SATURDAY: The day of "rest"

Saturday, we really had nothing planned, but to go to the beach again, but this time take swimming suits, and toys are really "go to the beach". We had a chance to just hang out in the morning, and head out with Grandma Julie and Granddad to one of the beaches in Carlsbad.

Bucket... check! Shovel... check! now unleash a toddler to the worlds largest sandbox, and let her go crazy!!
dig and fill... dig and fill...why is this so much fun for her?
One of the few things she talked about wanting to do in California, is have a beach party, and play in the ocean. well this was her chance...

Maggie really liked to walk in the water and feel the waves crash against her. I started to pick her up and splash her legs against the waves, and she thought that was pretty fun. it is really nice that we could keep her so close to the shore, and wade around in it. That was as close as I wanted her to get the the big waves. She had an absolute blast!! We all had so much fun watching her experience the beach really for the first time here. I know that Dan and Julie loved being able to take her to the beach and be involved in such a fun experience like this. We think that we may have to make this a yearly event. We are all having a great time down here, and I already know we will have to go home way too soon...

Saturday night, Dan and Julie offered to put Maggie to bed while Arin and I went out for a night on the town. So we headed to Ruby's Diner, a favorite place for us to go down here, and then went to see Get Smart. Absolutely Hilarious!! After dinner and a movie, we went out to the cheesecake factory. THE best place for desserts. it was nice to be able to go out and be just a couple again, and know that Maggie is well taken care of, and sound asleep, so there was no rush to get home. It was a really nice evening.

FRIDAY AFTERNOON: Meet the Cousins

As if the firestation and beach weren't enough to fit into one day, we still had to get to Grandma Julie and Granddads house. Julie had gotten a blowup pool for the grand kids to play in, so Maggie went straight for it. I mean, what good is going to San Diego if you can't spend all day either poolside or at the beach?

We may have a pool in Yakima, but ours doesn't overlook a canyon of multimillion dollar homes and a golf course. How can we ever expect her to be happy again in Wiley City?!?I think that she would fit right in here in San Diego. I think this is the look of a little girl who is really enjoying her vacation. (But, what a 2 1/2 year old needs a vacation from, I have no idea)

That afternoon, Aunt Heather and the cousins, Cameron, Blake, and Kayla came over to see all of us. Aunt Heather brought her a really fun fairy princess outfit with butterfly wings that Maggie LOVES I think the San Diego Jr. Firefighter badge really completes the outfit.
Maggie loves to sing and dance, especially with a guitar. She is having a great time with it even with dead batteries. Imagine how much fun it will be for everyone when we replace the batteries and it starts to make noise!!

all done with her wings of course.

FRIDAY MORNING: The Beach and the Firestation

After spending the night at Uncle Neil and Aunt Liz's house, we wanted to take Maggie to the fire station. following in the footsteps of every one of Uncle Neil's nieces and nephews. We took a trip to the Pacific Beach Fire Station, that is about 100 yards from the beach. Maggie was very excited to get in the BIIGG Firetruck!

She had to make sure that Gary was able to experience it with her.
oh and Dad too...Uncle Neil even let her get up front and "drive". I think she thought it was pretty cool.
While we were there, there was a call, so the other truck had to leave. so she got to see them leave, I don't know just how necessary it was, but the turned on the siren as they were leaving. it was really loud! (even for a seasoned firefighter like Uncle Neil)
I think she had a really fun time there, and we are so happy that she had a chance to go and see the station. I think the only thing that she will probably remember about it is that she got to sit in a firetruck.The ONE thing that she wanted to do in California, was to go to the beach. So since we were already there, we decided to take a little impromptu walk on the boardwalk. She was so excited to see the ocean. I don't know where she learned about it, but wanted a beach party, at the beach, and walk in the ocean. I don't think that is a dream of many 2 1/2 year olds. Somebody must have mentioned it to her.
As we were walking back, the sand was kind of hot, so I carried her back to Arin and Neil, and we headed off for Grandma Julie's and Granddads house. it was a VERY full morning, and this was just the first few hours. (if we don't pace ourselves, we may overload this little girl, and how will Yakima ever be cool again?)

THURSDAY: On our way to California!!

After a night in the hotel in Seattle , we all got up Thursday morning to head to San Diego. We spent the night at the Days in literally at the end of a runway, but Maggie was excited to see the planes take off and land (very up close and personal). We went to pick up Uncle Matt at 6:30 am so he could take us to the airport, after we found out that the shuttle the hotel advertised needed to be booked 24 hours in advance, and would cost as much as a taxi.



Maggie was very excited to ride in an airplane, and we thought it would be best to let her stretch her legs a bit before being stuck in an airplane all morning.
She was very excited to see the Airplane we were going on. she wanted to fly in the BIIIGGG blue 747 that was at the next gate, but we didn't have tickets to Paris, so we took this one instead.
When we got in the plane we were very happy we took this one. Mood lighting, MP3 selection, TV, Music videos, all available on a personal touch screen in front of every seat. Maggie was so excited to be able to listen to the Wiggles on her trip.

Here is a very tired girl at the San Fransisco airport waiting for lunch and to finish our trip. We were delayed a couple of times because of the wildfires and low visibility at the airport.

I was very stressed thinking about how this day could disintegrate and how quickly that may happen, but she was AWESOME. other than the two descents, where her ears started to hurt, and we couldn't really do much to comfort her, but try to make her drink milk to make her swallow. All in all, I was very grateful for the safe trip that God blessed us with, and I know that it could have been much worse emotionally on all of us.