Labor day weekend

We had a really fun weekend. We decided to take the kids to San Diego for some fun - and we sure had a blast! We spent a few hours at the San Diego Zoo, then we hit the beach in the evening. Then Monday was spent at the Wild Animal Park, which is a sister park to the San Diego Zoo.

I haven't been to the beach (read: the REAL beach - Idaho beaches were not beaches by any stretch of the imagination) in well over 10 years, and it was amazing being back. I was hoping to go to one of the beaches we went to as kids, but we weren't that far north. It was still wonderful, and the kids couldn't get enough of it!

We were too busy to get a ton of pictures, but I did get a few. And I ended up leaving my camera in our hotel room, so I didn't even have it at the Wild Animal Park. :(

Here are Asher and Cambria, taking turns playing the Nintendo on the drive to San Diego. You can see Kyrie's head in the corner of Asher's picture - I'm pretty sure she was telling him what to do in the Mario game, and he's ignoring her on purpose, which just drives her batty. :)

We took a tour bus at the zoo that takes you all around and shows you some really cool things. It's a double-decker bus, and we were on the very top. The kids loved that!

Derk and Asher and then Kyrie and Cambria, on the tour bus.

Asher just had to walk on every single wall all around the zoo. He kept telling me he was "being so brave, Mom!" and insisted I take a picture! The "walls" are barely 2 feet off the ground, which made the fact that he was so excited about how brave he was being that much cuter. :)

Kyrie wasted no time getting started on trying to make a sand castle once we arrived at La Jolla Beach.

Cambria ran right down to the water before I even had a chance to get her in her bathing suit! :)

Cambria got cold quickly, so she and I spent the evening playing in the sand...

...and Derk and the kids had a blast playing in the waves.

Kyrie, after she un-buried herself. :)


Oh, how I missed the beach!! I just loved the waves, and then the sunset was incredible!

We're back home now, and I think we brought about 100 pounds of sand with us. :) I spent enough time at the beach as a kid, so you'd think I would have remembered the baby powder! My mom discovered that baby powder gets all that sand right off, and she'd always douse us with the stuff before letting us back in the van after our trips. But, no, I forgot to bring it, which is why most of my day today will be spent de-sanding my van. :)

As a side note, I figured the little break would do Isis some good. She's always having to evade the kids, and considering she's still so little, she's not very good at not getting caught yet. :) But when we got home, she was happier to see us than I ever imagined. She was literally doing flips all night last night and didn't stop purring for probably a good 4 hours. She still hasn't stopped rubbing up against me and jumping into my lap, and we've been home for over 14 hours now. It's quite hilarious - guess she's really a part of our family now!