Perfect Summer Ending

The Casillas Family spent a fabulous weekend in San Diego, California for our final farewell to summer vacation! The trip started out at Sea World on Thursday. The kids got to pet and feed the dolphins. I was so proud of both of them. Not only did they touch the dolphin but they both put slimy fish in the dolphin's mouth. Gianni fed the dolphin three times. Carmen did it once and then that was enough for her. Carmen loved touching the starfish but was a little scared of the bat rays. Carmen's saying the entire time was "I want to see something else!" Carmen would look at a tank and would be ready to move on to the next thing. Gianni is my kid that analyzes everything so he would want to spend all kinds of time reading about the creature and observing it while his sister would look for two seconds. They are very different children.

One thing that the two Casillas kiddos do have in common is their love for the beach. They both could run in and out of the water, be hit by the waves, and dig in the sand for hours....and they did! The next day we went out to Coronado Beach. The kids had so much fun and we built our family sand castle that was pictured above. Hopefully you can see that it is shaped like a "C". Gianni found shells with animals still inside while Carmen ran in and out of the water believing that the water was chasing her and only her. We were there for four hours and by the end of the day they were wiped out.

Earlier that Friday morning the sun was actually hiding so before we headed out to the beach we hit Balboa Park and walked around the Old Cactus Garden, attended a puppet show at the Marie Hitchcock Puppet Theater, and also visited the Model Railroad Museum. The puppet show was a little scary at first but they warmed up to it quickly. They both thought that the Railroad Museum was super cool and I know my dad would have enjoyed it. The really did love Balboa Park and if we had more time (and money) we would have also entered the Automobile Museum, Natural History Museum, and Science Center. Oh well! We will save those for another trip when the kids are a bit older.

OK, so it is time for a funny story! After a jam packed day on Friday that started with Balboa Park, the Railroad Museum, the Puppet Theater, a 4 hour trip to the beach, and I forgot to mention a swim in the hotel pool at our hotel on Coronado, it was about 6:30pm and we were exhausted and HUNGRY! Both of my kids had red eyes from the beach and hotel pool and everyone was just ready to eat and pass out. So, I decided that I wanted a thin crust pizza and salad for dinner. I turned to the phone book and found a Greek restaurant that had both. Being that Coronado is pretty small it was just down the street. When we arrived I was a little surprised to see that it was a liquor store with food being served at a few tables in the front. Liquor store, no way are my kids eating in a liquor store. So, back in the car we are driving around and are seeing restaurants with crowds of people outside. Don't forget it is Friday night around 7pm! So, we go back to the "liquor store pizza joint" where I order food to take back to the hotel. Don't call me in to CPS mom....we didn't eat there! HA HA. Anyway, I was not paying attention because I was so hungry and tired and when I ordered I said "please give me your largest cheese pizza and a Greek salad to go!" I guess I should have looked at the menu because the place serves a 28 inch thin crust pizza. This thing was so big that it didn't really even fit in the car. Here is a picture of the kids laying next to it on the hotel bed. This thing was huge!

The hotel at Coronado was perfect. We all got a great night sleep. The kids were in a separate living room on a pull out and Abel and I had a master bedroom. We put on a DVD for them in the living room area while we watched TV and in a matter of minutes they both were asleep.

The next morning was Saturday and the hotel had an amazing and FREE breakfast with eggs, bacon, all kinds of amazing fresh fruit, coffee, juice, and any kind of pastry you could want. We decided to take advantage of the weather one more time and we hit a local Coronado community park. Gianni said, "mommy..can we move to San Diego? I just love it here."

After the park we headed for El Centro for a visit with Abel's family. Our little niece Destiny was turning two so we were there with them on Saturday night for her birthday party. Tonight is Sunday and we are home, unpacked, and exhausted. Everyone is asleep and I am about to join them. We have one more week of fun before mommy goes back to work. I am going in August 2nd and I start with students August 9th and Gianni starts Kindergarten that day as well.

This trip was perfect! It is so nice now that they are getting older. I didn't have to bring a pack and play for Carmen, no diapers (ps..she goes #1 and #2 all by herself now and has had no accidents in weeks), and she could skip a nap and be totally fine. This summer has been the first time we have traveled with such little stress and preparation. Although we had a busy and eventful summer, I know that it is one that the kids will truly remember.