San Diego

We recently took a quick trip to San Diego for a family party. We drove down Saturday morning and drove back home Sunday night. Traffic was horrendous and we spent hours in the car, but it was so worth it! We rarely see my Dad's side of the family as an entire bunch, but my cousin who lives in Nashville and just had a baby was going to be in town. We were all invited to come meet sweet baby Ella and since my dad is one of eight kids, the party for Ella quickly turned into a reunion of sorts as well. It was so, so fun to see all of my cousins and their kids and to spend time with Aunts and Uncles I haven't seen in a while!

Unfortunately, I forgot my actual camera on the night of the party, so cell phone pictures it is! These are only a few of my cousins with their kids/spouses. Eight kids in my dad's family made for a lot of cousins and I love it! We're probably missing about twenty people in this photo!

My aunt brought these silly glasses for all the kiddos on the night of the party. Big hit!

On Sunday, we spent the morning visiting with Poppa John (my mom's side of the family also lives in San Diego) and playing at a park on the bay. I loved the cool weather! It was a much needed break from our summer heat. 

The boys and Poppa John also walked out to the pier to check out the fishermen

After breakfast and the park, we headed downtown to catch the ferry to Coronado. Poppi and Lala had mentioned the day before that the boys could ride the ferry while we were in town and of course, they woke up asking about it first thing the next morning.

Tan Tan holding on for dear life with Lala's crazy driving ;)

Poppi love.

My sister Christi came down to San Diego with us too. My other sisters weren't able to make it, but since Christi was down from Oregon visiting brand new baby Emmie, she made the trip to see all the cousins with us as well. We teased the entire ride down that "Nanny Christi" had joined us since she sat in back and catered to the boys' every I-need-a-new-movie-I-want-more-juice-are-we-there-yet?-whim. Really though, I loved having there for me and the extra time I got to spend with her while she was in town.

And since it was a prime picture spot, figured I may as well get a family picture in there as well :)

Ok, so this boat (Yacht?). We walked past it on the way to our ferry and saw that it was named "Lady Christine". It quickly became "Christi's yacht", as we sent a picture to her hubby Ty Ty who wasn't with us, and joked that it had been added to Christi's wish list for Christmas...complete with the personal helicopter that was parked on top. Yeah. No joke. It had a helicopter.

Anyway, our more humble little boat (yep, that's it behind Drew), was parked just to the right of Lady Christine. 

I loved that in all of these pictures Drew was saluting. ...Because that's what the captains on boats do, don't you know?

Coronado bridge from the ferry

Once over in Coronado, we spent the rest of the day wandering around and enjoying. We even managed to have lunch at Peohe's, the restaurant where my great-grandma Gwennie used to take me and my sister Jenn to learn manners. Fortunately, their patio is fairly casual, so we were able to sit and enjoy a fantastic lunch while the boys popped up and down to look at the water. I have so many fun memories at Peohe's and it was fun to share it with the boys. 

Later, it was ice cream...

...and the beach!

The very first thing Collin did was run straight into the water, which resulted in him tumbling head first into the water. He was soaking wet, with no change of clothes and of course, didn't care.

Tan Tan loved the sand! 

He thought it was tasty ;)

Like I said, a really quick trip. I wish I had more pictures from our night with my Dad's family, but it was great to see everyone and so fun to meet baby Ella. She is precious!