Spring Break, part 1

My mom and dad have had a timeshare membership for quite a few years now.  They save up their points and every three years they are very generous to take the whole family on a vacation somewhere.  Since we started, we've been to Lake Tahoe and Disneyland and 2017 was the year for another vacation.  (Just FYI, before Disneyland we went to Kentucky to see Ali and before that we vacationed close to home in Midway which was probably our first one since anyone has had kids. We usually try to do something small on the other two years...Flaming Gorge, Lava Hot Springs, etc.) We usually go in the summer but with kids growing up and summer schedules getting tricky, my mom decided to do it during Spring Break and she decided on San Diego which we were all okay with.  We make lots of memories with these trips and have been able to take our kids a few different places that we probably wouldn't have been able to on our own.  The kids remember these trips years later and I love the bonding time they have with their grandparents, aunts and uncles, and cousins.

We left on Saturday, the 1st.  We drove to St. George and stayed there for the night.  Before we even made it to where we were staying we stopped at these red hills and climbed around.  I had tried to pack a separate bag for just St. George so we didn't have to unload everything but I had only packed the kids' flip flops.  Not the best shoes for climbing around but it was so nice to get out of the car and stretch our legs that it was not a big deal.

Stockton, Brynn, Tessa, Molly, Chloe

Stockton, Jeff, Gavin, Grant

Some of our group was staying at my Uncle Ray's house so we went there for some pizza and then the boys stayed to watch the Priesthood session of Conference while the girls took the kids to the new Thunder Junction park.  It is an amazing park and we had lots of fun there, even though it was super crowded and I felt like I was looking for one of my kids the whole time.

Having older cousins keep track of Ivy was wonderful! Chloe and Ivy

Sunday was just our travel day which worked out well because it was Conference so we were able to listen to the whole thing in the car and I didn't feel guilty for missing church. The flip side was that the traffic was horrendous. Apparently, Sunday afternoon is when all the California people are driving home from their weekends in Las Vegas. But we made it. We got there before my mom and dad so we stopped and walked around the temple while we waited to check into our condo.

(Stockton and Brynn were with grandma and grandpa so we didn't get a family picture here.)

Our first day was spent at the San Diego Zoo.

You better believe that Curious George saw all the animals at the zoo too!  Ivy was sure to hold him up to see.

These kids with their maps crack me up. They all had one and had to map out our route. They do this at the Hogle Zoo too. I think Ben ended up being our official guide.

Grace and Brynn

Abby, Molly, Ben, Stockton

We were told to do the bus tour around the park first to see everything and then spend the rest of the day walking around to see the animals. It was a double decker bus and the kids definitely wanted to sit on the top.

Stockton and Grandpa

Tessa and Molly

It is a huge park and it literally took the whole day to see everything.  We were glad it was on the first day when our legs were fresh and we weren't exhausted.  We took a break to eat our lunches (we packed a lunch every day and paid for dinner) and to have a treat in the afternoon.

Tessa and Molly

Molly, Grant, Harper, Tessa, Abby, Chloe, Ivy, Stockton, Ben, Gavin, Grace, Brynn

I loved seeing this great big orangutan.  Ivy loved it too.  It just sat there and stared at everyone.  After I took this picture, he got up and came and plopped down literally right in front of Ivy.  She looked at him and said, "Oh, hi big gonkey!"  One of my favorite memories of the entire trip.

Stockton and Tessa

Brynn and Tessa

Justin, Stockton, Abby, Molly

Ivy stayed awake the whole day until the very end.  She missed out on seeing the elephants and the giraffes, which were the two things she was most looking forward to seeing.

Stockton and Grandma

Ben, Abby, Harper, Grant, Tessa, Brynn, Grace, Stockton, Chloe, Gavin.  Seth is in the front looking at everyone.

We also rode the sky tram from one side of the park to the other which was a nice rest.

At one point in the ride, Ivy exclaimed, "This is awesome with gonkey!"

My personal favorites from the zoo were the big orangutans and the aviary which was so cool. Also, the zoo has amazing plants and flowers, many of which are extinct.  I loved seeing all of the greenery everywhere.  It was very beautiful.

Grace and Brynn

Chloe and Molly

At the very end of the day we had to stop at the gift shop.  Grandma and Grandpa had given all the kids $20 to spend sometime on the vacation and they wanted a souvenir.

Grant and Stockton

Chloe, Grant, Molly

Ivy was still asleep so I picked out a little stuffed giraffe for her.

The next day was more relaxed.  We headed first to the Mormon Battalion Museum. Justin and I went there on our honeymoon but it is way different now. The missionaries were the tour guides and we moved through different rooms in the museum that were set up to look like the different places that the Mormon Battalion traveled through. It was very interactive and held the kids' attention well, at least the older ones.

At the end they were able to pan for gold and that was a hit from oldest down to youngest. They were allowed to keep 3 pieces of gold.

This pretty red bush made a great backdrop for some pictures.

Chloe and Molly

After the museum, we went across the street to a big open area of grass and let the kids eat their lunch and run around.

Then we went over to Old Town San Diego and walked around the shops and the old historic buildings.  Our kids also used a little of their money for $5 souvenirs...a dream catcher for Molly, a braided San Diego bracelet for Stockton, and a little money pouch for Brynn.

We still had the bulk of the afternoon ahead of us so we decided to go check out some beaches to see where we would want to spend our beach day. The first one we went to was very pretty and scenic but not the sort of beach we were looking for.  We walked around for a little bit and took pictures but the cliff kind of made me nervous with all those little kids so we didn't stay long.

Harper, Brynn, Grace, Stockton, Grant, Ben, Gavin, Seth, Chloe, Tessa, Abby, Molly, Lucy in front in the stroller

The next place we went was called Mission Bay and, while it was fun and the kids loved it, it also wasn't the type of beach we were looking for.  First of all, it was just a bay so it didn't have the waves lapping up to the surface.  Also the sand was not ideal for digging and playing in.  But we did stay there for an hour and let the kids play in the water.

Some other things to document in those first couple of days...

Cousin dance party in our condo.  They also set up a "zoo" with all the stuffed animals that were purchased at the zoo.  The older kids even made tickets and Ben was the tour guide.

Ivy, Grace, Chloe, Tessa, Gavin

Pretty much every night was spent at the condo pool.  With our group we seemed to take up the whole pool and hot tub.

My mom gave everyone new swim suits and these two girls made cute twinners!  

Brynn and Harper

We ended up taking April's car with us because Justin was a little worried about something happening to our car while we were in California.  This meant that two of our kids had to ride with my parents all the time.  My mom gave Stockton these sunglasses and he did not like taking them off.  She sent me this picture-it was during our long drive from St. George to San Diego.

 Ivy has been the worst of my kids when it comes to being in her carseat. Even as a newborn baby, she didn't love her carseat.  But she did awesome on this trip! We don't have a DVD player or anything but she was fairly easy to entertain with books and music. She loved the sunglasses from grandma! She was also loving her puppy that sings and talks so that was a big help in the car.