A Long Weekend in San Diego

This past weekend we had to travel to San Diego for the best of reasons — to attend the wedding of two amazing people. Since we were journeying all that way, we decided to add a couple days to our stay to enjoy the city, and some very good times were had. Jordan and I had a lot of anticipation leading up to this trip — after coming off of a really busy and demanding season, we couldn’t wait for the chance to get away to a city we love and spend time with Jameson. In addition to the wedding, we were excited about three key things: 1) looking at the Pacific Ocean, 2) fish tacos, and 3) time in the backyard of our Airbnb rental.

Let’s work in reverse order and start with #3. As New York City residents with no outdoor space to call our own, this place was an absolute dream. A large garage door opened up from the living room to the backyard, so even when you were inside, you felt the outdoor vibes. And we all soaked it up.That tree you see there is an orange tree! We certainly don’t have those growing around NYC. We started most of our mornings with donuts from the nearby mom and pop donut shop (which California does so well), coffee, and our favorite playlists. It was awesome.

Now, let’s talk about tacos. My mantra for this trip was basically, “give me all the tacos.” And we ate tacos on four separate occasions. I’m still thinking about the al pastor tacos from The Taco Stand and the fish tacos from the Don Carlos Taco Shop (both on Pearl Street in La Jolla). SO good.

The time zone change was pretty rough on Jameson, so when he fell asleep in the car on our way to the park, we decided to take the 30 minute drive up to the Flower Fields at Carlsbad Ranch. Each year, from March to mid-May, acres and acres of ranunculus bloom at the ranch. I’d never visited a flower field before but imagined it had to be pretty beautiful. And it certainly was. Bonus that ranunculus are some of my favorite flowers. Though he’d just woken up from a nap, Jameson was not feeling our attempts at getting family photos. Yes, that’s his little head running out of the frame. Oh well!And still, more running away. We had to head back to La Jolla for the wedding anyway, but our time at the flower fields was beautiful and brief, thanks to Jameson.The wedding was held in a beautiful location right on the water in La Jolla at the spot where everyone goes to watch the sea lions. Jordan was overjoyed to officiate this wedding, because the groom, Caleb, is not only one of the greatest people we know, but he also was among the initial group of 15 people who helped start our church back in 2014. It’s been so wonderful to see him meet and fall in love with an equally amazing woman, Amanda. They’re special, and a whole crew of people from our church flew out to witness and celebrate their union. In addition to Jordan officiating, Jameson got to make his debut as a ring bearer! He managed to come down the aisle, which we were happy about. But as he got to the alter, he decided to turn around and walk back up the aisle (not in the plans). Aaaaand finally, he turned around again to come down the aisle a second time. Thankfully, the kid is cute, and cuteness can get you far in these moments. The wedding was in the perfect spot for watching the sun setting over the ocean (key thing #1 for all of you keeping track at home). Our friend Tyler took the camera from me and lived out all of his pent up professional photographer dreams, and the result was a lot of laughter. I’m pretty sure my face stayed almost exactly like this for much of the rest of the night. So much fun celebrating and catching up with dear friends from our church.

On our last day before leaving, we started the day with breakfast at Breakfast Republic in the North Park neighborhood. Errythang was good. Apparently the wait can be two hours on the weekends, and I can absolutely see why. This is perhaps the one perk of the early morning wake-up hours we parents endure — our wait was 10 minutes, since we arrived at 8:30 a.m.

Early morning wake-up hours are also the reason why this makes us so happy. And Jameson ate half of my lemon coconut french toast. Jordan had crazy good shrimp and grits, along with a side of upgraded potatoes that came with brussel sprouts and bacon. Would have made for a nice picture, but I knew better than to keep him from diving in. :-)After breakfast, we went to Grace City Church — a church plant, like our church, which was started a year and a half ago. It was the first time in years that Jordan and I got the chance to just attend church without any kind of responsibility. It was a pretty great feeling.

After church, we headed to the beach so Jameson could play in the sand. But alas, he fell asleep in his stroller when we got there. So Jordan and I reflected on the sermon, watched the surfers, and took in the sun. Nice poses only last until the freezing cold Pacific Ocean water rushes up onto your feet…With Jameson up from his nap and just a few hours left in the day, we headed to Balboa Park. Our first stop was the historic carousel, but Jameson took one look at it and started protesting. Apparently hating carousels is still a thing. There was a much smaller, less intimidating ride right next to the carousel, which was more his speed. In fact, he was really excited about it.(Yes, I’m over here dying.)

We followed the ride up with a stroll around Balboa Park, making stops at the Spanish Art Village, the Botanical Building, the Old Globe, and the California Tower. Jameson was pretty amused with a “bunny” he spotted.And we were amused by all of the gorgeous architecture.Stairs are a highlight wherever we find them, since we don’t have them at home. You might also notice holding on to Daddy’s sunglasses is also a thing. And with that, it was time to head back to NYC feeling full.

Full of tacos. Full of color. Full of memories. Full of gratitude.