The Desjardins: San Diego, Part 1

I am so glad we decided to go to San Diego. Planning just 2 weeks in advance was a little stressful, but completely worth it! We had an amazing time and can't wait to go back! I know I mentioned in my last post how great the boys did in the car. Seriously though, it's worth mentioning again because they really were THAT good! Anyway, here are some pictures and stories from our trip. Might wanna grab a cup of coffee....

Dinner in the car on the way there ....

I had to squeeeeeze between their car seats so I could feed them.

We caught a pretty sweet sunset driving into Cali

Friday was our Wedding Anniversary - 5 years!

One of my friends from middle school (Hi, Jen!!) lives in San Diego and her husband is a Navy SEAL. She had mentioned that if we were ever in SD that her hubby could probably give us a tour of the SEAL base. I knew Rudy would LOVE that so I reached out to her and they were so awesome to make it happen! We both really enjoyed it and I had a good time catching up with an old buddy! I can't even put into words how much I appreciate our military and the sacrifices they (and their families) make every single day to defend our freedom.

(I wasn't sure if I was allowed to take pictures so there aren't a ton from that)

On the private SEAL beach...

Jen & me (plus B)

Training course

Ryder ASKED me to take his picture in front of the trash can ... of course.

Sassafras St. HA!

After the tour of the base we decided to walk along the Mission Beach boardwalk and get some lunch.

All was grand! And then we were going to head back to our condo so Bentley could take a nap while we got ready to go out for an anniversary dinner. We got back to the car and when Rudy started it up, it was making a STRANGE noise. We weren't far from the condo at all but during the drive back it was very apparent that something was wrong with the car. It started smelling like something was burning too. So I stayed at the condo with the boys and Rudy took it to BrakeMax down the street and we found out the the alternator needed to be replaced. $300. But Rudy knows how to do it and the part only cost $100 so he decided he'd do it himself. Welllll, he spent a few hours working on it and there was a bolt that was WAAAAY tight and since he didn't have great tools with him (I will never again roll my eyes at him when he wants to pack a bunch of tools for a road trip), he couldn't get the bolt off. He was SO frustrated and came back to the condo covered in oil and having to throw the towel in. Of course it was Friday at 5pm and at this point we were going to be stranded without a vehicle and having to find a place that could fix it on Saturday. MAJOR bummer for our anniversary!!! We were in a pretty hoppin' area so we decided we'd just walk somewhere for dinner. Well, we walked. And walked and walked and walked. For 2 hours. For some reason I was SET on getting a burger. I don't know why, but it's what I really wanted. Well, we couldn't find a place that was kid-friendly (lots of sports bar type places) and had burgers. We didn't take the stroller so were carrying the kids that whole time and were super frustrated. Bentley was ready for bed and hadn't had dinner yet and Ryder was starving. We ended up getting chicken nuggets (which he didn't touch) for Ryder at Jack in the Box (gross) and walking back to the condo. While waiting for Ryder's nuggets, a man walked up to us and tried to hand Rudy $20 - we were totally confused and thought maybe Rudy had dropped it or something. The guy went on to say that he appreciated our little family and told Rudy he reminded him of himself when he was younger. He has kids and knows how hard it is when they are young and he just went on and on about what a cute family we are! Rudy continually tried to hand him back the money but he insisted that he is "blessed" and likes to share. How nice is that!?!? I wanted to tell him we were on vacation, it was our anniversary and that our day had gone very crummy, but didn't. It was just SO nice and really lifted our spirits! It's so great to see there are still a lot of great people out there.

Before we went into Jack in the Box, we sat out on the street for a few minutes, feeling defeated. We tried to take a "we're not having a good time" picture but we couldn't help but laugh a little. And when it came down to it, we were happy to be there, all together and knew that things could be a whole lot worse.

Saturday morning we started calling nearby mechanics right away (after I had read some reviews online). We found a place reaalllly close - weren't sure how far the car would make it without completely dying, so that was good. They said it would take a few hours. Rudy got it there around 8:30am, I think. He called them again around 12 and they said they were working on it but were having a heck of a time getting that stupid bolt off. They would be closing at 2 so they intended to have it done by then. We were trapped in the condo the whole time - Bentley at least took a nice 2 hour nap (did I mention he came down with a cold the first night there?) so that was a plus. But we were bummed to be losing a good portion of our day. We would have spent a few hours at the beach. It was just a little too far to walk with the boys and all of our stuff (and then have to walk back). We decided to go grab some lunch at a pizza place we had seen and at probably 1:30 the guy called to say they had FINALLY gotten the bolt off so it wouldn't be too much longer. They stayed about 30 minutes after closing to finish it up.

Ryder got attached to this huge leaf and carried it around until it fell apart.

he's just cute

Waiting for the car!! While we were waiting, we talked to one of the guys who seemed to be in charge and he found out we were on vacation. When it was time to pay, I handed him cash (and wanted to cry a little) - he handed me back $20 and said "That's on me, go enjoy your vacation!" He went on to tell Rudy (I kid you not!) that he reminded him of himself when he was a little younger and had small children and he knows how hard it is. Seriously!!!! How nice is that!?!? (And random that this happened twice in 24 hrs)

So once we finally got our ride back we were stoked and ready to GO!!! Seaport Village was the plan for the evening. And a re-do anniversary dinner. What's the first thing the boys did when we got in the car?

PASS OUT .......

They both got in a nice little nap while we drove there and had to spend awhile finding parking.

Sooooo happy!!!! :)

We didn't waste any time and headed straight for ice cream!

Took Bentley on his first carousel ride!

Our re-do anniversary dinner was perfect!!! We ate a restaurant that sits over the water and is lined with windows. We got to enjoy a gorgeous sunset and delicious food! It was perfect!

Sunday

Beach day!!! It was looking to be the coldest day (go figure) but we decided to go anyway. Walking from the car I thought we were going to freeze, but once we sat down in the sand, it was perfect. My perfect beach weather for sure! Overcast and beautiful. I was perfectly comfortable keeping my cover-ups on and was glad we had bought terry jackets for the boys. We had no intention of going in the water and it was perfect for playing in the sand! We all had a blast, especially the boys. And yes, Bentley ate some sand. :)