San Diego, California

Every couple years my mom goes to a conference in San Diego for her work and I always wanted to tag along but it just never worked out.  Well when she found out she was going this year I decided I wasn't going to pass up the opportunity.  My sister quickly decided she was going to join as well.  I tossed around the idea of bringing the boys but that would get expensive very quickly. I then thought about just bringing Colton and after talking with Frankie and with Colton we decided that the trip would be his birthday present.  Thankfully Grandma Yvonne was willing to keep Mason for the week so Colton and I could enjoy this amazing trip together. 

We flew out Sunday Morning and we were at our hotel by 2pm.  We unpacked a little and then decided to some exploring of downtown San Diego even though it was was raining, we were on vacation and weren't going to let a little ran ruin our trip.  That night we were in bed early as we were all exhausted from traveling.

Monday our fun really started.  My mom headed to her conference while Colton, Marissa and I headed to La Jolla to see the Ocean.  It was better than I could have ever imagined.  We started at La Jolla beach where we were able to get super close to Sea Lions.  This was one of the most amazing things I have ever experienced.  After a couple hours in La Jolla we drove over to Mission Beach and enjoyed lunch on the boardwalk and then headed over to the beach to play in the mighty waves of the Pacific Ocean for a while. California is simply stunning and I can see why people say you will never once to leave once you visit.

Tuesday we headed to Legoland, this was Colton's request of course.   We spent 8 hours at the park checking out all the Lego creations, enjoying a few rides (some them the lines were so crazy long that we didn't even waste our time), we spend a couple hours in the waterpark and of course we did some shopping for a new Lego set!

 

 

Wednesday we toured the USS Midway which was one of the largest ships used during WWII.  It was probably one of my favorite stops of this entire trip.  We spent almost 5 hours on the ship and we still didnt cover the entire thing.  However Colton did earn his Junior Pilot Wings and was presented them by a WWII Veteran which brought tears to my eyes.  Colton didn't realize what an honor it was to be shaking hands with a true hero like he was but maybe someday he will look back at the pictures and be proud.   After touring the ship we went back to the room and relaxed while we waited for my mom to get back from the conference.  That evening we drove over to Coronado Island to do some shopping and most importantly see Hotel Del Coronado and maybe even see a ghost sighting (which we did not).  We walked the beach a little enjoyed the fire works put on by the hotel for some event they were hosting and then headed back to the hotel.

Thursday we decided to enjoy another day at the beach.  We packed up and headed back to La Jolla Cove but this time our plan was to do some snorkeling.  This was a first time for all three of us and it was an experience I will never forget.  Colton was a pro right away and as soon as he saw all the brightly colored fishing swimming around us he was hooked!  We snorkeled for almost 4 hours before deciding that we were hungry and should probably go find some lunch.  But we couldn't leave without checking out of the 7 Caves of La Jolla.  We paid our 3 dollars and hiked down 150 stairs into one of the caves, it was a cool thing to see however the hike back up make me think I will do that again :)  That night we did a little more shopping down at the Gaslamp District and Seaport Village and then packed up as we were flying home Friday.

This was such a fun trip.  It was awesome to have so much one on one with Colton and to just explore and travel and laugh and have fun with him, no other worries in the world for those few days.