San Diego!!!

 A few months ago Nic and I planned for a trip to San Diego.  This was our first big family vacation with just the 4 of us. We had never been to Legoland before and I was able to get a deal where if there was a paying adult the child was free.  So we planned our trip around that.  We got a hotel in Solana Beach a block away from the beach, and pretty central to all of our activities. We decided to leave after Nic got home from work on Wednesday.  It was a very very long drive.  We made a few stops to take little cat naps but kept going the entire night.  The kids slept the entire way which was awesome.  We made it to our hotel around 8 in the morning, we couldn't check in but they let us eat breakfast.  After breakfast we went to the beach.  Being so tired the waves crashing on the beach were very soothing it wasn't long before Nic and I crashed along with Connor.  Payton kept playing in the sand and made friends that kept her entertained.

 Getting to Vegas at 1:30 a.m.

 My kind of life.  I LOVE the beach!!!

 The waves were pretty big so we had fun watching all of the surfers.

 Before she was hit by a big wave...

 And during...

 Running away from the waves.

 When the water would go back to the ocean it would freak Connor out.  He usually ended up stumbling and falling.

 Kelp scarf the latest in fashion..

 After chilling on the beach for a few hours we were able to check in our hotel.  Once we freshened up a bit we made our way to La Jolla to see the sea lions and check out a few tide pools.

 Swimming at the hotel..

 First sunset...

 Sloppy sleepers...

 Legoland! The kids loved Legoland.  They are at the perfect age for everything there.  I loved how they had areas for the kids to play with legos while the parents waited in line.  The temperature was great and it wasn't all that busy.

 It's amazing the things they can make out of a ton of legos...

 While waiting for one of the rides Connor built an airplane while Payton made a birthday cake...

 This was one of the kids favorites.  They actually got to drive the boats...

 This was another highlight.  Driving the cars.  Payton did pretty well, Connor caused a bit of congestion down I15..

 This was the actual basement set from The Lego Movie..

 

 Through out the day we busted out in song.. Everything is awesome!!

 We got there when the park opened and most of us lasted until the park closed...

 On Saturday it was quite a breezy chilly day so we went to an aquarium for part of the day.

 Nic quite liked this little toy.  He thinks it would be awesome to have at home.

 After the aquarium we went to Point Loma for some more tide pooling.  We thought it was still low tide, but it turned out to be the end of low tide.  The tide was coming in and coming in pretty quick.

 On our way out we saw a few cars pulling over.  We were curious to know what was going on.  When we looked out in the bay we saw a submarine heading out.  Pretty cool sight.

 Next on the agenda was Sea Port Village.  We got a Ben and Jerry's ice cream cone to share and walked around the shops.

 That morning while eating breakfast Payton bit into her toast and said ouch that hurt.  She then put her finger in her mouth and discovered that her tooth was wiggly.  She was so excited she had to call the grandparents to let them know that she had her first loose tooth.  Well through out the day she kept wiggling it with her tongue.  While we were watching a magician at Sea Port Village I told her I want to fill it.  So I felt it and it was pretty much ready to come out.  With one simple quick tug it came out.  She was very concerned about her bleeding and kept asking why I made her bleed.  Aside from the bleeding she was so excited she lost her first tooth.  Again phone calls had to be made to let the grandparents know that she would be getting a visit from the tooth fairy. She made the comment to me, " Oh darn we should have packed my tooth pillow." It's a little pink pillow that Payton and Grandma Rich made to put her tooth in for the tooth fairy to have easy access to.

 After Sea Port Village we had a little over an hour to kill before meeting my friend from high school for dinner so we went to a park at Balboa Park to play around.

 "Ha I spit my tooth on you...

 I'm just kidding."

 Cute little toothless grin...

 While planning for the trip I planned a night that we could go out to dinner with my friend Jackie and her husband.  It was so good to see her and catch up on life.  They were kind enough and bought us our dinner too.

 Hoping the tooth fairy can find us in our hotel...

 Success...

 Sunday was a very relaxed day at the beach!!

 Olaf getting gorgeously tan...

 Payton loved the beach she is definitely my daughter!!!

 

 Payton made a turtle as well, look closely...

 We loved the beach right by our hotel. 

 Next up my favorite Temple...

 

 While at the temple one of the senior missionaries said that they had a missionary from Plain City.  So I went and talked with him for a bit.  I didn't know him or recognize the name, but he is best friends with our stake presidents daughter who is in our ward.  I text her to let her know he says hi and she was pretty excited about that.

 After the temple we went to the Mormon Battalion. 

 Connor saw a car that looked like Bumblebee (minus the stripes)

 It's been awhile since I have been there for the tour and it was pretty cool.  They have redone a lot of it and it was very interesting. 

 Our final sunset on the beach, sad day...

 The next morning we packed up and started on our long journey home.  To break up the drive a bit we stopped in Vegas to watch the fountains at the Bellagio.

 After our quick stop we were back on the road again. The kids did awesome.  We only made one unplanned stop for a potty break.  They watched only two movies on the way home and played with each other, colored and slept the rest of the time.  I am so glad we were able to take this trip together as a family.  We really had a great time together.  It was a fun carefree get away that we will remember and cherish forever!