Day 2 & 3, California: USS Midway, Seaport Village & Coronado Island

Hard to believe we're finishing up day 3 of vacation already! We definitely haven't wasted any time!

Yesterday we woke up and had breakfast on the Robetcky's patio while we watched hot air balloons fly over! Ofcourse, the thought to take a pic of the hot air balloons came to me after they were out of site....but I did get a pic of breakfast, lol. I'll try to remember to snap a pic of the balloons before we leave. I'm sure we'll see more!

Diane had Cheerios w/blueberries for J&J and Jon & I ate bagels w/cream cheese. Mmmm! 

After breakfast, the boys were thrilled to color with Diane while I got ready for the day! Can I please take this lady back to Texas with me?! ;-)

Once we were all dressed for the day, we headed to San Diego to meet up with Bob & Darlene. 

First on the itinerary was a quick picnic lunch in Seaport Village. Nice weather, fabulous view, people watching, good company & yummy food....perfection! 

Next Stop: USS Midway!

That boat is Ha-UGE!! Jon opted to listen to the audio tour. I just followed his lead and helped herd Jude and Joel. 

Jude has a fairly substantial crush on "Darweenie" so he stayed somewhat attached to her. Sorry, Bob!

Jude & Joel's favorite part of the ship were all of the different types of aircraft they could get inside of! 

Jude: "Get inside mommy! I'm about to blast off to Neverland!"

They had so much fun pretending! It was super cute to watch! ♥ ♥

My favorite part was the flight deck. The inside of the ship was neat but HOT! I was happy to feel the breeze once up top & the boys had plenty to see & play on, too! 

Time to board the Ferry & head over to Coronado Island! 

The boys waved to EVERYONE they could on the way to the island. They LOVED finally being on a moving boat!

We had originally planned on swinging by the car to pick up swimsuits for the boys before we left San Diego but...didn't happen. We just decided we'd make do & pick up a couple sand buckets at one of the Coronado Island gift shop. The boys didn't mind...

We grabbed some BBQ for dinner while on the island then headed back to jump on the Ferry. We walked back to Seaport Village to grab a quick souvenir t-shirt for J&J! 

TODAY we woke up early so we could be at The San Diego Zoo when it opened. Great idea!! The boys are always in their best moods in the morning! 

We knocked out the Pandas first b/c we had been told that was THE exhibit to make sure we see & that it gets crowded FAST!   

Once we had checked the Pandas off our list, we took everything else in as it fell on our walk around. The zoo was AMAZING!! I didn't remember it being so huge!! The Fort Worth Zoo is pretty incredible so I wasn't expecting to be blown away...but I really was! The landscaping was gorgeous & all the different animals were neat to see. 

The boys loved the sky tram that went over the zoo. I love watching the boy's faces as they see each new cool thing! ♥♥♥ After 5 hours, the boys had reached the end of their energy level so we hopped on a double decker tour bus to see some animals we missed before leaving. 

We barely made it out of the parking lot before J&J crashes out HARD!

Sweet babies! ♥♥♥

They got their nap in while we drove to La Jolla & ate to-go lunch from Smashburger. When they woke up, we headed to the beach! We visited the La Jolla Cove & "Children's Pool" 

The boys tuned into Toy Story while we made the drive back to Temecula! 

We made one last stop to pick up a couple umbrella strollers for Disneyland before calling it a night back at the Robetcky's. 3 very full days in Cali!! 

Sweet Dreams,

Brooke

Hello Cali!

How excited can 2 little boys be?! I think I found out yesterday! I don't want to forget a moment right now...I want to write down every funny & cute thing Jude & Joel do or say! They are both SO full of life!

It was probably a mistake telling Jude that we would be leaving for California and would be meeting Mickey Mouse the night BEFORE we left! (Happy pic above Taken after we explained to the boys) He was in our room at 4:15am yesterday morning ready to wake up! Haha. We did leave the house at 6:30 headed for Lovefield airport! The boys were so excited to fly! I couldn't peel their faces from the window at the terminal...

"Is that our plane, mommy?!"

We had a stop in El Paso which I had kind of been dreading but ended up working out perfect! The break up worked for keeping the boys excited & moving. 

We lucked out w/the second leg of the flight from El Paso to San Diego & both boys slept 98% of the two hours!

Once we landed & got our rental car (note: we had an awesome guy that hooked us up with an SUV for no extra $) we headed straight to lunch. It was only 12:45 in San Diego but it was almost 3:00 in Fort Worth. 

