Our San Diego Trip

We had one last big hurrah before the start of a new school year, spending a week in San Diego.

Justin had a conference at the Hotel Del Coronado, and I know it seems insane to drag four children under the age of 7 (the youngest of which was not even 3 months old) on a family vacation, but I was not going to pass up an opportunity to stay at the lovely Hotel Del. It was a long drive out to California, but the kids did surprisingly well (what did we ever do before portable DVD players?) and London was the best baby ever-- she slept all the way from Centerville to Las Vegas without a peep, and after a good feeding and diaper change slept again for almost the entire rest of the way! When we arrived late that first night, the kids all crashed.

We had a surprisingly spacious room, and this was the set-up for our family of 6

We had planned to keep the trip pretty low-key, but wanted to make sure we took our resident animal-lover to one of the best zoos in the country. Siena was not disappointed.

How cute is this panda?

Siena was most excited to see the giraffes,

And the elephants

It was a very hot,

But very fun day

We mostly spent the rest of the time right on the hotel property, there was so much to do. On one of the cooler mornings, we rented bikes and rode around the island. They had these really fun bikes called duece coupes, which seated two adults and two kids. With London in the Baby Bjorn, it was perfect for mom and dad and the girls:

And we rented Brighton his own bike, which he loved

It was a beautiful bike ride along the beach

We ate at several fabulous restaurants, most within walking distance from the hotel. And the weather was so perfect, we dined al fresco whenever we could.

There were also many walks along the beach and around town

Of course, the bulk of our time was spent back and forth between the hotel pool and the family-friendly beach, just steps from our hotel room.

Typically, one of us lounged with London under the beach umbrella

The hotel's signature red peaks

Siena got really good at making sand castles

They took turns burying each other in the sand

We saw some older kids building this awesome creation, and Brighton was inspired to make his own

Not bad, right?

Dad taking a turn with London

Chelsea made a friend

A token picture of London in her swim suit-- she was not happy about it

The evenings there were spectacular-- so scenic and so pleasant

Someday we hope to make it back there again