California Dreamin'

This is the San Diego Temple. Josh and I were married here.More like a castle really. I have been to this temple a lot. I went here as a youth to perform ordaninces. I went through the temple a year or so before I was married so I visited it often. And of course, this is the place where I met my in laws for the fist time on my wedding day. Talk about adding extra pressure to your wedding day.

We had a great day at Sea World... Oh, I need to mention something.  We got quite wet from not only the drizzily day, but we rode a ride called Ship Wreck Rapids.  Guaranteed to get you wet.  We rode it more than once.  So we are all wet.  It's 4 in the afternoon.  We want to head north 20 minutes to see the temple, visit my friend in Carlsbad who just had a baby, and see my sister-in-law Erin.  We figured if we went back to the condo to change and eat, this would take atleast an hour that we didn't have.  We stopped in a  Target store and bought Colin some house slippers since his shoes were soaked.    This will be important info for later. 

 Then we stopped at Tamarack Beach in Carlsbad.  This was a 15 minute drive from where I grew up.  It seems strange now to come here and think that this was a normal setting for me for years and now here I am at 35 with 5 children and I am bringing them to visit this same place.  I hardly think about it much when I am at home in the desert, but as soon as I am back on the beach, it feels so much like it was just yesterday.

 I don't know how to explain it really.  Southern California.  It's where I was for 20 some odd years of my life.  All I knew until I got married and my husband said he had to go to school at Utah State.

 I had never even seen snow when I was Luke's age.

 Or Mac's age.

 Now that I am this age,  I have seen enough snow to last me a life time.  Well, that's just my opinion.  I am still a California girl at heart.  I fear the ocean, but I love it at the same time.  I love the sunshine and the bit of moisture in the air.  I love the smell of the ocean and the pleasant breeze all the time.  I love that I grew up in a place that many think is paradise.  It is in some ways.  Now my own family is my paradise.  I love living in the desert.  With my family that is.

Back to the house slipper from Target.  On this particular stretch of the ocean front, there is no beach.  We are standing up up up on the edge of a cliff over looking the Pacific.  Colin accidentally kicked his slipper over the edge.  After much deliberation in Josh's brain, he decided to rescue the slipper.  It was successful I am happy to say.  We piled back into the suburban(which is too small) and were off for another adventure.