We had several recommendations to try Point Loma Seafoods...perfect!! The boys loved the boats & view!! 

We ordered an Atlantic cod sandwich, a Philadelphia Sushi Roll, a cup of Clam Chowder & an order of fries. How's that for variety?! All delicious!!

We had gobbled everything up except the chowder when I thought to snap a pic. Oops! Did I mention we were starving? LOL. 

With happy bellies, we headed to Temecula to Darlene's parent's house. We got there around 5:00 & were greeted with smiles by Diane, Dar's mom. Let me say, I'm not sure I've met a sweeter lady! She showed us around the house, made us feel completely & immediately welcome! She had a new plastic pool w/toys waiting for J&J "so they will have some fun stuff to enjoy" & she had patriotic shirts for all 4 of us laid out on our beds. 

The boys put on their swimsuits & headed out to the back patio, which I might add has a GORGEOUS view, to swim a bit. Jon watched the boys while I visited with Diane over some Pinot Grigio.  She made a yummy Costco pizza for us and some chicken nuggets for the boys. We got the boys dried off and in PJ's & grubbed together! 

Here's a shot of the sunset off the back porch. Beautiful!!

The boys were hyper tired so we snuggled them on the couch to watch some Veggie Tales for a bit & then put them to bed around 9:00, which is 11:00pm Fort Worth time! Yep, definitely in vacation mode! Jon & I visited with Diane for another hour or so then headed to bed ourselves! 

California Bound!

In less than 24 hours we will be boarding our flight to San Diego! I'm so excited! I'm {very obviously} already in vacation mode! I can't focus at work...I just keep running my list of things to pack thru my head and looking at different reviews of Cali sites on TripAdvisor. I hate to wish any of my days away...BUT I plan to leave work today at 3:00 and it can't seem to come soon enough! :)
The boys have been on a plane before, longest trip being red eye flight to Hawaii, but they're old enough to really understand the experience now! They even have their own seats on the plane! Praise baby Jesus for that! Jude woke up this morning asking "Is it Saturday so we get to fly on a plane to California?!" I love that they're so excited and can't wait to see their faces when they get to meet Mickey Mouse & other friends at Disneyland, play on the beach, see the different animals the San Diego Zoo has versus the FWT Zoo, etc.

  

Jon has been to LA/Hollywood area a couple times but never ventured into the beautiful San Diego. I've been to San Diego several times (and loved it more with each visit), but have never been into LA area. I'm hopeful we can show each other both worlds of SoCal! We'll see whatever 5 days allows! We land tmrw at noon and fly back to Dallas, Friday, July 5 at noon. We know we're staying a couple nights in San Diego, one night in Anaheim (for Disneyland) and a couple nights in Temecula (wine country). Bring in the sunshine!!

We have a hotel secured for our one night in Anaheim but outside of that, we're staying with Darlene's family. I feel very blessed to have such a sweet friend! She (and her family) has offered to host us in San Diego and Temecula! I'm excited to get to meet her family and to enjoy a week of fun enjoying California!

Ofcourse I made shirts for the trip, too! Mickey tanks for Disneyland and Patriotic tanks for the 4th of July!

Here's some "Hot Spots" I hope to hit during out week: 

1. USS Midway
2. Coronado Bridge & Island
3. Balboa Park
4. San Diego Zoo
5. Disneyland
6. La Jolla Cove
7. Torrey Pines
8. Temecula Wineries

It will be interesting to see what we actually did! I'm just thrilled to have some time off work to play with my fam and make some fun memories! Cali here we come!!

{{SOME}} Favorite Funny Moments Captured on Video

 August 2012: Roadtrip home from Dalhart 

We took this video heading home after a fun-filled XIT Dalhart weekend. The boys were so bored after being in the car for 5 hours (we still had 2 to go)... For the record, we did manage to pull over before Jude went potty! Yay for small victories! :)

April 29, 2013: Happy Birthday to Joel

Joel is 2!! We had his party the previous Saturday but we still celebrated with a bedtime song...and some pretend "bedtime cake!" ;-) Such a sweetie pie!

February 2013: Jude Reading to Joel

This video remains one of my very favorites!! I could be in the most foul awful mood ever and watching this video will ALWAYS make me smile! Sorry for the sideways view..my filming skills are obviously lacking! My bad!

I did a little better recording this one...

May 2013: I'm Gonna Be a Chicken!

