san diego

about 2 weeks ago we were fortunate enough to go on a little vacay to san diego. i heart that place. it was a much needed get away and a little celebration after jeff finished the boards. the weather was perfect and i'm glad we only came back to phoenix to pack up one day and then head to utah. i just don't think i could've taken the desert heat after enjoying beautiful, humid 75 degrees. we loved the humidity. it made us feel like we were in hawaii on our honeymoon again. the atmosphere of our hotel grounds was very tropical as well, which we loved. it was right on the bay by the marina.

our first day there we decided to go experience sea world since we both hadn't been there since about the 4th grade. i have to admit i wasn't as eager to go as jeff was. kill me, but i just think of sea world as a zoo that you pay lots of money to get into... however, it was fun to go and see everything since it had been so long. and i loved the dolphin show. they are amazing animals. so fun to watch and... i got to pet one! it was the highlight of my sea world experience. jeff loves to watch pretty much any nature movie, so seeing all these animals up close was fun for him. oh yeah. this is showing my tender side a little, but i honestly couldn't help but feel so bad for all the caged up animals. it just made me sad to see how small some of their little homes were. what a sad life it is for some of them. sitting there. all day. with all these annoying people looking at them through the glass windows. i just hope and pray that, despite their small living quarters, the sea world employees take good care of them. part of me wanted to let them all free! hehe. jeff kept assuring me that they took good care of them... whatever.

we also went to old town san diego our first day. it was awesome and i really liked it. it was literally a little "old" town, in the old west, from the 1800's. and there was a mexican restaurant every where you turned. it reminded me of the hometown of dr. quinn medicine woman. erin, i thought of you. my favorites there were the old fashioned candy shop and ice cream store. and of course, we ate at a wonderful mexican restaurant right there in old town. it was probably one of, if not, the best mexican restaurant we've ever eaten at. and we were the first lucky couple to be serenaded by a mexican trio.

our 2nd day there we took a very anticipated trip to the san diego temple only to find out that it was closed. yep. they only close the temples 2 weeks out of the year for cleaning and it just happened to be the same time we were there. we were pretty bummed to say the least! we both were looking forward to doing a session there. it's such a beautiful temple and definitely one of my favorites. jeff and i concluded that my little sister will just have to get married there some day so we can all go back... :)

we also went to coronado island and checked out the beach and the hotel del coronado. which was also built in the 1800's and is supposedly haunted. we walked around inside and it was extremely old and i loved it. they've added on to it quite a bit, but it was pretty neat. it would be fun to stay there some time, but you have to book like months in advance and i hear it's pretty pricey. maybe someday. the beach was lovely though. we got a tad bit burned, but i love the beach. i'm as happy as can be on the beach. just drop me off and i'm good to go. all i need is the sun, the sand and the water. mm hmm.

our last day we rented beach cruiser bikes from our hotel and rode around the bay. that was one of my favorite parts of the trip. i have always wanted to ride around on one of those beach cruisers. it was fantastic. maybe i'll get one for myself someday.