San Diego 2012

Home sweet home!

{Birthday Buddies - July 7th}

July - WHAT a month. It began with many blessings, then we had the coolest and cloudiest 4th of July since 1986 (saw this fact on the news - yeah, I didn't just know this off the top of my head) and then the next day we were off to the beach... San Diego. We got back from San Diego nearly a month ago, I originally wrote most of this post the week we got home, that first week was full of playing catch up, cleaning, laundry and resting up from our vacation. As we all know, in most cases you need a vacation to recover from a vacation;) So Rose and I have been napping and enjoying early bed times. Zac too, not the naps but the bedtimes. Though, I have to admit Rose and I got in some wonderful naps while in SD....

I got an iPhone this last month so I was able to snap tons of pictures. So some arent the greatest but I love all the moments I was able to capture.
So the rundown on our San Diego vacation 2012

We flew out on a Thursday afternoon. Rose hasn't been on a plane in over a year so I was nervous how she would be. As you can see she did just fine. It wasn't a full flight so we were able to have an open middle seat where Rose played with her sticker book, necklaces, snacks all while watching Elmo. I cant brag about how well she did because the we all know the flight is only 45 minutes.

{Plane ride}

We arrived in SD and walked through a very familiar door way.... we are here!!

First order of business our first morning was to get breakfast at Kono's. A favorite of ours and all of Pacific Beach I am sure. There is always a line out the door and down the boardwalk. Always.

Taking Rose to the beach for sunset was pretty funny. She detested the sand. She stood in a frozen frame and whined. She seemed to be a bigger fan of the more firm sand close to the water and waves. We lucked out and were able to walk up the beach just in time to capture a beautiful sunset. Zac, Rose and I.

When we had arrived a few gifts were waiting for Rose. Below she is playing with a baby doll that her Aunt Abbey picked out for her. It melted my heart because she would cradle, hug, kiss, rock and feed her baby doll.

Our second day there we celebrated Zac's Birthday!!!! July 7th! Happy Birthday, love!!! Rose helping Zac open his gifts. We also were remembering that our nephew Constantine was also celebrating his Birthday over in Phoenix. Happy 2nd Birthday big guy!

Rose blurted out a huge "wooooooooow" when she saw these helicopters zoom by.

We had to eat at Joe's Crab Shack! It was noisy and very busy! Perfect for Rose! There was some dancing and plenty of clapping and of course FOOD!!

One of several beach days. Her first time on the beach she didn't last very long... she still wasn't sure about the sand. She decided to play for a while.... learning how to dig and flick sand everywhere. It was pretty cute to watch. She would see birds nearby and she wanted more than anything to chase them... but the darn sand was just too much for her. She got a little frustrated. Poor thing haha. Her favorite thing by far was to run near the water and watch the waves. Even when the water was super cold she endured the splashes with a huge smile. Pure joy. Seaweed not so much.

Very early in the trip she got little sun blisters on her nose! It was the saddest thing! I kept commenting that she looked so beat up our entire trip.

We made a morning drive north through La Jolla and ended at Torrey Pines Lodge and Golf Course... Zacs mouth was watering. He didn't play but he just wanted to take a look and show Rose and I. We ended the afternoon with some Vietnamese food. One of my favorites!!!

One afternoon we spent walking around and did some shopping.

Here is one item Zac purchased during our shopping. Dave's Burning Nuts. Haha.

Most times you would see Rose standing on the family room window ledge, the windows spanned the entire wall. She would spend some time people watching and just taking in all that there was to see. In this particular picture it was quite early in the morning and she was still in her jammies.

We spent lots of time with the family too! Grandma Wilk and Aunt Nikki with Rose. 

One of the mornings several of us were sitting on the boardwalk drinking our morning coffee when Rose took Grandmas purse and sunglasses...

Rose then put the purse over her shoulder and put the sunglasses on. All by herself.

One of many lunches...Here with Sue, Larry and Zac. Thank you Aunt Nikki for staying with Rose while she napped!

Rose and I enjoying some quiet time together. 

Crystal Pier

Looking down at all the surfers who are patiently waiting for a wave.

We were in San Diego for two Sundays so we made it to our usual St. Brigid's Catholic Church on Cass St. Its great, we just ride our bikes over... its that close.

Our last night in San Diego we got a group shot after eating dinner. Now this group shot doesn't show all the people that visited during our time there. There was always a crowd of friends around. Here we have (left to right) Zac, me, Larry, Sue, Rose, Cara, Mikey and Aunt Nikki.

Walking home from our meal.

Our 11 days in San Diego came to an end. Our last sunset here in San Diego for the summer. What an awesome trip it was. Each year it amazes me when we find our trip nearing again, so many memories have already been had, personally this was my 6th summer there...same time, same place and same people. Zac is so happy to not only be able to share this with me but now Rose. We hope she can start some beautiful memories. Its just the beginning. Thank you to Papa Lew and Grandma Sue to yet again another beautiful and fun Wilk summer vacation!!!

- Clara