Leap Day With Rachel

Wednesday in San Diego belonged to my dear friend Rachel! Some people come into my life and only stay a short time--that's how it is with Rachel. We only had one year together: our freshman year of college, and that was 17 years ago. Yikes! It's been at least 8 years since I've seen her. Funny...it didn't feel that way when we were together this week in San Diego. She is so very, very special to me. :)

Rachel is a busy mom with 4 kids. I didn't care what we did during our day together, just as long as we were together! I feel in love with her kids right away. At our first stop, we visited the pediatrician's office with her sick son. Then we wandered around Target forever while waiting for prescriptions to be filled. We picked up her daughter from school. Lots of ordinary, everyday things that moms do. But for us to have this chance to do these things together is anything but ordinary. I can't even begin to describe how much I loved this day with Rachel. We laughed and laughed and laughed! :)

The view from Rachel's yard. So pretty!

She has fruit trees--orange, lemon, and lime. What a yummy treat to pick the fruit from the tree and eat it! I brought some home to share with my family, and they devoured all of it. Rachel, being the great friend that she is, sent us another box of oranges she picked from her tree. I'm trying to make it last longer than the first batch.

Rachel also has chickens. Too bad the eggs can't be mailed like oranges!

Around 4:00 that afternoon, she took her kids to their grandparents' house and we were on our own! We walked around Old Town for a bit, and met her husband for dinner at Casa Guadalajara. 
I think this restaurant has the bext Mexican food ever.

Part of Old Town

After dinner I invited her back to my resort so we could soak in the hot tub. By then Dawn was done for the evening, so the three of us went to the hot tub together. What a fun night filled with friendships and of course, lots more laughter! :)

Let's do this again Rachel!

Tuesday in San Diego

In my mind, Tuesday in San Diego was reserved for Auntie B--my 92 year old great aunt! I spent all morning with Aunt Beth, sorting through Auntie B's jewelry. With no children of her own, Auntie B became the "West Coast Grandma" to my mom's side of the family. I looked forward to visiting her at lunch. We met up with her at her care facility and went for a nice long stroll around the grounds. This is a huge complex, to put it mildly. It's been 10.5 years since I last saw Auntie B, and she looked the same to me. Since I was almost 9 months pregnant at the time, I hope I didn't look the same to her. :)

We took Auntie B to In-N-Out Burgers, a "must-do" if you're in San Diego. It's like the Chick-Fil-A of the west coast, only burgers instead of chicken! :) Auntie B loves milkshakes, a woman after my own heart. :) She ordered the same meal I did and finished every bite. I hope I can eat like that at 92 years old!

The longer I was with her, the better her memory seemed. By the end of our visit she knew who I was and that I have 3 boys at home. Aunt Beth told me aging isn't for wimps, and she is right. In this place filled with elderly residents, all with varying degrees of independence, I couldn't help but feel a little sad. To live your life and spend your last days in a small room...that has to be beyond hard. We said goodbye and as we backed out of the parking space, I watched her wave to us from he window. I will never forget that.

A dwarf lemon tree in Aunt Beth's yard

I spent the rest of the afternoon lounging in the sun at Aunt Beth's house. My family back home faced tornado warnings and watches--not so in San Diego that day! We chatted via facetime and I told Braylen to play beautiful music that night at his concert. :)

Tuesday evening we picked Dawn up at the resort and went downtown to the Gaslamp District. Uncle Wally treated us to supper and I had another "must-have" while in San Diego: a fish taco. I must admit, it was very good! We walked around the city (so pretty!) and visited Ghirardelli's for dessert. Seaport Village was empty that night, so I easily found souvenirs for the boys there. At the waterfront, we saw a statue fashioned after the famous kiss picture at the end of WWII. I stood beneath it and took a picture while looking up at the moon. It doesn't show how large the statue is, since I was about as tall as the nurse's ankle! The aircraft carrier (USS Midway) is something the boys would have loved to see. (not the kissing statue!)

Petco Park, where the Padres play baseball.

Our seafood restaurant is right by the convention center. We ate outside!

See the moon?

Another fun day in San Diego! I'm so thankful for my aunt and uncle's hospitality! They took really good care of us. :)

A Family Dinner

Since I was spending the night at my aunt and uncle's house on Monday, it was the perfect time to invite my other aunt and uncle over for dinner. Two of their three boys came along, which was great. I think the last time I saw them was at my wedding--almost 15 years ago. So there we were: my mom's two brothers, their wives, me, and two of my cousins. We held hands while my cousin Daniel said the blessing. The roasted vegetables and tender shredded beef rivaled any restaurant, anywhere! I think my boys would have liked to see the way my uncles passed the dinner rolls from one end of the table to the other. (Uncle Rick made a great throw, and Uncle Wally made a great catch!)

My mom's family is geographically split in half. Her two brothers moved to San Diego upon graduating from college. My mom and her sister remained in Illinois. This means I grew up living a very different life when compared to my California cousins. They are California boys, through and through. I am definitely a Midwestern girl. But as we spent time together Monday night, all I could think about was this--we are family.

Daniel pointed out that I am the oldest grandchild, he is exactly in the middle, and Josh is the youngest. That is something I would normally pick up on, but he beat me to it. :) What a perfect representation of our family! I said my grandma would have liked to see us together, and somebody else said, "Oh, she's seeing it!"

Aunt Beth & Uncle Wally; Uncle Rick & Aunt Jody

Josh--my baby cousin, and Daniel--my middle cousin.
I'm older, but definitely not bigger. :)

A close-up for my mom

That night San Diego experienced a hailstorm, which is not a common occurrence. I like to think I brought it with me, since we get plenty of hailstorms where I'm from. My California family watched with fascination as the hailstones fell, and again, all I could think about was this--we are family!

Sunny San Diego

Oh, how I loved taking this trip with my friend Dawn! I'm so glad she decided to attend this conference in San Diego, and that her husband wasn't able to go with her. (Sorry Bill!) Our first full day in San Diego was a free day for Dawn, so she came along with me for the day. My aunt picked us up from our resort in the morning and we had a great day together.

Our first visit was to La Jolla. I have memories here as a child, so it was fun to be back again. There were lots of sea lions (so noisy!) and lots and lots of cormorants. (very smelly!) My favorite part was, of course, watching the waves crash into the rocks and onto the shore. My uncle swims from the shores to the cove every day in their warm season. I wish I could do that. We walked all around La Jolla, and ended up at Porkyland for lunch. It's a yummy place for Mexican food, even with a name like Porkyland. :)

See all the cormorants?

See the sea lions? I love the blue water.

My Aunt Beth and me. The water came up to our feet while we posed for pictures.

After leaving La Jolla, we went to Balboa Park. There are 17 museums here, a zoo, and lots of gardens. The one museum we splurged on was the Titanic Exhibit. It was really well done, and I saw lots of artifacts that have been recovered from the sunken ship. So cool!!! I thought of my son Kaleb every minute! Photos weren't allowed, and that was strictly enforced. But I took plenty of photos of the rest of the park!

The orchids were in full bloom.

There's this bridge in San Diego that is somewhat iconic. While I didn't get a picture of the bridge, I took a picture while standing on the bridge!

While we were in the Titanic Exhibit, the promised storm arrived. This is SoCal's winter, and really it's the only season with rain. It began raining at 2pm and didn't stop until the next morning. We dropped Dawn off at the resort at 4:30 and continued on to my aunt and uncle's house. What a fun day we had, and the day wasn't over yet! More later!