Curtis Visit

Some of my most favorite people in the world, The Curtis Family, came to visit San Diego this summer, and we got to spend loads of time with them. Aren't we the luckiest!?

They stayed at Campland, so we stopped on over for some chatting and park time. My bestie Jaime of course was there too, as Danielle (the mom) is her eldest sister. I've known them since before time...which is to say since I moved across the street from them when I was 6 years old. They are basically my sisters.

Afton and Trajen are just 6 months apart. They share a love of Lego, super heroes, running around like wild men, and (I'm sure) lots more. Afton tends to be shy, so I love that Trajen is consistent with his friendship to the point where he would not let Afton wriggle his way into the comfort of the sidelines.

The San Diego Zoo was our next stop. I just love how much this family enjoys being together. I still am in disbelief that Courtney is an adult, has graduated high school, and is heading to BYU Idaho to attend college this year. It seems like only yesterday that I was holding her as a newborn.

A bit of a drizzle turned into rain, so we picked up some super hip clear plastic rain ponchos. I'm positive that anytime rain and ponchos are involved, you're guaranteed a good time.

Don't we girls have style?!

I love the Disney Vans that Jaime picked out to give to Danielle. I also love that she instantly put them on.

There are a bunch of baby animals at the zoo, and this little jaguar was one of the cuties we spotted.

This shot of Chloe on an ancient extinct raptor makes me happy.

The next day we headed to La Jolla Shores for surfing and sunshine. The kids became mermaids, built sand castles, searched for sand crabs, and giggled the day away.

To finish off their visit, we checked out the San Diego Zoo Safari Park. What can I say, we like animals. *grin*

For some crazy reason I have no pictures of Danielle (other than feet) or Richard. I could have swore I had a family group picture, but for the life of me I cannot find it. Regardless of pictorial proof, they were there and we had a blast! 

Playing Fair

My bestie Jaime invited us to the San Diego County Fair to check out the band she is playing keyboards for now, Runhoney . She was kind enough to get me in for free and all we had to pay  for was parking! I wasn't sure if we would, but we ended up having a really great time. Afton played some carnival games, went on rides all by himself, and even made some artwork.

He really liked throwing the darts. It was nice that they always let the little kids win. He was so proud of himself. 

Afton's eyes bulged out of his head when I told him he could go on this...

This is what he picked as his next ride. You'd have thought it was the greatest ride ever and not just a slow moving canoe in knee high water. He totally loved it!

Rowan enjoyed people watching and pointing at random things. She did get to go on the carousel and giggled and smiled the whole time. 

Another ride with water! He thought it was cool that he could drive the bumper boat all by himself.

Mr. Brave decided that this would be his next ride.  Unfortunately the height requirement didn't match his decision. Thank goodness! I could just see me having to climb up there and bring him down when he realized how high it was.

This funhouse had the same height requirement as the crazy tall slide but the carnie (that is the correct term right? ha!) lady let him go anyway.

Farm animals are always fun.

There was a sand art booth set up that was pretty cool. I pulled off the sticky tape and Afton picked out all the colors and poured on the sand. 

Runhoney! The reason we went to the fair in the first place! Jaime is amazing. She learned all the songs, basically, the night before. Afton kept his ears plugged but Rowan loved the loud music. 

To finish off our visit we had fried Oreos. Need I say more? 

Like Peas & Carrots

My bestie Jaime Hunt purchased these lovelies for us.

They are a much cooler version of the best friend necklaces we had as kids.

Mine

Hers

San Diego Part 3: Jaime & the Beaches

Ok. Let's finish this up!
So the day after we went to Sea World we met up with my bestie Jaime (we've been friends since we were five) to visit Coronado Island. We played in the sand and Jaime took Afton into the waves to cool down. It was pretty hot that day, which was surprising since I thought we were leaving the heat in AZ. Apparently San Diego (and California in general) was experiencing a heat wave. At least it was still slightly cooler than Phoenix. Afton loved the beach. I'm sure he would have been happy to stay there all day. This was the second time he has been to the ocean. The first time (in India) he couldn't walk and was kind of scared of the waves. This time he was all for it, even when he was knocked over by a wave. After playing on the beach we headed over to the beautiful Hotel del Coronado. They filmed one of my all time favorite films here, Some Like It Hot. In the main entrance there is a gorgeous chandelier designed by Theodor Geisel (aka Dr. Seuss). You'd think it would be all whimsical but it's pretty traditional. We hung out with Jaime the whole day, which was fabulous because we haven't done that in a long time. She's so much fun and I miss her a lot.

We stopped at Gossip Grill for some drinks and food.

On our last day in San Diego we met up with Nippon's old boss for lunch. They talked business and Nippon learned that he has several possible job options in the area if we choose to relocate. It's definitely a possibility! After lunch we had to stop off at the beach for one last time. La Jolla Shores was packed with surfers and sun bathers. Of course Afton loved getting wet and sandy. We buried his feet and dug some holes, then headed home. We had a fabulous trip to San Diego and hope to be back soon!