Earp Events: San Diego/Palm Springs

This year for Ryan's vacation we met Grandma and Grandpa, Uncle Matt and Aunt Amy, and Uncle Dan and Aunt Elizabeth at Palm Springs. However, Ryan's week in Palm Springs was cut short because he was called in to moonlight at the end of the week...it was too hard to pass up on the money! Ryan felt a little cheated so we planned to go to San Diego a few days before we met the family in Palm Springs so the kids and I had a very full week and a half!

Highlights:
1. We went to the San Diego Zoo (We wanted to go to Sea World but since I'm pregnant I wouldn't have been able to go on any rides, but the kids still thought the zoo was cool). The only problem is that the San Diego Zoo made the Tucson Zoo seem not so exciting!
2. We spent some time at the beach...the kids always love playing in the sand, collecting sea shells, and getting chased by the waves!
3. We try out every pizza place we can find!
4. We walked around the San Diego Temple. Although I have seen many pictures of this beautiful temple I had never seen it in person!
5. We visited the Mormon Battalion Center and got a little history lesson and a fun picture!
6. The kids got to hang out with their cousins Taylor and Spencer with whom they always have a great time. Uncle Matt and Aunt Amy even had a sleepover in their room our last night there. Although Devon didn't make it past the first 5 minutes, Marissa had a great time!
7. Uncle Dan and Uncle Matt took the kids rock climbing and hiking in Joshua Tree National Park. Marissa and Devon both had a good time climbing for their first time, but Marissa turned out to be quite the little climber and made it to the top of the climb twice. When asked what her favorite thing was on the whole trip she answered, "rock climbing!"
8. Ryan and I were able to play tennis and go golfing neither of which we have done for quite some time! We may have been a little rusty, but it was good to get out! Thanks Grandma for watching the kids!
9. After Ryan had to leave, I left Sawyer asleep with Aunt Elizabeth and got to take Marissa and Devon swimming at the awesome resort pool!

We stopped at the beach the first day and let the kids play at the beach and there was a part of the beach that was taken over by sea lions. There was a walkway that let us go out over the beach and gave us a great view of the waves crashing against the rocks as well as the sea lions lounging about on the sand and rocks.

As we drove into San Diego we spent part of the afternoon at UCSD and ate lunch at their food court on campus. They had a bunch of outdoor seating around the perimeter with steps leading down to a platform. The kids thought that this was their stage!

Sawyer did not want to miss out on the action and climbed right up there with Marissa and Devon yelling who knows what like he owned the place!

As we were walking around the zoo we came across a worker who was handing out food for the kids to feed the camel...Devon had no problem sticking his hand out to feed the camel while Marissa was a little more hesitant!

Actually, one of the highlights of the zoo for the kids was the petting zoo. It mostly had goats and the kids liked being able to get close to them and pet them after a day of seeing animals from afar!

This was at the Mormon Battalion Center. The sister missionary asked for volunteers as she explained the outfitting for the soldiers and Marissa was eager to help!