We stayed with my Uncle Rick and Aunt Sharon a couple months ago for a quick fun weekend trip for my cousin, Vicki's wedding shower. Jude and Joel had a blast! They got a small (fun) glimpse into a country cowboy weekend on the 6T Ranch! Jude talked about his "adventures" for weeks! I hope we can take them back soon! ♥ ♥ ♥

 

This video is also in May. After 2 weeks of Jude asking daily if he could wear boots and a cowboy hat like Deano, Roy and Uncle Richard...we took him to the Justin store and made his dream come true! We ran to ACE Hardware afterwards on an errand and he was trying to plead his case on why he needed a rope! ;-)

June 15, 2013: It's my song

No, it's not Christmas... Jude and Joel love playing daddy's guitar!

June 26, 2013: Tantrum caught on video!

I so wish I could have caught the ENTIRE tantrum on video! Joel woke up in a super happy mood...the moods I LOVE!! That turned 180 degrees foul fast! He wanted to use a "fun" stamp he had and stamp all over his arm. I agreed to let him stamp once on his hand...he did that but wasn't wanting to comply = major tantrum! He threw the stamp and slammed himself down on the ground in anger... When I told him I was recording him, things turned around pretty fast. LOL. Silly kid! I can't help but laugh!

Lockheed Martin: Jet Day 2013

Because its not every day you get to pose with a hottie in front of an F-35 Jet!

Happy Father's Day 2013

Father's Day is a bittersweet day for me each year. I miss my dad terribly and yearn so often for him to be a part of my "grown up" life! BUT, I am also overjoyed knowing that J&J are blessed to have such an amazing daddy in Jon! He really is the best dad any kid could have! He's super talented, athletic, totally hands on and funny...always up for a good time! Then there's the more serious side of him...disciplined in his Faith, as a provider for our family and in his guidance as the boy's role model and he's just so smart! It's sometimes intimidating to be married to someone so wonderful! The love and happiness Jon brings to our family is written on every happy face & hug below!

 Happy Father's Day, Jon!

 Jude is looking more and more like Jon with every day!!

We had a really great time celebrating Father's day this year at our house! We started the day off by waking daddy with hugs and cards and ended up in the kitchen to make our typical Sunday morning waffle breakfast. Jude and Joel were such good helpers! :) They LOVE to help us cook & especially wanted to cook WITH DADDY on his special day! I guess I'm off the hook then?! LOL. I just stood back and let my heart smile and took pics!  ♥♥♥

After our yummy breakfast, we all got dressed & headed off to church! 

After J&J's naptime, Grandma, The Lowrance gang and Clementine came over to enjoy a nice night grilling out and loving on each other! We had a delicious dinner - Corn on the cob, Grandma's famous potato salad, Clemi's cole slaw & Tim and Pam brought steaks...thanks to Jon for cooking (again), even on his special day! And we can't forget the yummy brownies by Jac and homemade butterfinger ice cream by Jon and Grandma! The food was not to be beat and the company was just the same! ♥♥♥

 Timothy enjoying a new tasty twist to a teething toy... a steak bone!

We set up the bounce house in the backyard and the kiddos had a blast playing! Clemi brought her granddaughter, Gracie, which Jude seemed to be quite fond of after playing "gymnastics" together! She tried teaching him how to do a cartwheel and was so great to play with him all evening in the bounce house!

♥♥ Gracie ♥♥

Jude showing off for Gracie...so cute!

A Gracie Sandwich! :)

Hanging out with my Grandma (my dad's mom)

 My lil' monkeys!

Bentley wasn't sure what to think about all the 'adventure' going on in his backyard, haha.

J&J with their third cousin, Timothy 

Grandma "churning" the ice cream 

Happy faces all around! 

Timothy took a little while warming to the idea of a bounce house but once he tried it, he was hooked!

Timothy playing with his grandparents (My Uncle Tim and Aunt Pam)

Such a cutie pie! Look at that smile! ♥

"Look at my boo-boo...Kiss it?!" Ofcourse Grandma did, too! 

We hung out until the clock hit bedtime! It was a great day!!

Psalms 127:3-5 Behold, children are a heritage from the LORD, the fruit of the womb a reward. Like arrows in the hand of a warrior are the children of one’s youth. Blessed is the man who fills his quiver with them! He shall not be put to shame when he speaks with his enemies in the gate.

 

Proverbs 17:6Children's children are a crown to the aged, and parents are the pride of their children.