Team Robison: San Diego, California

We arrived in San Diego on Sunday just in time to watch the sunset on the beach. Our hotel was in the Pacific Beach area right by the beach. Our region was elevated compared to the beach, so there was a nice paved trail along the top of the cliffs with stairs down to the beach at intervals. The best part about being on the beach was being able to go basically every morning and then again at sunset. Being a baby, Hannah had no opinion about her new surrounds. Matthew, on the other hand, was terrified of the ocean. He did not like having sand in his shoes, so he had to be carried over the sand. And he really did not like the waves. He basically begged to go back up to the boardwalk every time we were at the beach.

Going in November was nice because it was much warmer than Layton, but not super crowded. The downside was that it got dark by 5:30, so we basically spent every evening watching tv in our hotel room. Our room ended up being really nice and was a recent remodel. It only had a shower stall, so poor Matthew got dirtier and dirtier as the week progressed. Finally on Thursday, we convinced him to take a shower with Mark. The Pacific Beach area was really need. Besides some hotels and condos right on the beach, it was mostly residential. Just a little bit down was Crystal Pier, which we got to walk out on. The boardwalk was nice, and always busy. Our first night we were not adventurous and just ate at Denny's. After that, we mostly ate microwavable meals, but we did sample a store named Taco Surf, which did not skimp on the meat. Even better, we went to an ice cream sandwich place where he choose your cookies and ice cream. It was delicious.

On Thursday, we went to the ice cream sandwich place and then on to the beach. Mark wanted to actually swim in the ocean. I sat with Matthew and Hannah on a blanket and watched Mark and Matthew was horrified but the whole ordeal - see picture below. Hannah was having a blast. When Mark got back, he decided to try Matthew one more time. He took him out to the waves lapping on the shore and just set him in the water. He actually enjoyed it, and then remembered he was supposed to be scared and wanted to be picked up. We got him to play in the water for a good twenty minutes, though alternating between having fun and been scared every thirty seconds. Even baby Hannah put her toes in the water to say that she has touched the Pacific Ocean - the water was way to cold to put any of the rest of her in. All in all, it was a great first trip to California for each of us.