We went on our first family vacation to San Diego, California. We had the best time!! After hours and hours of packing four large suitcases, two carry-on bags, one double stroller, and two car seats we were ready to go and left first thing in the morning on Saturday, August 29th.
In the Portland airport, all ready to go!
Tycen on his first plane ride!
After checking in to our condo, we quickly headed to the pool. Tycen and Shaylie LOVED the pool and we tried to take them swimming most days before their bath and bedtime.
Sunday, August 30:
Shaylie officially learned to crawl today! She has been crawling 1-2 feet for about a week or two, but she crawled across the room for the first time at our condo!! Woohoo, Shay Shay, we're so proud of you!
Uncle Mike and Aunt Lynsey drove down with their dog, Cooper, from Palm Desert to spend the day with us. We all went to Mission Beach and had a great time (...I can't believe I forgot my camera in the car!). After playing in the ocean for a little bit, we decided it'd be fun to take the kids on their first carousel ride! Then, Scott and I went on the big roller coaster while Mike and Lynsey watched the twins :) We had such a fun day!
Monday, August 31:
We went to Old Town after the twins morning nap. After walking around for a little while, we decided to take a two hour trolley tour of San Diego. Yes, we knew this would probably be a little bit too long for 11 1/2 month old babies, but we wanted to give it a try anyway. They did pretty well most of the time and slept some of the way. Overall, it was very pretty and we got to see and learn a lot about the city.
Tyce loved this musician who was playing in Old Town:
Sleeping on the trolley:
Tyce and Shaylie with mommy on the trolley:
After the trolley tour, we headed back to Mission Valley and went to an early dinner at Gordon Biersch:
Tuesday, September 1:
We took the twins to Sea World! Tyce and Shay Shay did so well considering it was a really hot and humid day.
Shaylie giving mommy kisses through the car window.
Sea lions:
Sharks!
Flamingos:
Beautiful view from the Sea Lion show:
Shamu show:
Wednesday, September 2:
We thought it'd be fun to take the babies to Mission Beach for a morning jog (and by 'we', I mean 'I'...Scott was a really good sport, as usual :) ). We then headed back to our condo so the babies could take an afternoon nap. After going swimming in the pool, we all went downtown to the gas lamp district for dinner at the Hard Rock Cafe.
Here are some pictures taken from our condo:
On our back patio:
Dinnertime:
Shaylie with mommy and Jon Bon Jovi:
Tyce with Daddy and a cool Harley:
Thursday, September 3:
Tycen cut a new tooth today (upper middle right)! He's up to 3 teeth now!!
We drove to Coronado and spent most of the day driving around the island. We went to a few shops and were planning on going to the beach, but decided it was too hot for the babies in the middle of the day. So, we headed back to Mission Beach in the late afternoon.
Having fun and humoring mommy at shops in Coronado:
A pier in Coronado:
Mission Beach:
Mission Beach:
Catch me if you can!
Shaylie was fascinated with the sand:
The babies LOVED the beach so much! We had to head to the outdoor showers once the sand started getting in their eyes and they'd try to get it out with their sand-filled hands. It's amazing how you find sand everywhere after going to the beach.
Friday, September 4:
We decided to take the twins back to Sea World on our last day. I'm really glad we went back because we saw so many more animals that we had missed the first day.
Tyce and Daddy with a clydesdale horse:
Our kids LOVED the penguins!
Dolphin show:
Shamu came to say 'HI' to us:
Shaylie and Daddy with a helicopter in the artcic exhibit (where we saw beluga whales, walruses, and a polar bear):
Ice cave:
Shaking hands with Shamu the whale and Shadow the penguin. As you can see, Tyce and Shay Shay were more interested in Shamu and Shadow than the person taking our picture:
On our last night, we all went to Pacific Beach for a sunset dinner (the first picture was taken from right outside the restaurant we ate at, World Famous). It was a lot of fun. We weren't sure how the twins would do because it was way past their bedtime, but they had a great time people watching and eating their own dinner that we packed for them. It was a great end to a great vacation!
We flew home on Saturday, September 5. Our first family vacation was so much fun and went much smoother than I had anticipated. At home, I have Tycen and Shaylie on a pretty regular schedule with naps and bedtime. The majority of the time this works out great for all of us. They like having consistency and I like knowing I have time during the day to get things done (shower, cleaning, exercise, making baby food, etc). There are times, though, that we want to do things that disrupt their schedule and they don't always respond so well. Anyone with children can relate to a child who missed their nap!
Anyhow, I just didn't know what to expect with this trip. Everyday I was just amazed at how well they did and I really couldn't have been more proud of them. They are such good children. Tycen probably adapted a little easier than Shaylie, but overall they both did great. They slept in individual pack n' plays (that our condo provided) and were able to take naps and go to bed at night without any difficulty. This was a big surprise to us considering they were sleeping in the same room (along with the both of us!) and have had difficulty with waking each other up in the past. Scott and I were able to spend several hours together after the babies went to sleep at night, which was nice.
Scott really enjoyed being able spend a lot of quality time with all of us and the twins loved having constant one on one attention. It was so hard for us to come home, but of course Tyce and Shay Shay seemed very happy as they were back in their own territory with all their toys. We love you so much, kiddos! Thanks for making our first vacation as parents such an enjoyable one!!
