Vacation #2-- California!

We were lucky enough to get to go on vacation with both families this summer. This time we were headed to California. The 3 of us left a day early to spend time in California before heading up the coast to meet up with my family in Hermosa Beach. After much preparation for the longest car ride for Emery to date, complete with new toys from the Dollar store, plenty of snacks, and a borrowed DVD player we were off. Of course, no amount of planning can prepare a sweet 2 year old for the bumpy road around Gila Bend. However, I'm sure that we looked ridiculous pulled over on the side of the (basically) highway, changing clothes, washing toys, and trying our best to clean out the carseat. Some nice man even stopped and asked if we needed help. Luckily, we got a laugh out of it before getting back in the car and Emery crashing for over an hour. Someone did forget to stop in Gila Bend once Emery was asleep so that I could hop back in the front seat.......oh well, all's well that ends well and we certainly had a fun time in San Diego that night.

We checked into our hotel and then headed out to start our adventure. First stop was the Mormon Battalion and Old Town San Diego. Before we headed in we had a picnic and let Emery stretch her legs. Poor girl was terrified during the whole Mormon Battalion presentation. There was fake thunder and lightening and the pictures moved and talked. It was all just too much but she did like panning for gold and absolutely loved pumping water from the 'well.'

Emery is obsessed with trolleys, thank you Daniel Tiger so we followed the tour trolleys around.

There may have been a picture that specifically said not to try on sombreros just to take pictures. The hat may have already been on her head so one quick picture before moving on.

This place was on Diners, Drive Ins, and Dives. El Indio. It was pretty good.

Pictures on the pier and then walking around Seaport Village. Emery loved looking at the boats and the water. She was pretty disappointed that she couldn't get in the water that night because we were going to the beach the next morning. She did like the spinners so that helped the cause. We ran around until it was dark and then headed back to the hotel.