San Diego: Part I

Well, we are here again!  Good 'ol San Diego! 

Ernesto flew out earlier than Paloma and me.  (I had a jewelry show!) I packed some snacks and fun things to do on the plane in their backpacks.  Lo and behold, Papi had also thought of fun things for them to do as well.....so I get this picture from the airport

I may have capital- letter texted  "THOSE BETTER NOT BE IPADS!!" (as mine sits cracked in a basket!)

Let's just say they were pretty excited and were entertained well beyond the 4 hour plane ride with their new little Samsung tablets. 

We didn't let them sit there too long though,  Too much to do!  

PRIMOS PRIMOS PRIMOS!!

Under the Coronado bridge there was some barnacle hunting, (and one cut toe-see pic above) while waiting for cousins to arrive.  We hit the playground then RAN down the Silver Strand for ice cream. 

Also took a photo that day that turned into our anniversary shot. What whaaaaat? 16 years!!!

Just like every other trip to San Diego, we hiked to the top of Cowles Mountain.  

The boys used to slow us down, but this year, they are "up to speed." 30 minutes flat. 

Jalyn, the next door neighbor, tagged a long and probably was the motivation for them to keep up the pace! Mateo is pretty fond of the 9 year old and wants to hang out with him any chance he gets. Sometimes he didn't want to leave the house so he could play with him.  ha!

Ernesto planned to go to a Padres baseball game with the neighbors/kids.  He bought them new SD hats and I love how cute they look.

Unfortunately they were a waste of money, because they were worn for the game and not put on since.  The crew before leaving! 

What else??  BEACH BEACH BEACH!  Duh, it's Summer in San Diego! 

I posted this adorable picture of Paloma on Instagram

The caption read: "2 things we never do in Atlanta:  Doritos and beach." lol

The beach is always great, but hanging out at abuelas back yard is pretty awesome as well.  

...And that is what we do A LOT of the time. 

 

Listening for that "Espinoza Ice Cream" truck (that is actually the name!) to pass buy in the afternoon.  Boy, did we give him some business!! 

Not that we needed extra sweets.  Abuela is sure to keep the freezer stocked at all times.  

I *may* have had to say this a few times: "No Marcelo, popsicles are NOT for breakfast"

 

Yes, that is "little" baby Elias in the pack-n-play...just chillin' with sus primos.  I say little but he is almost as big as Paloma.  He definitely weighs more.

This chunker is going to pass her up, no doubt about it.

After playing hard, many afternoons looked like this

and also this

michelada anyone? (beer, Clamato, lime juice and hot sauce- yum!)

or maybe some grilled pulpooooooo (octopus)


I can't go on without mentioning the great fathers in my life.  I could not ask for a better dad. Funny, loving and always there for me. His frequent visits and shuttle runs mean EVERYTHING to me!  As far as father-in-laws go, I won the lottery with mine!

These babies love their papi, no doubt about that.  I love him too.  There is no one else I can imagine doing this whole parenting thing with....Does he do things "a little different" than I would??  LOL Hell to the yeah! But I can honestly say he is a great papi!! He is very affectionate to his kids [and me too], playful, plans family activities and is always up for an adventure!!

I love all of Ernesto's cousins.  Whenever we are in town, we make sure to see as many as possible. 

One cousin is a regular gambler in Barona.  (an Indian reservation just one hour outside of San Diego)

She is a mother of four and actually has her 'girls night out' weekly at a casino.  How genius is that?? Mingling and free drinks!!  Anyhoo, due to her faithfulness at the casino, she gets free stays at the beautiful hotel there and offered us a little getaway [from our vacation LOL]. So sweet! 

The drive was gorgeous with all of the mountains of boulders, and the grounds weren't too shabby to look at either. 

Yes, they came with us. LOL.  There was a pool and the gelato is only .50 !!  It was fun!

We didn't have the pleasure of gambling, but still enjoyed the beautiful location and pool!

A short but sweet trip! 

Of course we headed south of the border.  Unfortunately it was with a sad stop.  Ernesto's tia Alicia, one of the nicest ladies you would ever meet, was dying of cancer.  I am a so glad we were able to see her once more before she passed away [that following week]. 

Since everything revolves around food we stopped for a HUGE grilled fish! 

Again with the bad circumstances, but we had another get together with all the cousins for a fund raiser for tia Alicia. (RIP) My brother-in-law organized it to help out with medical bills which I thought was super sweet.  

We hit a couple breweries in North Park sans kids and man was that fun!  (note to self: go out sans kids more often!)

We will probably be staying a couple more weeks.  The Summer fun keeps coming!