Sunny San Diego

We took a fun weekend trip down to San Diego the third weekend in May. I was able to reunite with some good friends from my mission on Saturday morning. We enjoyed a delicious breakfast together (made by Lucinda) and then spent time chatting on the beach. I love seeing those girls - April, Michelle and Lucinda and their families. It's fabulous to catch up with old friends.

After our visit, Richie and I headed into San Diego. I had never been so we first went to the famous Balboa Park. It's a beautiful place with old buildings, lovely gardens and interesting street performers. We especially liked Sleeveless the Magician who wowed an entire crowd with his tricks.

Perhaps our favorite parts of the park were the cactus and rose gardens. They had a nice view of the valley and both were beautiful in their own way. It was a nice end to our trip to Balboa park.

Fancy Japanese Garden? Really?

In Blaboa park I saw a sign for a Japanese Friendship garden and I insisted that we go in. We paid the $4 admission and we were expecting something pretty nice. After all, the rest of Balboa park was free and it was lovely so surely the entrance fee part would be even more spectacular. After walking around the entire grounds in 3 minutes, Richie said, "I think the parking lot at Benihana is nicer than this place."

The coolest part of the garden were the fish in the koi pond -- so we thought until we walked to a different part of the free park and found a HUGE pond with lots of koi fish. And that pond even had water lilies. We felt duped. Here are the five fish we paid to see.

La Jolla

The jewel of Southern California just might have to be La Jolla. After a beautiful day in San Diego we headed up North a bit to Sheila and Harry's favorite town. The evening had turned a little overcast but we still enjoyed a yummy BBQ dinner and a nice stroll along the coast. The only beach we saw in La Jolla is, I believe, designated for the local sea lion population which we enjoyed looking at and watching other people gawk at them. Here are some pictures from our evening.

Kids for the weekend

Richie's niece and nephews payed us a visit the first weekend in May. We had Eddie, Fletch and Fran for the weekend while their parents enjoyed a quiet weekend without kids. It was definitely a big adjustment for us having 3 kids in our house, but we had a ton 'o fun. We watched fun movies, fed the ducks at a nature preserve, went swimming and made homemade ice cream.

Eddie and Fletch attempted to get the ducks to eat out of their hands. They got close but in the end, the ducks decided to keep their distance. Secretly I was glad it didn't happen ... little hands with duck bites would have made for an unpleasant afternoon.

Venturing to Ventura

Last weekend we decided to take a little break and head to Ventura County. It was a beautiful sunny day and the drive out there was almost the best part of the trip. The late day sun over the valley farms and the ocean in the distance were breathtaking.

The outlets treated us pretty well and then we headed to the only Chic-fil-A restaurant within a 50-mile radius of our house. If you haven't ever had Chic-fil-A, you're definitely missing out. It is delicious chicken sandwiches and nuggets. Oh, the nuggets. I'm pretty sure Richie dreams of the nuggets. He gets excited just thinking about them.

After our delicious meal we decided to indulge in dessert. Richie ordered a fudge nut brownie sundae and I got a cookies & cream shake. While both were delicious, after we had eaten them, Richie sadly reflected, "man, why didn't I just get more nuggets?"

A Week of Presents

Lots of people say the first year of marriage is the hardest. Well, I think we might be an exception. The first four months have been a lot of fun and full of some unexpected surprises. Last week, independent of one another, Richie and I each brought the other home a present from our various outings. I brought him some super cool thumb wrestling masks ...... and he bought me a bike. Very nice of him, right. Puts my thumb masks to shame, a little.
My favorite part if the rack on the back. I can't wait to strap groceries or a picnic basket on the back. I'm going to run all sorts of errands on my bike.

Spring Break '10

Well, Spring Break 2010 is drawing to a close. Richie has had the week off so he's been hanging at home while I work. It's been nice to have some company. We've had a great week and done some pretty exciting things. Here are some of the highlights:

1. Saw Alice in Wonderland. Eh ... it was OK. A little overrated. Richie especially liked the little jig that Johnny Depp does at the end.
2. Richie bought a hat ... finally. He's been talking about it for a while. It's the perfect one and he looks great in it.
3. Played tennis in the middle of the day a few times. The renowned former high school tennis coach Richard Bristow is teaching the up-and-coming tennis "Stahr" Amber Bristow. So far the progress is good.
4. Worked on the yearbook. Richie (an excellent teacher) is in charge of yearbook at his school. He has worked hard all week on putting together this year's annual for the kids. Lots of great pictures of students having fun at school.
5. A trip to the outlets. Need I say more?
6. Homemade buffalo chicken made by Richie. Delicious. I had it with bleu cheese. He did not.
7. Plenty of "24" season 2 viewing. We're addicted.
8. NCAA Final Four basketball game watching. Go Duke!
9. Hung some pictures in our living room. Our place is feeling a little more homey.

Is this what people call a staycation -- like a vacation only you stay home and do fun things around town? Well, maybe some people wouldn't call our activities super fun or crazy, but we've had a great week. Sometimes the best vacations are the ones where you relax and don't do much of anything. Here's a picture of Richie in his cool hat, watching the Duke v. West Virginia game and loving our new wall hangings.