Weekend in San Diego

For our 6th wedding anniversary this year we were originally planning on going to Hawaii, but funds ran short, so we altered our agenda for some beach fun in San Diego, California.  We left early in the morning Thursday, and came back Sunday evening.  We used all our respite hours for the month for Kai, and Zuri stayed with my mom, so we were kid free for the weekend!

The trip started out with a rainbow, and ended with a rainbow, and although we brought along three audiobooks to listen to for the long drive (it is just over ten hours each way), we only ended up listening to the audiobook for about half an hour and talked the rest of the time.  I absolutely love road trips for just that reason.  I absolutely love that I have a husband who will carry conversations for that amount of time (for those of you who know J, you know he loves to talk)--and all weekend.

San Diego was a beautiful 75 degrees during our stay.  It was overcast the majority of the time we were there, with a slight drizzle now and then, but it didn't stop us from enjoying ourselves and taking advantage of being outside.

Our resort was located in downtown San Diego, so after we checked in, we spent the evening wandering downtown and looking for a good place to eat.  We went to a nice restaurant in Little Italy and enjoyed a relaxing meal.

After our meal, we headed back to our hotel and ended up falling asleep before ten, but we were up bright and early just after seven.  We walked to Balboa park and spent the day there.  We debated whether or not to go to the zoo (for those of you who don't know, the San Diego zoo is pretty fantastic), but in the end, we opted against it.  Instead, we wandered around Balboa Park (even after spending the day there we didn't even cover a quarter of it).  The architecture at Balboa Park is amazing!  It was so beautiful and intricate.  We saw several botanical gardens, not limited to, but including, the Japanese Tea garden, the Casa Del Rey Moro garden, and the rose and desert gardens.






As we walked the Japanese Tea Garden, we could hear the organ from a nearby organ pavilion.  It was really pretty and added to the atmosphere.









This multi-colored flower reminds me of Georgia!



Fire and ice roses used to be my favorite flower.  They are still beautiful--and among my top three, although orchids and lilies are my top two.  :-)


For dinner we went to Anthony's Fish Grotto and had some fabulous sea food as we looked out over the harbor.  We had a beautiful bay view from our table (below).



Some neat ships.




What trip to San Diego would be complete without going through a session at the gorgeous San Diego temple?  After the temple session we tried to get some frozen yogurt, but it was late enough that it was closed.  At that point we called it a night and went back to our hotel.


Saturday was spent at the beach.  We went to La Jolla Cove to see the tidal pools and watch the seals.  We wandered the beach, but didn't get in the water because the air was still a bit on the cool side.

We saw some snorkelers right next to the seals.  It was amazing how unaffected the seals were by all the people.



The kids actually got in the water and were playing all around that rock formation and the seals didn't even pay them any mind at all. 

This seal was injured on its tail, looked like something tried to take a bite, but otherwise the seal was fine.  The people around kept creeping in closer.  In this picture (I was on the pier above them) the seal is lifting its head, but mostly it ignored the people.  By the time we left, there was a crowd literally less than a dozen feet away (despite all the signs that clearly state to leave the wildlife alone).  I hope the seal is okay.


We went to lunch, stopped in at a local Bizarre and then headed to Encinitas Beach, where we took advantage of the surf and played in the water.  The beach was relatively deserted; just enough people not to make you nervous.  It was a rather large beach, and I had fun watching the lifeguard travel from one end to the other in his 4-wheeler (really, what a cushy job?).



When we had our fill of Encinitas Beach, we went over to WindanSea Beach.  Wow, that one was just beautiful--too bad we didn't go to that one first!  We weren't going to get back in the water, but the waves were just fun enough that we couldn't resist.  J was the first one to get in, and as I was following closely, the force of the outgoing tide knocked me off my feet and the incoming wave pushed me right into J, which tipped him over as well.  I got up, laughing and a little sand-burned on my thigh.  Wow, that was unexpected!  You definitely don't get waves/tides like that in Tahoe! ;-)





Sunday morning we got up early again and made the trek back home.  We had so much fun, but with all the walking and swimming we did, we were sore!  It sure felt good to get out and away though!  It was a great anniversary, and I am so grateful for J and to be married to my best friend.  It makes this roller-coaster of life a little more fun.  :-) 

I Spy...

What do you see?

Can you see it yet?

Peek-a-boo!  I see you!

Tasting

Sometimes change can be hard, and sometimes change is exactly what is needed.  In our case the latter happened.  Our new OT is amazing.  Since she is new to our family, she didn't have any preconceived notions of what Kai can and cannot do, and she got him eating!  Actually taking bites and tasting food!  A-maz-ing.  Granted, most of it ended up on his lap, but he wasn't shaking his head from side to side to avoid the food, and he wasn't pursing his lips or pushing his tongue in the way (until the end, anyway).  Progress! Yes!  He only gagged twice and never spit up.  Hopefully this is the beginnings of good things to come!

