San Diego Part 2: All's Well, Even That Doesn't End Well.

Our San Diego Vacation was absolutely amazing...until it wasn't. Maybe God is trying to show me that just because something doesn't end well doesn't mean it wasn't well. Sometimes it's easy to sum up an entire experience by it's last few minutes, and throw out the memories and chalk it up as a loss. I suppose I'm not just talking about vacation anymore...but I will attempt to stay on topic.

Let's address how vacation ended before rewinding to how it started. Pull off the band-aid. On Wednesday, Daniel wasn't feeling great. Maybe I didn't want to be honest with myself. But there were a million reasons to diagnose him with exhaustion from a long day of swimming and fishing in the sun and waves, allergies which have caused approximately 8 false alarms, and 5 negative COVID tests in the past two months, or "being a teenager." Both Dan and I remember having a bad case of teenager on a few family vacations. So we went on with our day. I deeply regret not taking his stuffy nose and tired eyes more seriously. But Wednesday morning he could definitely be classified as "moody" but by the time we got in the car Wednesday evening, and I mentioned that if he was not feeling super well, we should probably skip the restaurant we'd been looking forward to he responded, "Oh good. I'm not even hungry. I just want to sleep." Yeah...something was wrong. THAT's not my Daniel.

We did send Moses out to the couch to sleep as far away as possible, still hoping Daniel just needed a good night's sleep. But when I woke up to the sound of his teeth chattering, I started googling where to purchase a home test. It did not take any more than two minutes for this 15 minute test to show a solid positive. COVID, COVID, COVID. Stupid, stupid COVID. We made the hard decision that me and Mo should leave right away with Grandma and Grandpa and put some distance between the boys before Dan and Daniel needed to check out of our room with a breathtaking view. 

It was not what we'd planned. And, honestly, it felt like I'd failed. I tried SO hard to avoid this for the past year and a half. We've taken so many precautions. And in the past week we'd skipped fun opportunities, and sat out activities in order to preserve this trip. But, it could have been worse. Daniel is a champion mask-wearer, and has an unusually large personal space bubble, even for an introvert, so we're hopeful our ripple effects were small. He's already feeling so much better, and all this really seems to have cost us is the last 24 hours of vacation and a $24 home test from CVS. 

So, with that off my chest...our trip was truly fantastic. After finishing up at Point Loma, Dan and I spent Sunday night at a beautiful resort in Coronado. We went for Mexican food at Puesto in Sea Port Village. Then the next day we met up with Grandma and Grandpa Williams, Daniel, and Moses.

We stayed together as a family in a condo on Imperial Beach. There are no words to describe the view. In the mornings I could slide open the glass door, and sit with my cup of coffee on the porch listening to the waves, children laughing and sea gulls chatting. We found out one of Daniel's friends from school was one floor down from us and so they absolutely wore themselves out catching the tide with their boogie boards. 

We cooked meals together, played Heads Up, laughing until we wanted to cry, stopped everything at 6:30 p.m. every evening to watch the sunset. 

At night Grandpa and Dan took the boys fishing right off the pier. Grandma, her friend from San Diego, Kathy, and I walked out to meet them after giving them a good head start. They were disappointed to report that NOBODY was catching anything. But, just before we turned back, Daniel got a tug on his pole. After working hard he pulled in, to our shock, a sting ray! Everyone gathered, eager to see this. It seemed to be the highlight of the night when we were able to unattach it and send it back. But, about an hour later the boys returned, waking me from my drowsy state with stories about how EACH of them caught a sting ray and Dad's shoe got stung, thankfully missing his foot. Not only that but they'd spotted a leopard shark! 

This is not THE leopard shark they saw. But it was A leopard shark they saw the next day at the zoo

Despite the fact that I was still working through plantar fasciitis and Daniel...well...was "tired", the zoo was just as fantastic as I'd heard. 

To sum up my highlights, I'd say my #1 was the beautiful weather.

 Runners up included just how absolutely adorable the koalas were.

 Or the time the baboons kept following Daniel, walking across the exhibit when he'd walk, stopping when he'd stop...it was hilarious! The grizzly bears were fun to watch, as was the hippo. 

And the giraffes were so close! I think everyone else's highlight might have been the scary tram thing, or maybe just the face I made riding it. 

I just want to end by saying I love San Diego. It's probably my favorite place to come back to again and again. I'm pretty sure that God set the thermometer in Heaven to "San Diego weather." And I could eat fresh shrimp and lobster meat every day for the rest of my life if if could afford it. I'm already planning our next trip...what should I add to our must-see list next time?