San Diego, Part 1

Us at the Oceanside farmers market on our first day there. You can see the ocean behind me. The hotel we stayed at was right by the water. The pool was on the second floor and had big glass walls so we had a perfect view and felt like we were on the beach without the hassle of the sand and wind! Iris took a while to warm to the idea of the beach so this was a major benefit! We got fresh oranges, avocados the size of Iris's head, and organic carrots to munch on. 

 The Oceanside pier. Lots of pelicans, people fishing, an old school diner at the end of the pier which we had breakfast at and a milkshake.

 Flora, the bird keener she is, was enamored with the seagulls. Ugh. The second day there I had to ask her to stop yelling "SEAGIE" at every grey and white gull she saw. Seagie became the seagull that followed us everywhere we went. He was even at the airport when we left. His friend "Soggie", a dark grey fella, was also around but not as often as Seagie. She drew this picture since we left.... It is Seagie at the airport saying good-bye (airplane upper middle, Seagie middle right....)

 Running like a seagull. 

 He put her down in the water a few moments later. She was knocked over by a wave and definitely not impressed.

 Look at her fingers. She keeps them crossed like that a fair bit! 

 Flora saw that other people had written in the sand and was inspired to do the same. She wrote all this stuff but somehow missed writing Dad!

 Our second day, we hit the Gaslamp Quarter and the harbor. Gaslamp was a bit pointless with the kids, it was a lot of pubs and restaurants (made us wish we had "forgotten" the girls in Canada, just for a minute) but the harbor was great. It was a lovely walk and the girls got to run around in the sun. We were total heroes (aka cheap and trying to save money) and relied on public transport for this trip. I have to say, it was pleasantly simple. Apart from the odd glitch, we made out really well and I would 100% do it that way again. One odd glitch was on this day when our train stopped about a mile outside the station and we had to wait for an Amtrak to pull us in...about 1 hour 20! The bonus of public transport is that the girls found it all a bit of a novelty. Iris hates being in her carseat so I would have taken that any day over being lost or stuck in traffic. 

 Gotta love those seagulls. Look at that pure passion! 

 Fingers crossed again.

New Years Eve day

A perfectly gorgeous winters day for Flora to test out her new skates. She loved it! We are hoping to get a few more chances this winter to have a picnic day as nice as this one. A fire, hot-dogs, chips, and great company. It was a brilliant way to end the year and bring in a new one.