California Trip, Chapter 1

We flew into LAX on June 9th around noon. I love flying west, you get 3 whole hours added back to your day. =) We had an extremely easy and mellow flight, and we gathered our bags quickly once we landed in LA and got our rental easily. We hopped in the car and made the 2 1/2 hour drive to San Diego, (Pacific Beach) where we would stay with Chris' brother Grant and his wife Alene. Chris' brother Flynn and his wife Jamie also live in San Diego. The girls and I were so excited to arrive. We had a relaxing dinner that night and made plans for Sea World and other adventures in the coming days. The next morning I was not feeling well at all. My temperature was climbing and my throat was in terrible pain. I laid in bed most of the day, only leaving the room to get water and ibuprofen. The kids had a fantastic time however, and spent their days hunting for snails, climbing in the back yard, digging in the dirt and playing with their cousin Penn and Niko's scoot bikes. We loved those, we need to get one for our Gradon at some point.

(click on each image to see it larger)

Later that day I had had enough of being sick so I headed out to see an urgent care doc who gave me some antibiotics for strep throat. Saturday we spent the day at Sea World which was really fun. I was grateful my temp was back to normal and I had some energy again. We loved the Shamu show, and because we were late comers to the show got a front row seat, which meant we got SOAKING wet. Penn wasn't thrilled with the water, neither was Gradon, luckily we dried off quickly. That night was Sushi night for us, at my favorite place, Yoshi Sushi. You get all you can eat for $25. Yes, ALL YOU CAN EAT! It was amazing. I am glad I had my appetite back so I could enjoy everything. Sunday was church (Apparently, Grant and Alene attend the same ward as Mitt Romney. He was not there that day.) and we headed out after church to a great park at the Marine Base for a picnic. Later that afternoon I snuck away and visited with my good friend Julie and her daughters, friends of ours when we lived in Italy. Dinner that night was a yummy BBQ at Flynn and Jamie's house.

Our visit to San Diego seemed too brief. We would have loved some more time with our Southern California Cochran family. Chris and I loved the beautiful weather that accompanies southern california living. We are thinking more and more about a possible residency in San Diego. We will see what life brings! It would be fantastic to live close to Grant and Alene again. Monday we headed to Fresno, chapter 2 coming soon!