san diego

while matt is away in the phillipines i went to visit ki, scotty and ellie! i went for a week while caleb was there and we had a great time. i was so happy to spend some time with ellie and see how fast she's changing, how smart she is, what a joy she is and what a crazy little cutie she is!!! i was also happy to see where kiley is living, they live in encinitas about 3 min. from the beach where there are walking paths, surfers everywhere and gluten free food to your hearts content! it's a really nice, beautiful area and i can see why they like it, i was glad i got to share in that.

there are a LOT of pictures!

seeing this face everyday made me so happy!

we ate everywhere! there is so much gluten free food it's crazy! the first night we went and got pizza and took it to the beach, this was mine and it was yummy!!

ellie loves being at the beach, sometimes it 's a little chilly but she doesn't care and will not keep anything on her feet, she's a hawaii born baby!!

we went to balboa park which was really pretty with a carasoul (how do you spell that?!) we all got on, ellie didn't like it once it started going up and down so we put her on my lap and that was better, she'll love it in a year and i'm sure it's the start of many rides!

i love noodle company and the kids told me about this soda machine that they have, it was really cool! you touch the screen for what kind you want then it gives you a bunch of flavors you can choose for that kind of soda, coke had 6 flavors! pretty futuristic!

ellie got really sick for about 3 days, she had a 102 temp and a rash all over. she has one ocean einstein video but ki doesn't let her watch it very much but she let her rest on the couch and watch it with uncle caleb, you can see their both enthralled! she loves it!

i really wanted to see my good friend pam that lives close to kiley in temeculah. they were actually on a staycation at legoland which is even closer to kiley so we met them at their beautiful hotel. ellie loves the water and was happy to get in and splash with mom! she of course has to be stylin even in the pool!

 ellie was still kind of sick so we only stayed an hour or so but it was so fun to see her and just hear her happy voice, i really miss her!

 their kids have grown up so much, little rascal luke is going into kdg. ! such a fun family!

 hanging out at the beach watching scotty and caleb surf. caleb was a little cautious about surfing since he's only ever done it in hawaii and you learn the waves and reef and ocean and are comfortable with it. california is different, the water is darker, there is seaweed everywhere and you have to wear a wetsuit into the cold water!

 once he did it though he loved it and has gone several times

                                                   scotty and caleb heading in

 there is so much seaweed there, that's the one bad thing about cali beaches, they start to smell and flies come and it's kind of gross. glad we don't have that here.

 i really wanted ki and scotty to go out while i was there but we were so busy and ellie wasn't feeling well so as she was getting better they went to a movie (with caleb, very romantic!) and ellie and i had a great night.

 she is not a great sleeper, she fights it every step of the way, in the car if she was starting to fall asleep she would start yelling or shaking her head so she wouldn't fall asleep and at home she is hard to get down so it was her bedtime so i tried rocking her, sitting in a dark room, watching a movie for me that i thought would be boring enough she would just fall asleep but she kept fighting,

 she was so tired and would lay down but would pop up so she wouldn't fall asleep! when ki got home she was out fast since she was so tired!! like mother like daughter!

 we went to old town and ate mexican and bought fudge and old time taffy and went to the mormon battalion

 it was a little cheesy in places but i learned a lot!

 maggie is in san diego with ted so we really wanted to see her so we met them in oceanside for dinner and rubys diner where ki had her rehearsal dinner. it was really fun to see her and meet ted.

 it was a beautiful night on the pier

 and yummy food! even rubys had a gluten free bun, sometimes it's nice to just have a bun with a burger!

                                         the sunset was beautiful!!

                   she is so funny, when i would get my phone to take a picture she would lean forward to get my phone so i have a lot of these pictures!

                                                          i love this picture, she was always playing with my necklaces!

 she is just such a sweet girl. it wasn't fun when she was sick but she was really cuddly and would pat your back, so sweet!

 on sunday we went to solana beach, it was so pretty! the cliffs there are so cool!

                                ellie loves the water, she truly is a beach baby!

                            i think that was one of my favorite things to do.

 we went to the sambazon cafe and had acai bowls, ellie loves it. she is such a good eater, ki makes most of her food but she eats avocado every day and berries and had her first quinoa. ki feeds her really healthy food and she loves it. scotty made her berry popsicles when she was sick!

i wanted to buy ellie a baby swing while i was there, kiley loved hers as a baby but they had no where to hang it so a baby pool was the next best thing. we went to the beach and brought it with us and scotty filled it with water from the ocean which was cold but she just doesn't care. she had a blast, playing, crawling in and out of it!

 we ate at so many good places, on the last night we went to BJ's and had dinner and got a gluten free pizookie. a chocolate chip cookie baked in a skillet served warm with ice cream-YUM i also had GF cupcakes, bread, pizza you name it!

 ellie loves to attach her mom with kisses and some bites, she just laughs and thinks it is so funny!

ki and scotty are really good parents and that baby loves them to death! she is so happy and full of joy and rarely cries. she is energetic and beyond her little 9 months! in chicago she was getting fussy in a car full of people driving around all day so i loaded a baby app on my phone called peek a boo barn, it's basically a see and say on your phone, you press the barn to open and see what animal is inside and hear what it says and then press the barn to get a new animal. it took a few times and she knew what to do. of course ki doesn't want her on the phone playing all the time but it comes in handy for things like dinner or traffic. she knows i have it and wants to see it on my phone but i try and be responsible and only let her play it occasionally!
i had such a great trip and appreciate ki and scotty having me, their place is small and caleb is there for a month and it's not easy having stuff everywhere but i had a great time and can't wait to see them in the fall in hawaii!!