Home Sweet Home July 23, 2012

Such a tired boy!

We got home late Saturday night, around 10:30 p.m. Keenan was SO tired. He fell asleep on the way home, around 9:00 p.m. and then woke-up after an hour, crying and saying, “Keenan all done!” Poor little guy, he just wanted to get out of the car and be in his crib. The drive back was the LONGEST drive we have ever taken! There was so much traffic on the road, it was ridiculous, thus making the drive even longer. Needless to say, we were all glad to be home (though, not for long, since we leave for Alaska next Monday).

Yesterday, we spent the day unpacking, cleaning out the car, doing laundry, getting groceries, working on Keenan’s birthday invites (which I’ll post about later this week) and catching up on sleep, since we were all so tired. Keenan slept till 9:00 a.m. yesterday morning and still took a 3 hour nap!

Keenan is still catching up on his sleep because he slept till 9:15 a.m. today, sleeping for over 13 hours! So far, he has been napping for over 2 hours! We are putting him to bed on time tonight and hopefully, he will be back to his normal “schedule,” tomorrow (but, it sure is nice that he is sleeping in so late!).

As promised, here is a recap of our trip:

Beach: Our house was 7 blocks from the beach, so we tried to go to the beach as much as possible, which ended up being every other day. Our beach days were our “relaxation days,” after a busy day of site-seeing the day before. Our house was on a hill, so the walk to and from the beach was a great workout, especially pushing Keenan in his stroller with all of our beach gear (thank goodness for our BOB!). Keenan and his cousin loved playing in the sand and building sand castles. Keenan loved getting more water in his bucket with my dad and “jumping the waves!”

Having fun “jumping the waves” with Nonna and Avo!

Keenan and his cousin after a morning of playing on the beach…they were tired!

Sea World: The day after we arrived, we headed to Sea World. It changed SO much since I was there 15 years ago! The park now has roller coasters and water rides (my dad, brother, husband and me managed to squeeze in a ride on the Manta, which was fun!). We saw all of the shows and I think I enjoyed watching Keenan’s reaction to seeing dolphins, whales and sea lions for the first time, more than the actual shows! He was mesmerized! We also watched a Sesame Street show and Keenan and his cousin got to meet Elmo, Abby and Cookie Monster. I wasn’t sure how Keenan was going to react, but all he wanted to do was “hug Elmo!” I had to hold onto him during the entire show because he kept wanting to climb-up on stage to see Elmo. After the show, we stood in line and Keenan and his cousin got to take pictures with all of the characters. When it was our turn, Keenan ran to Elmo and gave him a big hug; it was adorable! Since he was so enamored with Elmo, we had to get him a little Elmo doll and Elmo sandals, which he loved (he sleeps with Elmo every night and hasn’t wanted to wear any other shoes, but his Elmo ones!).

The Shamu show!

Keenan was SO happy that he got to meet Elmo!

USS Midway: After a “relaxation day” at the beach, we headed to the USS Midway, a retired aircraft carrier that has been turned into an aviation museum. It was incredible! We learned so much. It was especially interesting, since my dad was a Naval Officer and lived on a similar ship (though a lot smaller) many years ago.  The Midway provided me a glimpse of what life was like for my dad (something he hasn’t talked much about). In addition, Keenan enjoyed seeing and sitting in all of the airplanes and helicopters!

Standing in front of the “Top Gun” plane.

Zoo: On our last day in San Diego, we went to the Zoo. It has also changed so much from when I was there 15 years ago; there are so many more animals to see! Like Sea World, I couldn’t wait to see Keenan’s reaction to all of the animals, since this was his first time going to a Zoo. He was mesmerized by the Elephants, Kangaroos, Giraffes and especially the Polar Bears (we saw one sitting-up and eating a carrot!). But, the highlight of the day was the petting zoo, where Keenan and his cousin were able to pet sheep and goats. Keenan was in awe; he loved petting the goats and giving them hugs. I think we stayed there for at least 30 minutes, because Keenan and his cousin did not want to leave!

Petting the goats at the Zoo.

“Hugging” the goats!

Our Eats: Since we stayed in a house, we cooked every night, to make things easier and to save money. It’s hard (and expensive) for a family of 8 to eat out every night. For all of our family vacations, my mom usually takes the lead to cook most nights. But, we made sure to give her a break and cooked every night during this trip. During the day on our “relaxation days” we made sandwiches for lunch and when we were out and about, we dined out. My husband and I went to Costco and Trader Joe’s to stock-up on groceries, once we arrived in San Diego. We planned most of the week’s menus, except for a couple of nights that my brother and sister-in-law cooked. We made roast chicken with roasted broccoli mixed with cherry tomatoes and feta cheese, pork loin with roasted cauliflower, fish tacos, burgers with oven-baked zucchini fries and an antipasti picnic night. Sorry, I forgot to take pictures of the food we made!

Keenan enjoying an ice cream cone after visiting the USS Midway, thanks to Nonna and Avo!

