Week 15
We had a very busy week. Monday and Tuesday are always really busy because Blake stays late at school for his clubs. After school we do homework for 40 plus minutes and then dinner, baths, and bedtime routine. To make it even crazier, the kids had swim lessons on Tuesday night this week. They are both doing really well with the lessons but I think it's been hard because we haven't been in the same class for two weeks in a row yet because we are always busy and then I have to move the lessons around. I think we are committed to not moving them for a month or so. Blake was used as an example for teaching new swim instructors and he loved the one on one lesson with 4 or 5 instructors. When he walked out of his lesson you could tell he was so proud of himself. Kylie has been awesome as well. She does whatever asked without hesitation or fear. My plan is to put them in fast track classes for the summer. You go everyday from Monday - Thursday and they have a 30 minute lesson. I'm hoping their classes line up to be back to back otherwise I probably won't have Kylie do it. It will be a big commit and pricy but since we have a pool I feel like it's time for us to focus on improving their swim skills.
Swim Lessons - Blake
When we got home from swim lessons Blake was excited to see his new electric scooter arrived. We let him try it out for a little bit around the neighborhood.
Blake - Electric Scooter Video
Blake hung out at home on Thursday with me while I worked. We ended up being able to get on the road to San Diego a little early which was really nice to beat some of the traffic in the city. Blake did pretty well on the road trip but Kylie asked if we are almost there probably 100 times. :) She is very stubborn and that really stuck out on this trip.
On Friday we started the day off with a yummy breakfast. I found Richard Walker's pancake house and it didn't disappoint! We had German pancakes, chocolate chip pancakes and eggs benedict. It was all so good and we planned to go back on our last day.
After breakfast we walked around downtown along the bay area for a little bit and then headed back to our hotel. We changed and packed up our stuff for the beach. I wasn't sure if it was going to be warm enough to lay on the beach so we packed extra clothes. The beach ended up being very nice. The kids LOVED the waves! That was probably Blakes favorite part and Kylie loved playing in the sand. She didn't really make anything but they were both digging away.
Next, we went to Belmont Park to ride a few rides. Kylie LOVED the tower ride that drops. Blake went on it with her once but didn't like it. She went on it two more times by herself. Blake wanted to try out the ropes course and ended up going up and coming right back down. His rope kept getting stuck and then he was a little scared being alone.
Next, we drove around and ended up at a rock pier. (I don't know what it's really called). We jumped the rocks and then Jeremy found a spot to sit on the side and watched the waves. We saw a seal in the water which the kids thought was cool! They both would have sat there all night. It was definitely relaxing once you sat down. I was a little anxious about someone slipping off and getting really hurt.
We went back to the hotel and then walked to a big park. The kids played for a long time and then we walked back through little Italy and grabbed some pizza to bring back to our room.
Saturday morning we slept in until we all woke up. We took it slow and watched a little TV and got ready. We had reservations at the Sugar Factory at 10am for brunch. We left around 9:30 and walked to the restaurant. Our hotel was in a nice location downtown near the bay where we were able to walk or scooter to a lot of places. The kids were SO excited to see the double stack rainbow pancakes on the menu. Jeremy and I ordered lunch items and the kids ordered the pancakes. Overall it was pretty good but the service was terrible. I ended up having to leave with the kids because it was taking forever to get the bill and the kids were tired of sitting for so long.
Next we hurried to the beach. The beach was packed! We couldn't find a parking spot anywhere near the beach so we decided to park further away and then scooter in. We went to the Belmont park first to try out a few more rides before the lines got long. We started with go karts which was really fun. Blake was with me and Kylie was with Jeremy. Then the Blake and Kylie went on an ice cream spinning ride. They LOVED it! Kylie did the last ride which was the tower drop ride. It's so funny how much she loves it.
We scootered back to a beach area for the kids to play in the sand and water again. They had fun together and Jeremy and I relaxed.
We went on a long scooter ride at night. Everywhere we went people were always looking at us because of the scooters. Everyone thought the seat for Kylie was so cool and I don't think most people have ever seen it before. I'm always behind Jeremy so I would see everyone's reactions which was funny. We ended up by the baseball stadium where the dodgers and padres were playing. The area was pretty crowded. We were looking for food and decided on pizza. We found a pizza by the slice place but Jeremy wanted to keep looking. We ended up not interested in any others but by the time we got to the end of the road it was way too far to go back. We ended up grabbing pizza from a grocery store and eating in the hotel room. It wasn't the best but it could have been worse. Blake and Jeremy headed back out to grab Blakes scooter and they ended up going on a huge adventure. I don't know much about it but I heard they went all the way to the airport and they saw fireworks I think. They were gone for over two hours while Kylie and I watched Trolls and packed.
Sunday morning we all got up and ready really early. Our plan was to go back to the restaurant we had breakfast at our first morning. We got on our scooters and when we arrived we saw a huge line. :( It wasn't even 8am. Sadly the place doesn't have indoor dining right now so they have limited tables and they are delicious so we should have known. We ended up having Jeremy and Kylie find us another place to eat and Blake and I met them there. It was ok but not our favorite. The French toast was amazing though! I can't remember what it was called but it had a little scoop of ice cream and that made it amazing!
We packed up and headed to Balboa Park. It is our tradition to always go there on our way out of San Diego. Historically we would walk the entire park and back but this time we rode our scooters. It made it so much faster and more fun. Blake had one fall which scared me but he barely had a scratch. I think it helped me realize how careful he needs to be and he was really lucky. After the fall we stopped to grab fresh lemonade. We always purchase lemonade in the park. It is the best we have ever had and this time we tried strawberry and blueberry and the strawberry was the best! Next, we scootered by the San Diego Zoo. It was very crowded and we planned to go but they aren't offering most of their attractions so I decided not to do it. It's so expensive and without the bus tour and the other little rides it doesn't seem worth the crazy price. Hopefully next time we will make it there.
Jeremy was really excited to take Kylie to the rose garden. Kylie showed us all of her favorite flowers. Next we went to the park where the kids played for a little bit. We saved ice cream for the end so we would be able to get the kids to leave the park without a fight. It worked out perfect that Kylie was able to get her favorite ice cream (Vanilla) and Blake was able to get his favorite (Dip N Dots). Side Story - A few years ago, Blake and I went to Chuck E Cheese and one of the workers gave Blake a big cups of dip n dots for free. Blake has LOVED them every since. Every time he sees the sign we have to get it. It used to be very rare but since COVID it seems like they shifted where they are sold and they seem to be at a lot of gas stations and more shops now which is cool but they are SO expensive. The range from $5-$7 for a very small pouch. He loves them though so that's good.
We headed to the car and then headed home. Overall the drive home went pretty smooth except one moment. Jeremy was driving and he asks me to pull out the car manual. I do and he says look and see if it talks about how big the reserve gas tank is which I immediately knew meant we are probably out of gas according to the car light. He then tells me that the gas light has been on for a long time and the gas range is blinking zero.... I look up the nearest gas station and it was about 20 minutes away. We make it about 5 minutes from the gas station and Jeremy says I think we should just fill up in Yuma because it will be too expensive at this first station. haha! I refused to let us find out if we would have made it or not. He did only fill up a gallon and then we completely filled up in Yuma. If you know him very well then you know he will wait in line at the cheapest gas station for as long as he needs to so he can get the cheapest price. :)
