Another beautiful day in Coronado! I think Ed needs to get stationed near the beach some where, looking at these pictures makes me crave the sun and the water. These last two days we went to the beach, went to the beach, and went to the beach. Other than eating, our time was consumed with long walks on the beach (seriously), jumping over waves, collecting seashells and sand dollars, making sand castles and soaking up the sun. 
We had even more fun than I thought we would, I can't even imagine having a better time than what we did. I woke up on Monday super sad, knowing we had to fly back to Colorado Springs. I like Colorado but it is no California and I knew that once we made it back home I would be homesick. We didn't fly out until around 5pm so we still had plenty of time to hit the beach one more time. It was actually good timing we chose to leave on Monday, it was the one day where it was completely cloudy and even started to rain while we were on our walk. Regardless of the weather, we had a great morning walk knowing it was our last. 
Thank you, Mom, Dad, Glen, and the kiddos for an amazing trip! I cannot wait until the next one. We had such a great time and we are so lucky we were able to spend that time together. Miss you guys so much!
Ahhh... I cannot tell you how good it feels to wake up in California with my family all around me. This mini vacation is just what I needed. I have been so stressed out and so busy, busy, busy that I needed a few days to just be lazy and do nothing. I think it did Layla and I so much good. As soon as we ate breakfast it was time to go down to the beach. We picked a great weekend to go, the weather was perfect. The air was cool and chilly but when the sun came out it warmed everything up! We had a blast walking around, collecting seashells and just watching the kids play!
Of course we were getting hungry so we made Grandpa and Uncle Glen come bring us food. Burger King for all! 
After we ate and hung out some more the girls decided they wanted to go to the swimming pool. So off we went! Jaydan was tired and about fell asleep in the chair next to mine while I enjoyed watching the girls play in the water while drinking a Pina Colada. Mmmm... Talk about relaxing. 
We stayed at the pool for a few hours and after we were done with that it was time to go back up stairs to clean up and get ready for dinner. The hotel gave us these lanyards with the kid's names on them and they were to go around to all the stores in the hotel and collect stickers. At the very end of the scavenger hunt, if they collected all the stickers they got a little prize. It was super fun for the kids to do and was the perfect before dinner activity. 
Aren't these two adorable? They were like this the entire trip, holding hands and playing together. 
For dinner we ate at the Sheerwater, an amazing seafood restaurant at the hotel with an amazing view. The food was SO good there, I cannot say enough good things about it. When the hostess sat us down she even gave the kids a little thing of trail mix so they wouldn't get hungry waiting. Although I must say our waiter was a bit odd but when Glen asked what room the ghost was in (room 3512) he made up for it by telling us. The kid's meals looked super good too, Chloe and Jaydan got pizza and Layla got a hotdog and french fries. The adult meals won though, they were so delicious. My mom had Shrimp, Pancetta & Penne Pasta (rock shrimp, wild mushrooms, spinach, brandy lobster sauce), Glen had Wild Pacific Sea Bass in lobster sauce and I couldn't make up my mind so I just got two appetizers, Lobster Mac & Cheese (brandy truffle cream, pancetta) and Blue Crab Cake. I ended up eating all of mine and then stole half of my Mom's. Oh my gosh, it was so good! I can still taste it now. We had such a good dinner and we sat there and drank wine and talked and laughed the entire time. Memories. 
We must have been in a goofy mood because after dinner we went ghost hunting. We had the room number and knew exactly which part of the hotel she (yes, she) is rumored to be in. "Kate was a young woman who checked into the hotel over Thanksgiving weekend under an alias, stayed a few nights, and killed herself on the steps of the hotel leading to the ocean." We tried to find her last summer too with no luck and unfortunately this time we didn't find her either. But, we had a blast searching for her. Glen is deathly afraid of heights so being on the 5th floor, next to an open staircase proved to be a bit of a challenge. So what do you do when you can't find a ghost? Plank, duh. 
After that it was time for bed, we had a very busy day... sleep tight. 
I have been planning this trip for months, counting down the days until I was back in beautiful California. We've traveled and been to so many places over the years but California is still my favorite place to be and the most beautiful state I have ever been to. It's like no other! I was also super excited for this trip because even though Layla has been on about 20 airplanes before, this will be the first one she really remembers and she was super excited about it. We charged our iPods, packed our suitcases, and headed out about 4:45 Friday morning to Colorado Springs airport. Since we had to be up so early to fly out it was nice we flew out of Colorado Springs since it's only about 10 minutes away from our house. We were both so exhausted but also so excited. Layla loved being on the airplane and couldn't wait to have her toes in the sand. 
