Father's Day in San Diego

We had two major firsts in one little weekend: David's first Father's Day and Grace's first big trip (and plane ride). Dave had to be in San Diego for the launch of their new drug and was scheduled to leave on Father's Day. I wasn't especially excited about that - and I've always wanted to see San Diego - so we decided to go up early and make a family vacay of it. Only drawback was me having to make the return trip with Grace by my lonesome. I was praying (hard) for her to like the plane, otherwise, David didn't know it, but Grace and I were going to be extending our stay! While the flight definitely could've been worse, I wouldn't describe it as a piece of cake. She could NOT stop moving for the first two hours; just wanted to go back and forth between David and me, investigate, and peer over the seats. An empty spot between us would've helped, but it was a jam-packed plane until we touched down (briefly) in El Paso. We got some more space then, but didn't need it...she fell asleep mid-puff before taking off again and slept the rest of the way.

Bless her heart

"Here I am, California!"

We took it easy the rest of the day...looked around the hotel, had a Miami Vice by the pool, enjoyed a little snooze (packing is like a puzzle to me and I always stay up way too late working on it the night before), and had dinner next door in Seaport Village. While I've always thought Grace to be a pretty flexible baby, I had no idea how that first day would work with the two hour time difference. She did great!

View of the bay (and an old aircraft carrier) from our room

Sweet girl at dinner

Saturday we got up and headed to the one place I had my heart set on going...the San Diego Zoo. It definitely lived up to my expectations and even entertained David (who probably would've been fine going to the beach). Grace didn't particularly care about the animals, but seemed to have fun anyway. It's just a neat place. I'd had my doubts about getting to see everything, but if we didn't we came pretty dang close...we were there for seven hours! I thought Grace needed a souvenir to remember it by, so we ended up with a stuffed baby panda that cost $20. Her daddy was thrilled.

Yay!

Being a big girl on the bus tour

The new elephant exhibit

Grace liked them

The main attraction

Excited about the Skyfari gondola ride

Mommy's turn

My personal favorite

Such a trooper

Mother Nature at her finest :)

Many hours and one panda later

We'd expected the zoo to be our big excursion of the day, until we ran into David's boss in the lobby - with some other early arrivers - and he had extra tickets to the Padres game. We wondered if we might be pushing our luck with Grace, but ultimately decided to be adventurous and chance it. She took a little catnap (in something other than her stroller, finally) while Dave and I cleaned up and then we headed right back out the door! We hitched a pedicab to the ballpark instead of walking...Grace loved it. She held up fine at the game, too, although we left an inning early to be safe. Her eyes started closing almost immediately, so we decided to walk back through the Gaslamp Quarter and grab dinner. She slept through it again. Who'd have thought we'd be able to fit so much into one day with a ten-month-old?!? I was blown away.

PETCO Park

Our cool little cat
Still standing after an eventful day

Gaslamp Quarter

Sunday was a totally different day. We slept in, helped David open his cards and gifts (some practical, some fun, some sentimental), hung out in bed laughing and playing with Grace, ate a gluttonous brunch, and then headed to La Jolla. It was as relaxing as the day before was busy! We had no plan, just played everything by ear. That night we enjoyed more yummy food - lobster ravioli for me, crab for David - and then turned in early. It was such a nice day that I became a little teary getting mine and Grace's things together. I wasn't ready to go! Leaving David in San Diego is a whole other ballgame than him leaving us at home...especially after such a sweet weekend.

Grace's special card

La Jolla coastline

Me and my Gracie-Mo

Our future vacation home :)

Slightly different than Galveston

Flirting already

Cutest father-daughter duo I've ever seen

Sorry, Grace! (don't worry...she hardly noticed)

Pretty cool setting for a first Father's Day

Nothing sweeter than this

Embarrassed to admit it, but I got pretty emotional when David left us at security Monday morning. I was partly anxious for the flight, partly sad to be leaving San Diego, but mostly sad that we wouldn't be seeing him for four more days. He'd had to travel more than usual leading up to the launch and I was ready for him to be home home with us and not just passing through. To top it all off, we'd discovered Grace's panda was MIA...it apparently fell out of the stroller the night before. I was bummed.

The trip back was about what I expected - exhausting! We'd arrived at the airport at 10:30 San Diego time and left the airport at 6:30 Dallas time. I felt like a pack mule getting to the car and contemplated closing my eyeballs once we were finally in. It was worth it, though, for the fun memories. Especially when David came home Thursday night with another panda, identical to the first, for Grace (it's now referred to as the $40 panda). I won't pretend like we're perfect, but I do feel extremely blessed to have Dave for my husband and Grace's daddy. I couldn't ask for a more genuine, selfless, and loving partner to go through life with...and nothing makes my heart happier than seeing how much he adores his daughter, and how she adores him. Happy Father's Day, David; we love you like crazy.