Monday, May 15, 2017

La Jolla

Chad and I were wanting to plan a little getaway before kiddo #3 comes along and due to earning flight vouchers as a result of this incident last May, we decided to take advantage of them before they expire and flew to California.  [yes, even though the flight was cancelled b/c of me, Chad's dad complained to United about having to sit in the airplane for 3 hours while it was being fixed and that's why the vouchers were earned]

We picked La Jolla (actually stayed in La Jolla shores) b/c I had never been to that area, we wanted somewhere that would be warmer than IN, and no one ever says anything bad about going to San Diego!  And it definitely didn't disappoint... the weather is so moderate, the sun shines, the food was delicious, the ocean is beautiful, and I loved being part of the little La Jolla Shores surf community for a long weekend.

We stayed in a little one bedroom room Chad found on Airbnb that was attached to someone's house.  It had it's own private little patio which was perfect for afternoon reading and was a block from the beach and some fun restaurants and shops.  Definitely a good find and I'm so glad we stayed in La Jolla Shores rather than La Jolla or San Diego.  It had a very non-tourist, family friendly feel - kids playing on the beach, moms changing diapers at the park, teenagers having bonfires on the beach on the weekend, surfers young and old were everywhere.  We did go into San Diego and walk around along the coast and downtown for a couple hours, but it felt a little too tourist-y for us so we didn't do much there.

There were activities I would've loved to take advantage of had I not been pregnant, like kayaking on the ocean, being more adventurous on our bikes, drinking wine on our patio in the evening, or maybe even surfing?  However, it was nice to get in lots of walking, a little bike riding, delicious food eating, and reading at the beach.  A little get-away is always a good idea.

                Some pictures of the street right by where we stayed with fun shops and restaurants:
Shore Rider - first meal upon arrival.  Had a yummy portabello  sandwich but I was so hungry I think anything would've tasted good!

Loved this display of succulents on the wall at Shore Rider.



our favorite breakfast place - loved being able to sit outside at all the restaurants
our walk to the beach - so nice to be so close!
beach reading... a very interesting book!

A hike that we did one morning at Torrey Pines:


really it was just a hike down!  we went down this hill and walked along the beach for 3-4 miles until it leveled out and we never had to hike back up... which was quite ok with the pregnant girl :) 
it was quite the deserted walk along the beach, just saw a few people here and there ... so peaceful



La Jolla:
Puesto - a taco place that was so good we ate there twice.  Amazing salsa and virgin mojitos too - could've drank them all day! 

the BEST gelato place!  If we would've stayed closer, I definitely would've eaten this everyday!! 

an amazing curry noodle bowl I had one night - maybe my favorite thing I ate on the trip?!


one afternoon we biked the 1.5 miles from La Jolla Shores to La Jolla and another night we walked it 








Monday, May 8, 2017

you know you are a mom of boys...

...when...



+ your pocket's often full of little lego pieces that need returned to their rightful place
+ you get excited to see construction sites along the road and call mini excavators "cute"
+ wrestling is a common after dinner activity
+ "poop," "stink," and "butt" are used as often as possible and are hilarious terms
+ you try to believe kicking footballs and throwing baseballs can be safe indoor activities... always quickly realizing they aren't
+ everything is a competition... who is faster, gets the toy first, has more milk in their glass, picks the first book
+ there are 100% zero dolls in your house
+ your garden box has plants for part of the year and the rest of the year it is a dirt digging haven full of trucks
+ going to Lowes and "riding the lawn mowers" is a fun family activity
+ you think about making dinner and what the kids will eat well, you think of meat
+ you ask how their school day was and they say "good" (and mean it, no other details necessary!)
+ you get told "I love you so much," "big or small, I'll always be your boy," and "you're the best mom" because little boys are just the sweetest! (or can be :))