Playing

Kai has little interest in toys.  He loves to cuddle with blankets, but toys just don't seem to register on his radar yet.  He does, however, play with his trach, his g-tube connector and button, the syringes we hang to vent him, and especially his suction catheter (you know, the important things).  There have been a few times when he has pulled hard enough to disconnect the suction catheter from his trach.  Not a big deal for us, we just put it back on as the vent alarms like crazy.

I think Kai has fun with with making the alarms go off--the other day I was in the kitchen making dinner (in our new apartment the you cannot see Kai from the kitchen) and his ventilator kept alarming.  I would go to check on him and he was laughing.  It happened a good three or four times; he was laughing as if to say, haha mom, I tricked you, I made you come check on me!  Who says babies don't have a sense of humor?

New Bather

With moving, we have also changed districts for our child development programs--meaning all new therapists.  It also means that we had to return the equipment we were using for Kai (ie the bather and the stander).  Our new OT has been fabulous.  She contacted us within a week of moving in and has already hooked us up with a new bather.  She is working on a stander but the ones they have currently don't give enough support for Kai.

The new bather has been good and bad.  It is a built for a bigger/older person so Kai doesn't quite have the weight to hold it down on the bottom, consequently, it has a tendency to "float" around a bit.  On the other hand, it allows Kai more access to the water and he has been having fun kicking his legs to splash the water.  Overall, I think I like it just a bit more than the old bather, it is just taking me some time to get used to it.

Cuddlebug

We have been super busy these last few weeks.  It has been hard to find time to sit down and post!  We have enjoyed living so close to family.  My grandparents came in from California to spend a couple days with us, and we have continued our Sunday dinner/games with my brother and sister-in-law.  Consequently, with all the family, I have gotten some fun pictures, especially of family holding Jeremy! Both Zuri and Kai have been spoiled with lots of attention!  Kai, being the little cuddlebug he is, has thoroughly relished being spoiled.


We really enjoyed my grandparents visit, even though it was brief.  It was great to see them!  Grandma is showing Zuri just "how it's done" on Angry Birds (or was it Zuri showing Grandma?).  I never did get a picture with them and Kai--sadly, I didn't really pull out the camera all that much while they were out other than to show them my nifty camera.  In fact, my grandparents liked my camera so much that they bought one of their own!  :-)


Shin holding Kai, and a rare smile caught (we were able to capture two!--normally he will only make funny faces for pictures), even though he was looking away from the camera (in both pictures nonetheless).  

More smiles from the newlyweds!


My Aunt April holding Kai.  It was her first time.  Her smile says it all. :-)

My cousin, Alexis and my sister, Breanna came over for a visit and I was able to capture this moment with my beautiful cousin.


This picture is so precious of my sister and Kai.  McKenzie loves to spend time with him; she has even helped me with trach cares!

Settling In

Have you ever had one of those moments where you feel that you are exactly where you are supposed to be--doing exactly what you are supposed to be doing?  I had one of those moments the other night.  Despite the fact that this move has been hard on all of us, this is where we should be right now.  We are all moved and settling in.


Chilling while we cleaned our last place

There could be a myriad of reasons that the move has been hard on us.  First and foremost probably because we loved our old place, loved our ward, and loved our area.  It could be because we moved into a place that is older, has approximately half the space that we had in our last place, has a swamp cooler versus central air, and we only have one bathroom (and I really miss our two jetted tubs).  The hardest adjustment for us has been the swamp cooler--talk about never truly getting the place cool, and when it is, it is really humid.  Kai's equipment produces much heat of its own, so the swamp is basically always on.  We are also sleeping with our bedroom door cracked so we can get some cool air in while we sleep (fans just don't cut it) which is awkward because the nurses pass by our room as they go into the bathroom.  Zuri has been waking up several times during the night because she is hot (she slept all night last night for the first time since we have been here).  I am looking forward to the cooler weather of autumn. 



There have been perks since moving here as well.  J gets to come home every night (which is soooo great).  It is nice to be close to family and we have been getting to know some of my cousins a bit better.  It is much easier to get to our appointments, and we are meeting new people.  Less than a five minute drive from us is a new park with a fabulous splash pad (pictures to come soon).



The move itself went pretty smoothly, and J's parents were instrumental in that happening.  We have a lot more stuff than we realized, and my project will be de-junking before we get our house.  

Our search for our house continues.  There was a setback with the house we really wanted--the owners went into bankruptcy, so now we have to wait for all that to clear up.  Yesterday we found two more houses that we really loved--but each has one big mark against it.  Ah, c'est la vie!  We are just excited to get a place of our own.  In each house we view we imagine where things would go/how things would work with Kai.  It is fun to see all the different houses and to dream of what could be.  Hopefully soon the dream will be reality!