Moments From San Diego!

We have had a lot of fun here in San Diego, but our time is almost done.  We will be heading back home before Christmas, and it is bitter-sweet for us.  We are going to miss the sunny beaches (Washington has the beach as well, which is beautiful and we love it, but it is much more for looks and less for actually swimming.  It's just too cold.).  We are going to miss the food (The Mexican food just can't be beat!).  It has really felt like an extended vacation and we are going to miss it:)  What we will NOT miss:  The traffic, traffic, Oh, and the traffic!  Haha!  Oh, and California's crazy parking lots.  They basically want everyone to drive a compact car, so every parking spot and parking lot is pretty much only designed for compact cars.  Trying to park our SUV anywhere has been a nightmare.  But, we will really look back on our time here as very positive.  Here are some of our random, happy moments:

We spent plenty of days poolside.

Even Duncan loved the pool.

Mitchell mostly enjoyed playing on the pool stairs, so he really didn't know how to react when I made him swim in the middle of the pool with me.  Lol!

We loved visiting one of our favorite places, Belmont Park.  Haha, and I love Mitchell's "deer in the headlights" look here.

Duncan grew in some teeth while we were here in California:)

I love this picture.  Nothing beats watching the sunset at the beach.

Duncan also loved the sunsets... he just wasn't the biggest fan of the sun's brightness.  Lol!

And here is a family photo at the beach.  Haha... ok, with only two of us looking.  Hey, you try getting a toddler and baby to look at the camera at the same time as you, and see how many "family photos" you get.  Lol!

Usually Mitchell screams bloody murder if Duncan gets near any of his toys (we're still working on sharing).  But occasionally, they play really nice together.  I love these sweet moments:)

He grabbed my boppy pillow and decided he needed to nurse his doggie, Rufus.  And... he's using his belly button to do it.  Haha!  This is a picture I will show his friends one day to embarrass him (Haha, just joking... maybe:).

Father and son just relaxing at our condo.  Due to different circumstances, extensions with Chris's work in San Diego, etc., Chris's work moved our "living quarters" a few different times.  This condo RIGHT ON the beach has definitely been our favorite spot.

Strolling along OUR beach (since it is basically our front yard now) during sunset is definitely our favorite!

And boy!  Did we see some beautiful sunsets from our balcony.

I mean, how can I pick just one sunset picture to show you all?!  They are all so gorgeous.  And pictures don't even do them justice.  We will definitely miss seeing this every night:)

Of course, as pretty as the sunsets are, Mitchell much preferred actually playing on the beach and building sand castles.

On Halloween, The Hulk came to visit us at the beach.  Haha, and doesn't he look so fierce while holding his stuffed animal?!  (He refused to put it down.).

This is in November... it's almost 90 degrees outside and very sunny.  So, we decided to cool off at the beach (the Pacific Ocean is still very cold), and of course, build more sand castles:)

We also took advantage of the sunny days by taking walks along the beach in our "front yard."

He loved playing on these cement blocks.  Although, he did almost give me a heart attack a few times as he daringly liked to walk up to their edge and look over.  Be careful boy!

Another photo of the boys playing nice together (Yay!).  They LOVE this laundry basket.  Mitchell pretends it is a choo choo train and Duncan just loves to chew on it.  Lol!  Santa could just bring the boys a laundry basket and they would be overjoyed.

Cutest baby alert!  Even when he is teething, he is one happy baby.  We decided to try another restaurant from the show "Diners, Drive-ins, and Dives."  This was at the OB Noodle House.  It was AMAZING!  We tried their spicy garlic wings and House Special Fried Rice, both of which were featured on the show.  Even Duncan loved the fried rice.  To watch them make their famous wings, click HERE. 

It was hard for it to feel like Thanksgiving among the palm trees and warm weather (even though I grew up with warm weather and palm trees... but it's been a while since I've been around it for the fall/winter).  But, I guess we can survive with a view like this:)

Mitchell showing off his love for pool stairs and ladders.  Lol!  This was earlier on in the summer, so he hadn't quite yet become the water bug that he is now.

Mitchell sure knows how to make his brother laugh.  I just love it when they play nicely together.

This was in early August, with Duncan getting up on his hands and knees, trying to crawl.  He is a crawling machine now, but I wanted to get this moment documented in our blog/journal.

What is better than having your toes in the sand?!

I have a feeling this is just the first of the many rounds of wrestling they will participate in during their lives.  Haha, at least no one got hurt during this round; but as they get older I may need to have the ER on standby (but hopefully not:).

We rarely (and I mean RARELY) get rain here in Southern California.  We have been here since late June, and I would say we have experienced rain four, maybe five times only (including the times it only sprinkled for like 15 minutes).  So, when it does rain we make sure to have some fun in it.  Mitchell LOVES the rain!  Haha, so I guess it is a good thing that we get to go back home to Washington soon (the rain capital of the U.S.).

Enjoying the beach in NOVEMBER (Say what?!!).  And check out Mitchell's jumping skills.  He may have a pretty good future as a basketball player someday:)

Here we are exploring on one of our morning walks.  He just loves to test his limits... I told him he could walk on this block but he had to stay away from the edge (so, he got as close as he could).