From Colorado Springs to LAX it was only 1 hour 56 minutes in air. As we were approaching LA and getting low enough where we could see all the lights from the city I got teary eyed. I was home. It's amazing how home can make you feel, it's like I didn't have a worry in the world and all I felt was happiness. We had a layover at LAX for about 2 hours, longer than the plane ride over but it was just long enough to walk around, find our gate and get some McDonald's for breakfast. Then we hopped on one of the scariest planes I have ever been on. LAX to Carlsbad airport (which I didn't even know existed until I bought our plane tickets) is only 22 minutes in air which automatically equals a tiny, scary plane. But hey, $100 less for flying into Carlsbad instead of San Diego worked fine for us! We landed at 11:30am at Bermuda Dunes airpot, wait, I mean Carlsbad. Ha. For those of you from the desert you'll get my reference. Carlsbad airport was so small, we were the biggest plane there and that's not saying much as we flew over in this dinky little thing. Layla and I stepped off the airplane and there were my parents, basically right at the bottom of our plane, waving and excited to see us. Layla ran to Grandma and Grandpa and gave them the biggest hugs ever! HOME! 
As soon as we stepped off the plane we were in go mode. I only had 4 days to do everything I wanted to do and it started now. Off to Old Town San Diego for some of the best.Mexican.food.EVER! Homemade tortillas and Chili Verde in San Diego, what could be better?! Layla got a kids quesadilla but she ended up getting a tortilla and pilling it full of beans and rice and eating it like a burrito. Silly girl. 
As soon as lunch was over, Coronado was calling my name. Beach, sand, ocean, love! That's one good thing about being in the Army and moving a lot, you really get to appreciate home. "There's no place like home" sure rings true more and more every day for me. Even though we're not actually from Coronado, I remember going there 2, 3, 4 times a summer and just being in California, anywhere in California, feels like home. There was no time to run up to our room and change. It was more like park and run to the water! 
Let me just take a moment to say that I have such an amazing husband. I was missing him more than ever while we were there. He would have loved to take Layla to the beach and jump over waves with her. I almost felt guilty being there, knowing that he is miserable and Layla and I were having the time of our lives. Sure enough, he knows how to make me smile. We check into our hotel and walk into the room to find the most beautiful bouquet of flowers I have ever seen. No joke, they were gorgeous. And on the bed was a Winnie the Pooh stuffed animal for Layla. He makes my heart smile. 
Time for the clothes to come off and the swimsuit to be put on! Layla just couldn't stand being at the beach in her clothes. We went up to the room for a whopping 5 minutes to change and back down we went. That is one of the best things about Hotel Del Coronado, beach front rooms so we can come and go to the room as we please without ever having to drive anywhere. 
Beautiful Hotel Del Coronado. Can I go back yet?! Sigh.
As if flowers weren't enough we get a knock on our door in the evening. My mom went to answer it, I didn't think anything of it. There was a little old man, obviously from the hotel, holding out a plate for "Lorado". Chocolate covered strawberries from my love. That's it, he wins best husband of the year award! 
That evening after we had ate dinner and relaxed at the hotel for a bit we went to watch Finding Nemo on the beach. Last year we did a movie at the pool. This totally blew the pool movie out of the water. Who wouldn't want to dig your toes in the sand and have beautiful Hotel Del as your back drop while enjoying a movie? It was so much fun and such a cute movie to show right on the beach like that. Just another reason to love this hotel. 
Not only was there a movie going on at the beach but there were also S'mores! A dozen fire pits all lined the shore and the kids were given a skewer and a bag (or two or three, however many you wanted) of ingredients to make a S'more. Fun and yummy! 
Just as we were on the way back up to the hotel, guess who showed up? Uncle Glen, Chloe and Jaydan! We had been waiting ALL day to see these 3. Layla has missed her cousins so much. It had been a year, down to the day, since she last saw them. It was definitely time for a reunion. Can't you tell they are all related? They all look so similar to me, maybe it's the eyes, she actually looks like she could be their sister. Or I could just be thinking that because I know they're cousins. Totally got off my point here, Layla was extremely happy to see them (and seeing Uncle Glen was ok too). It made her trip! We had to take them back down to S'more cooking so they could have a belly full of sugar before bed, because, you know, that won't keep them up all night at all! 
Phew! And that was just the first day, I have 3 more days to tell you all about. Stay tuned!
We had even more fun than I thought we would, I can't even imagine having a better time than what we did. I woke up on Monday super sad, knowing we had to fly back to Colorado Springs. I like Colorado but it is no California and I knew that once we made it back home I would be homesick. We didn't fly out until around 5pm so we still had plenty of time to hit the beach one more time. It was actually good timing we chose to leave on Monday, it was the one day where it was completely cloudy and even started to rain while we were on our walk. Regardless of the weather, we had a great morning walk knowing it was our last. 
Thank you, Mom, Dad, Glen, and the kiddos for an amazing trip! I cannot wait until the next one. We had such a great time and we are so lucky we were able to spend that time together. Miss you guys so much!
