San Diego Trip

Daddie has awaited this day for a long time!

Aiden is 2 and can finally sit seating forward in his car seat and as planned he slept on the way to San Diego.

Our big boy loves to stick his head out the window to catch a breeze!

Ah – nothing like breathing in freedom!

Time to kick off the day’s celebration with some Japanese food.

This San Diego trip is specifically for Aiden – to celebrate his Big “2” :X

What does our Birthday boy want to eat?

For now, it’s Mommie’s and Daddie’s choice.

Wasabi Octopus – my favorite item here (but of course none for Aiden)

Beef Tongue – I’d skip this.

Gyoza

Tsukeman – the broth was too salty, but I squeezed in some lemon and it was better.

Tonkatsu Ramen with Kakuni

Aiden loved his ramen.

All done!

It’s beautiful outside!

So much for Aiden to see.

But he wasn’t willing to hold our hands the whole way.

Off to the miniature train – the highlight for Aiden’s big day!

Birthday boy gets to ride with Daddie.

He’s so excited!

What a tiny thing – Daddie and Aiden can barely fit.

Not very comfy for adults.

But look how happy he is.

Who knew that right outside San Diego Zoo was this miniature train?

I’ve been there a few times and never noticed it.

And the ride begins…..

Many people walking by would wave at us.

So we asked Aiden to wave back too.

Now we are waiting to have his caricature drawn.

It’s not free – the guy said suggested donation is $10

I hate false advertising…

But I went for it anyway – another small memory of the day.

Aiden was okay sitting by himself some of the time.

The harder part was making him look at the artist.

I don’t think it looks anything like Aiden.

And afterwards we went to look at the ducks.

He was very happy.

Free things to do can be super fun!

Very active and always moving about.

And then he would sit down for a little bit.

Look around to see what’s going on.

Then continue on ….

There’s always something to see.

And people to copy.

He saw a Mommy holding onto her kid who was learning to walk, and wanted Daddie to do the same.

And now off to Extraordinary Desserts.

So much to pick from….

But none of what I’ve been craving for the last few years.

It was super sweet – and we didn’t finish this piece of cake.

Daddie got 3 flavor of ice cream – Vietnamese Coffee, Salted Caramel and Vanilla

We didn’t allow Aiden to try the coffee flavor.

He loved the Vanilla and didn’t want to share with Daddie.

“Yummy” was the first word out of his mouth when he took a bite of the cake.

But his behavior (especially prior to the food arriving) was poor.

We had to give him a short time out.

As you can see, he was different at the end.

Aiden was so exhausted he fell asleep when we got to the hotel.

The hotel gave him the dinosaur for his birthday – so nice!

Izakaya Sakura

Why did we pick this place?

For the Uni Don

Galen ordered lots of appetizers.

Mirugai sashimi… it was a major disappointment

fish was okay

Normally Aiden likes the steamed egg, but he couldn’t finish this one.

the cooked fish seems to taste best here.

Filler food for Galen.

At last after an hour wait, my main course arrived.

I was super hungry – to the point that I wanted to faint.  So food experience in San Diego – thumbs down!

Aiden is actually playing with his little dino.

Very surprised!

He also was not wow-ed by this hotel as he has been with other ones we’ve been to.

But he still found things to play with.

It was too cold to be in the pool at 8.

So we went to the spa instead.

At first we were just going to let him dip his feet in, but the water didn’t feel as hot after a while.

I think he enjoyed his first experience in the spa.

We didn’t have to share it with other people for long.

Luckily they had steps for him to sit on.

At time he didn’t even want me to hold onto him.

But I still stayed close enough to him…just in case.

We didn’t over do it, just 15-20 minutes of relaxing in the jacuzzi/spa.

The weather was much better after we left.

Too bad or else we could have gone in the pool.

We were so hungry but our reservations were at 11:30.

They were fully booked before that.

But we did buy some snacks to last us until brunch time.

Aiden kept wanting to eat the rolls.

Brockton Villa

Daddie’s drink.

Crayons to keep Aiden occupied.

Window view… although we did not sit at the window.

Daddie’s omelette

My meal

Aiden got to eat off our plates

Curry flavored clam chowder – surprisingly Aiden loved it!

Time to relax and enjoy the view.

So many sea lions!

Beautiful view but quite sunny.

I couldn’t open my eyes.

I hope Aiden had a wonderful birthday, especially planned by Daddie.

By the look on his face he had a great time!

Aiden might not remember this when he’s older.

But it’s okay – LIVE IN THE MOMENT!

Photos to remember

2 years old – I’ve got to get baby out of my vocabulary

Let the Terrible 2 days go by quick.

And that concludes our family trip.