Beer: My husband’s favorite brewery is Stone Brewing Co. (which is located near San Diego), so we had to visit. We tasted almost all of their beers and my favorites were the Smoked Porter, Levitation Ale and Ruination IPA! The brewery is huge. It’s out in the middle of of an industrial park, but their restaurant and outside patio (where we sat) was quite nice and relaxing. I highly recommend visiting their brewery if you are ever in the area, or at least trying some of their beers (you can find them at BevMo or some grocery stores).

The lineup that we tasted at Stone Brewing Co.

Coffee: We brought our french press, grinder and some coffee beans, so we were able to make fresh coffee everyday. But, since we were in Southern California, my husband and I made sure to stop at as many Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf  shops as possible. They only have one shop in Northern California, in San Francisco, so anytime we are down south, we take advantage of them! Our favorite drink is their Carmel Blended! It is probably the best frozen coffee drink I have ever had! They make it with the toddy and add their non-fat vanilla powder, caramel and ice. It is creamy and not overly sweet. Again, I didn’t manage to take a picture of any of the ones we had, sorry!

It is time to get back to reality and head to CrossFit this afternoon (my goal is to workout 6 days this week, to maximize my time before we leave for Alaska next week) and start getting ready for our next trip. I have lots of errands to run this week, as well as things to do, such as cleaning the house (I’m not looking forward to it, but it needs it!).

What are your plans for the week? What kinds of things do you do to get ready for a trip?

Goodbye, San Diego! July 21, 2012

Keenan wiped-out after a fun, but long day at Sea World.

All things good must come to an end (unfortunately). We are packing-up and getting ready to leave San Diego bright and early tomorrow morning. It is going to be a LONG drive home, around 8 hours or so, UGH! Even though I’m sad to leave, I’m looking forward to being home, getting back into my routine and working out (I need to after all of the yummy goodies we ate this past week!)! I miss CrossFit!

The week went by WAY too fast. I could have easily spent another week here; it’s so beautiful and we all had so much fun! We definitely kept busy: going to the beach, Sea World, the Zoo, USS Midway and even tasting beer at Stone Brewing Co. (one of my new favorite beers is their Levitation Ale!). It was a perfect balance of activity and relaxation; I just wish we had a few more days! It was so nice to spend quality time together as a family. Keenan and his cousin had so much fun together, they were practically joined at the hip! 

Well, it’s time to get some sleep, so we are rested for the long drive tomorrow. I will post a full re-cap of our week, once we are home! Night!

Fun in the Sun July 15, 2012

Keenan enjoying his first “real” slice of pizza at the Pescadero Grocery Store, a stop along the way!

We all made it to San Diego safe and sound! The drive wasn’t too bad, except for the traffic through L.A. I don’t know how people live there and deal with the traffic every day. I would be SO miserable, not to mention stressed out all the time! Yesterday, we drove through around 1:00 p.m. and the traffic was completely stopped (I can’t imagine what it is like during the week!). It took us at least 30 minutes to drive 5 miles; it was crazy!

Keenan was, once again, our little “trooper.” He did very well in the car, keeping himself entertained and going with the flow. We listened to lots of music, sang songs, “danced,”  and talked about the things we saw along the way.  We had plenty of stops along the way, which definitely helped. Overall, it was a fun first roadtrip!

For our first stop, we headed to Pescadero, about an hour and a half south of San Francisco, and visited a goat dairy. We tasted some amazing cheese, in fact, we bought some of the best feta and ricotta cheese we have ever eaten! Keenan enjoyed petting the goats, too! After visiting the dairy, we had lunch at the Pescadero General Store, which was well-known for their wood-fried pizzas. We had the vegetarian with chicken added to it. It was yummy and Keenan devoured his two slices! On our way out, we stopped at the Arcangeli Grocery Co. that is known for their artichoke garlic herb bread (they bake it every 10 minutes) and got two loaves (one to snack on in the car and one half-baked to eat for dinner the next day). It was probably the best bread I have ever eaten! They lace the dough with artichoke hearts, so you get artichokes in almost every bite! It was crusty on the outside and perfectly pillowy soft in the inside!

Petting the goats!

A piece of heaven…artichoke garlic herb bread!

We spent Friday night in Santa Barbara and before driving the rest of the way to San Diego, we stopped at the Farmer’s Market and picked up some fresh produce. After the Farmer’s Market, we had brunch and got a “Carmel Blended” coffee from Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf (the best blended coffee drink ever!) and drove down to San Diego.

Fresh produce at the Santa Barbara Farmer’s Market.

Today, we all slept in (Keenan slept until 8:15, which is pretty late for him!) and my husband made a nice breakfast of scrambled eggs mixed with leftover tri-tip and tillamock sharp cheddar cheese, along with cinnamon english muffins (from Arcangeli Grocery Co. in Pescadero), and fruit. It was yummy! Of course, we also had lattes (we brought our french press with us).

Having fun with Avo in the water!

After breakfast, we headed to the beach for some fun in the sun! Keenan and his cousin loved building sand castles (Keenan’s role was getting more water with Avo’s help!) and playing in the water. They had so much fun, they both didn’t want to head back to the house for lunch.

Now, everyone is napping, before heading back out to the beach and getting an ice cream cone (we found this cute little ice cream shop as we were walking back to the house). I think I’ll take a little snooze before Keenan wakes up. Have a great rest of your Sunday!