san diego; part two

Vacationing when you're a parent is way different. Although I knew she was in great hands staying with my parents, I felt weepy saying goodbye to her, and I missed her the whole time we were away. Mom said the first day she was asking for us, but they kept her distracted with trips to the park, walks in the yard, giving her responsibility for watering some potted flowers on their deck, etc. Dad and Susie sent me a couple pictures, which I appreciated. I only packed her one sweatshirt for the weekend, and it ended up being so chilly that she wore it every day (and in all the pictures). :)

Church usually offers donuts, but didn't this particular Sunday, so my dad went to Byerly's and bought her one! :)

She loved it, as you can see

Out to eat with Susie, Jesse, Grandma, and Grandpa

The flight to San Diego was a little over three hours. I was getting pretty antsy because I hadn't had a chance to round up some reading material before the trip. Brett took some cool shots of the Grand Canyon and other breathtaking sights from our aerial viewpoint.

When we arrived at our resort, I was so tired and sore from the flight. Whenever I'm tired, I feel extra nauseated, so I think I was in bed by 8 that first night. The following morning we sat on the beach for awhile before catching a cab into the Gaslamp Quarter of San Diego. After eating a delicious lunch at Spike Africa's, we went to a movie. Yes, we went to a movie while in San Diego. Since we hardly ever get to go on dates, we thought we'd take advantage of our freedom to catch a movie. We chose the new Star Trek movie, and it was so good. Before you judge me for going to a Star Trek movie, you have to give them a chance. The dialogue, acting, and characters were so entertaining. J.J. Abrams directed this one, and I hope he continues to direct more of them. We saw the movie at an old, cool theater. I even took a picture of the carpet which was old school, but awesome in its own way.

When the movie was over and we were walking out of the theater, we both realized we were bright red sunburned on our foreheads, noses, Brett's knees, and my arms. During the movie, I was vaguely aware that my arms felt warmer than usual. When we were sitting on the beach that morning, we were wearing regular clothes and it was only about 66 degrees, but there was a breeze, so it didn't feel that hot. We felt so dumb for not having put sunblock on. For the remainder of the pictures on this trip, I've had to filter my pictures to downplay the redness of our sunburns. Haha! 

After the movie, we walked around the streets of the Gaslamp Quarter. The sidewalks were pretty crowded since it was Memorial Day weekend, and there was a music festival and/or art festival going on, too. I really enjoyed some of the Victorian architecture and other interesting buildings and storefronts. 

Sunday we lounged around by the pool. Brett enjoyed reading Vince Flynn's Memorial Day and I half-read a boring book I had picked up at a discount bookstore while in San Diego the day before. The storyline didn't pique my interest very much, so I took pictures of trees and flowers (many of which I shared in the first San Diego post) and finished part of a crossword puzzle (am I in my 70s or something?)

Sigh, I really miss seeing palm trees.

Monday we walked along the beach and the resort grounds and took some pictures of the two of us since we recently realized we don't have any current pictures of us together. 

According to a staff member, this is an Australian eucalyptus tree

Swoon!

Our flight left Monday afternoon and we touched down in Minneapolis around 8:30 p.m. or so. Mom and Stella picked us up in our car, and my dad was right behind them in his car so he could drive my mom home from the airport. As Brett and I were driving home with Stella, she acted almost shy at first, but as soon as we got home, she kept running back and forth to both of us asking for hugs. 

Our California getaway feels so far off, and sometimes I think did we really go on vacation? I didn't feel extra rested or anything, but that's just the nature of being pregnant, I guess. It was nice to get away together without the work of taking care of Stella, although I thought about her a lot. We're glad we went, even though it was in the midst of a crazy time for Brett and his work and the house-related stuff, but as I've said before, I don't know when we'll have the opportunity to go on a trip like this again.

Thanks for the hospitality, California. I hope next time (HAHAHAHAHHAHAHA-whenever that will be), we can check out wine country. :)