SoCal Crosbys (So many pictures)

Our Crosby family vacation was in San Diego this year. It was wonderful! We were only missing 3 members of the family, which isn't bad considering our group is up to 26 members. (Although the 3 missing were still very missed.) I don't remember ever being in this part of CA before and Richie said it reminded him a lot of Hawaii, so I've pretty much been to Hawaii now. Check! ;) It was beautiful and there was so much to do, it was hard to choose what to cram into our week. But as always, it's wonderful to be home and not have to worry about getting lost and getting stuck in traffic. Traffic is the pits. On the first day we just got ourselves settled into our hotels. Day 2 is when the fun officially began. Are you ready for a TON of pictures?


Day 2: Ocean Beach
It's a sad day when you realize you're the only member of your tiny family that has ever really been to the beach, including your husband who served a mission in HI!!! Can you believe it? Poor deprived Richie. He has technically been to the beach once for a baptism in HI, and when he was a very small child in South Carolina. But he's never had the full beach experience. I was absolutely giddy when we pulled up to Ocean Beach. It was torture trying to hold the video camera and get good shots of the kids' reactions and carry superfluous beach equipment. The kids could have stayed there forever. Miles jumped right in, while Gwen and Lindy preferred to play it safe. Richie tuckered himself out with all the boogie boarding and body surfing. I got in the waves for a bit, which was awesome, but it was just as awesome to sit back and take it all in.


Family Talent Show
I did my best to orchestrate a family talent show and play some minute to win it games. If we had our way, we would have had a decent venue, but we took what we could get, which was all of us crammed into one of our hotel rooms. :) It was still a total success. How could it not be with such entertainment. :) Especially when Miles decided that his talent would be him playing his new favorite card game, with 3 of his cousins. I'm glad he was so proud of his new skills, but we had to kind of move that one along. :)



Day 3: USS Midway
We toured the USS Midway. This is where I wish I had the patience to understand history and dates etc a little better. For the most part I was just walking around thinking, "Oh cool, a plane!" "Oh cool, a boat" etc. My favorite part was the deliciously cool movie theater inside where you could watch a 15 minute movie about the ship's history. I love AC so much. The kids did really well. They were just getting tired of it, when they snagged Grandma and Grandpa's audio tour headsets. Then they were entertained the rest of the time. You'd randomly hear Gwen say, "Wow! Sweet!" or "Oh my gosh, I can't believe it...." and then spout off a fact she had just heard. The highlight of the entire trip was that Jenn and Mike offered to take Lindy for us, since they decided not to tour the ship. Man, that entire morning would have been torture hauling Lindy all over that ship. We dodged a bullet. Thanks Wallaes! And after all that touring, I still don't (and probably never will) understand how something so ridiculously big and heavy can still float. Totally blows my mind.


Lunch at the Corvette Diner
After the Midway, we headed to this awesome diner. The waitresses not only served you food, but entertained you throughout. Super fun!



Day 4: Coronado Beach
We hit another beach this day. In my opinion, it was more pretty than the first. Less people, and the sand had little flecks of gold in it. We buried the kids in the sand, played frisbee, chased the waves then ran away...it was wonderful.


San Diego Temple
Ideally, all of the adults would have gone to the temple together. However, logistics are hard with large crowds in unfamiliar territory. Timing and lack of babysitters got the best of us. Richie and I managed to squeeze in some initiatory work and enjoyed the temple grounds immensely. Thanks Mom and Dad for watching the kids!


Mormon Battalion Site
This was a highlight of the trip for me. The Church does things right. They made it such a cool experience and totally kid friendly. It was fun looking up Arza Erastus Hinckley on their digital directory there, and thinking, "Yeah, I'm related to him." :) I wish we could have spent more time there and more time in that historical San Diego area. But Lindy is the boss, and her bedtime calls the shots. You can only push tiny children's schedules so far on a vacation. I'm not much for bringing home trinkets and souvenirs, but I would have liked to pick up some traditional Mexican dresses for me and my girls.



And Back to St. George Again!
We got back to SG on Friday night. Breaking up the trip really helped. Plus we got to spend more time with the fam! On Saturday we made an impromptu visit to Gunlock Reservoir after visiting with Grandma Crosby. The "beaches" at Gunlock paled in comparison to what we had just come from, but it was nice and overcast, the drive out to that part of town is breathtaking, and we got to be together. My favorite part of any get together is just sitting and talking. I love my family and all the personalities in it. There's so much to be gained from being around these awesome people. I feel pretty lucky.


On Sunday, we were able to be at the newest member of the family's baby blessing! Little Mary Elizabeth is a dream and Richie wanted me to hold her more than I did, to get me all baby hungry. :) We took off after the luncheon and made it home a few hours before bedtime. We picked up Ozzy, who had aged 5 years in a week, checked our bunnies who grew like crazy in all the cutest ways possible, and caught up with our garden, harvesting a record breaking amount of blackberries. It felt so good to be home.