Thursday, June 17, 2010

Once Upon A Time

We went on a 10th anniversary trip to San Diego. Then I forgot to tell you all about it.

The End.

Kidding! I guess I really did completely forget to post about it though, which is surprising because we had an incredibly fun time. I think, perhaps, that we had so much fun that I just forgot about everything else entirely, and then it was back to work and laundry and last minute trips and it just slipped completely off my radar.

I was actually downloading pictures off my camera in preparation for an entirely different post when I saw all the photos from our anniversary shindig, and it crossed my mind that maybe I had never actually done anything with those pictures or told anyone about our Great Adventure.

So, better late than never:

Remember how we recently celebrated our 10th anniversary?

Well, for a short time many months ago we were planning a trip to Hawaii to celebrate the big event, but then the earthquake in Haiti happened just as I was beginning my exploration of what it could mean to live a non-consumeristic life - a life that was about giving, not taking. And I knew that if I wanted to even begin living a life like that there was no way I could spend a chunk of money just to go to Hawaii for a few days while one of the worst disasters in modern history was playing out right in front of my eyes. It really was an important decision for me personally at that moment. Sort of an are-you-really-serious-about-this-or-just-full-of-hot-air moment. Honestly, I knew that for my own sake I needed to put my money where my mouth is (er, was).

So, we donated the money we would have spent on/in Hawaii to the relief efforts in Haiti and that was that.**

Except that we have awesome friends. Friends who decided that 10th anniversaries should be celebrated in special ways, regardless of whether or not they are celebrated in Hawaii.

Thus in early April, at the end of Pete's spring break, we got to spend a night (just the two of us!) in a really nice hotel in Pasadena, and then the next day we got to pick up Eden and drive her down to San Diego where we spent another night in a hotel right by the harbor AND got to go to the San Diego Zoo (one of my favorite places) the next morning before driving home.

It was so much fun! We thoroughly enjoyed the trip and will we remember it for a long time.

And now for pictures!! I actually don't have any from the hotel that we stayed at on the first night, which is too bad because it was really beautiful. But I have a ton from our time in San Diego - so many in fact, that I might actually split this post up in two.

So, without further ado, here are photos from the first day we arrived (with photos of our trip to the Zoo coming tomorrow):

This is what our hotel looked like from the back. Isn't it pretty? It was right on a canal (or some sort of waterway) that led into San Diego Harbor. There were a lot of hotels in a row along this canal and there was a very pretty running/walking/bicycling path that ran in between all the hotels and the water. Gorgeous!

Looking left from the back of the hotel.

Looking right from the back of the hotel. It's very hard to see when the photo is this small, but can you spot the tiny bit of red next to the building in the very back, directly above the boat?

That is this - the tail of a cruise ship departing from San Diego Harbor!

The walking/bicycling path in front of our hotel also ran along the harbor, so we went for a little walk that evening before dinner.

Eden loved the boats and the water. Being a child, and just herself, she also greatly enjoyed throwing things.

Here she is looking for something good to throw.

Found some leaves - back to the water!

Good times.

But little did Eden know that heaven-on-earth was just around the corner...

Here I present to you A Playground. On a Beach. Next to Water with Big Boats. And (although you can't see it) within view of a freeway with Big Trucks and even the occasional Big Bus. Meanwhile, we are close enough to the airport that Big Planes would often be just overhead. I thought Eden was going to explode from happiness.

Unfortunately, there is a limit to earthly happiness. Especially when your mom is too busy taking pictures to be at the bottom of the slide to catch you. (She's gone down a slide safely 100 times before, people!)

This is probably a truly terrible thing to say, but I wish I could zoom in on this picture (like I can on my camera) so that you could see the perplexed look on her face right before she sails off the end of that slide, backwards and going at a nice clip, into the sand.

If it makes you feel any better, I felt horrendously guilty.

That did not stop us from sending her down the slide again, of course.



Before you call the authorities, I would just like to add...



She had a really, really good time.


Thank you so much friends-who-want-to-remain-anonymous!! It was wonderful!

**Peter and I actually used our donated money to start a little competition with the kids at his school. Each class competed against each other and against the faculty to see who could raise the most money for Haiti - with the result that Peter was actually able to send a little over $10,000 to a large relief organization working in Haiti. That did my heart good. :)

1 comment:

Shanelle said...

HAHAHAHAHHAHA!

Best slide ever.
When you move. you should buy her one.