone on two big vacations with our kiddos and each time it screwed up their schedules so much that it "almost" wasn't worth it.

Unknown said...

Eks, the trip seemed stressful but I'm happy you were able to make the most of it! So afraid to have kids, I'm scared I won't be able to keep them entertained.

Jessica said...

awe we coulda had a blate together with the boys!!
but over all sounds like you had a great time in san diego!!

San Diego itself is not all that nice and sadly it has a lot of crimes yet we made top 10 safest cities {i heard on the radio} so I am not understanding it all. but it sounds like you hit the good parts of the town.
Next time, Disneyland :)

Happy Wednesday.

xoxo
jessica

Kaitlyn B said...

Your little boy is so cute!!
And now all I want is a vacation by the beach :)

Very fun pics!

Kaitlyn B said...

Your little boy is so cute!!
And now all I want is a vacation by the beach :)

Very fun pics!

Miranda said...

I wish i could go to San Diego...looks like a great place! I can no longer take my toddler out to eat and he HATES sleeping anywhere but his own crib...does not make vacation enjoyable!!!

Danny Heyen said...

I love San Diego. The gaslamps... so awesome. Maybe not with a small child... but still awesome. Glad you got to go!

Elizabeth Kelsey Bradley said...

Love these photos!! I've never been to San Diego but lived in LA for about 8 years; I love Cali in general! Glad you guys had a nice family vacation!!

Anonymous said...

Your little man is adorable! He will overcome his fear of water! But the ocean can be a little scary with the tides!

La Jolla is beautiful! Used to spend New Years there!

And congrats to Adam!

Unknown said...

this sounds like our trip to san francisco when levi has his interview here. i swore i would never go on another trip with zak ever again. luckily we've learned how to manage him, and what we need to do to make me stay sane haha sorry it didn't go so great, but your pictures are super cute! =)

Ian and Bonnie Gutzman said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Ian and Bonnie Gutzman said...

I don't know if you ever read my blog, but we had a 10 day trip to Spain last month and ditto on everything! Sleep, eating, car drives, breakdowns while visiting sites...yikes. We had a very ambitious travel schedule for this last year in Germany which has now been greatly reduced because Spain was so overwhelming (goodbye Norway, Russia, and Scotland!). :( But, yes, still glad I went and glad you guys got to go to SF!!!

Alexis Kaye said...

Megan! You poor girl! I can't imagine what I'd be like on no sleep! Seriously, I get so grumpy and emotional! And esepcially with a 2 year old in the same boat! I'm so sorry!!! I went to an essential oils class a few weeks ago and lavendar really helps with calming and getting fussy kids to sleep. One of the guys holding the class says that sometimes when they're little girl get's so crazy and wound up that they're just at they're whits end they'll rub some lavendar on her and it'll calm her down. A lot of parents use it before bed too. There's nothing unnatural or harmful about it. It's just very caliming. Might be worth a shot looking into? And if you are interested I'd totally be willing to send you some.

Jody said...

Hi this is Amy's older sister and my family and I live in San Diego, if you guys ever come back this way, let me know!! I have a 2yr old son.