Family Trip to San Diego

Wow, it's been a while since I've posted anything.  There's lots going on around here, but I thought I'd start with our recent family trip to San Diego, CA!  We went with Matt's family: his mom Debbie, dad Al, brother Jon, and sister Erika, and the four of us.  It was a wonderful Christmas gift from his parents (thanks again Debbie and Al!). 

The adventure began immediately as we went through security at the airport.  Remember in a previous post how I mentioned that Elijah has become a once-a-week pooper?  Well he decided that his blow-out should happen during the security check at the airport.  Thanks buddy.  Really.  Thank you.  This meant that we carried a poopy baby through the metal detector and waited at the other end while Matt got a pat-down and auntie Erika had her bag rummaged through.  At this point poop is coming out of clothing and onto blankets and Bella is having a melt down on the floor.  Awesome.  Just as we had planned.  Thankfully, we were soon released and we beelined it for a bathroom to clean Elijah up.  Guess who got the honors?  Yours truly!  I must say, cleaning up poop in an airport bathroom makes me very happy that we don't have to travel by air frequently!  The rest of the day went much smoother, comparatively!  Bella and Elijah both did well on the flight to California. 

It was Bella's first airplane ride and first time to the ocean.  I can't even begin to describe her pure delight at both experiences!  She was so excited at the airport and continually shouted "paaaain!  airpaaaiin!!!"  This continued the entire trip (since we were near the San Diego airport, there were lots of planes to spot).  Bella became an excellent plane spotter.  She usually saw them before the rest of us and we would all be searching the sky to see where it was!

The ocean was also very exciting!  Bella loved playing in the sand and mud, chasing the waves and just running (always running!) down the beach.  She is definitely a water girl!

We got to stay at beautiful ocean-front home and watched sunsets and surfers from the front porch.  It was awesome!  I would love to live right on the ocean like that-it was truly breath-taking beauty.  It was also nice to hear the waves at night while I was up feeding Elijah.  We also went to the San Diego Zoo, a lookout spot at Cabrillo National Monument, Old Town, and much more.  The weather was nice every day and the palm trees and orange trees made me want to stay forever! 

Matt and I even got to walk along the beach and go out to dinner together one night while the family watched Bella and Elijah.  It was so nice! 

The plane ride home was not as smooth as the ride there.  Bella was extremely tired and threw several tantrums on the airplane before completely passing out from pure exhaustion.  I hope we don't have to do air travel with small children ever again-it was so stressful and I felt bad for everyone sitting around us-especially Erika who was sitting in front of Bella and had the back of her seat kicked continually by an anger 2 year old. 

Overall it was a great trip and we had so much fun with our family.  I would definitely go again when the kids are older!