San Diego

This past weekend Johnny and I took what will probably be our last vacation for a couple of years. Since Johnny was already traveling to San Diego for a rugby tournament, we made plans in the fall for me to join him for the weekend. I flew out on Friday with my friend Camille and we spent Friday evening and Saturday in the beautiful city. 

On Friday night we checked into our hotel in the Gaslamp Quarter, an area downtown with lots of shops and restaurants. We went to dinner with our friends Craig and Camille and enjoyed great company. Despite the guys' big talk about going out and living it up that night, we were all way too tired for that to actually happen, so we were in bed by 10:00. I guess we're already acting like parents!

On Saturday, we woke up early and Johnny and I set out to explore downtown before heading to Petco Park (home of the Padres) for the USA Sevens Rugby Tournament. We had talked about possibly doing something else during the day, but we weren't sure we'd have time. As Johnny and I walked around downtown, he finally exclaimed, "let's go to the zoo!" At first I hesitated because the plan had been for us to meet up with Craig and Camille at the tournament. I texted Camille to see if they wanted to join us, but Craig really wanted to go to the tournament all day so we grabbed a cab and headed to the San Diego Zoo. 

I have to say that I really wasn't too keen to go to the zoo at first; I mean, what's the big deal about a zoo? As soon as we arrived I discovered what was so great about it! First of all, the weather was absolutely perfect. When we arrived at around 9:30 a.m. it was probably about 55 degrees and wonderfully sunny. The weather only warmed up to about 65 that day and it continued to be one of the most beautiful days I've ever experienced. Johnny and I walked around the zoo observing the animals and discovered that the best time to go to a zoo is in the morning just after the animals have had their breakfast. All of the animals were out and active and there was barely a crowd to obscure our view of the activity. it was GREAT! What was best about the whole day was getting to spend it with Johnny. We so rarely get a chance to go somewhere and just be us and it was wonderful to spend the time together. The zoo was quite hilly and absolutely stunning with tropical vegetation and lush green everywhere. It was sometimes tough to hike the hills and climb the stairs at 7 months pregnant, but Johnny was always right behind me ready to help me along when I needed it. We both agree that when Jack is about 4 or 5, this is the perfect place to take him! 

One thing that we did that is completely not in our norm is we had a caricature drawn of the two of us with a warthog (a Pumba, as the boys refer to Johnny) in the picture. It was a little embarrassing since as we sat there for about 20 minutes, TWO tour buses passed by full of people and the drivers made sure to point out the artist's stand and people even took pictures of us having our pictures drawn! The end result was totally worth it, though. We are going to hang it in the baby's room as the artist even included my "baby bump" in the picture! Hopefully it will spark future conversations about our travels and the zoo and make Jack want to go, too! 

After the zoo, we went to Petco Park to watch some of the rugby tournament and had a great time with Craig and Camille and the rugby boys. After that, we went to dinner and I have to admit, after flying all day Friday and being outside walking around all day Saturday I was not the perkiest person. In fact, I was downright grumpy and emotional and probably ruined the night for everyone! As we walked into the very nice pizza restaurant (yes, it was a fancy pizza place!) I went to pull off my windbreaker and as I did, my shirt came off with it! I had my camisole on but you try being 7 months pregnant in the middle of a nice downtown restaurant with nothing but a camisole on. I'm sure it was quite comical for everyone else but I didn't see the humor in it at all and that brought on a pregnant crying fit. Needless to say, dinner wasn't much fun for me.

Once again, we were in bed by 10:00 and thank goodness. Johnny's flight with the team left at 6:30 and mine was at 9:30. After another long day of flying, I finally arrived home exhausted. However, I'm so glad that I got to go to spend the time with Johnny. It will definitely be one of my more pleasant pregnancy memories and something we can tell Jack about when he is a little older.