So friday morning, July 25th, we rented a van and drove to San Diego for a family vacation. I don't think it should be called a family VACATION. I do not feel like I have had a vacation. I feel like I need a vacation. I think a vacation can only occur when you leave the kids with grandma amnd grandpa! It was great fun and I loved spending the time with the girls, but I am exhausted. Our friends, Sean and Nichole Rammell also drove down with us. They have three girls all between Ellie and Brylee's ages. So the five girls had so much fun together. We stayed in St. George on the way down and Vega on the way back. Nichole also brought her 15 year old sister and cousin to help with the kids. They were great and even watched the kids sleep in the hotel room a couple nights so us four could go out. We went to Rockin' Baha for a bucket of seafood one night without the kids. In Vegas, we hit the casinos. It was my first ever gambling experience. Bret and I each took a $20 bill. Nichole convinced me to play the slots and Bret and Sean hit the tables. I lost all $20 in less than a half hour. Gambling is not for me!! I found Bret and he was up to $35. He gave me his chips so I could try the tables. I lost it all except for $1. Bret placed it on a table and we were about to walk away when we realized he won $40. So we cashed out and walked away with $41. We actually one a buck. I think next time I will just watch Bret play. We will have much better luck. I told the man at the table it was my first time gambling and he asked it I just turned 21. Since I turned 30 today I felt like kissing him. (not really) I laughed.


You can see it took a lot to entertain Brylee in the car. Sunglasses, dolls, and a movie all at once. Actually she did very well in the car to our surprise.
We stayed at Town and Country Inn at Hotel Circle. The pool was a hit. We went swimming almost every day. Ellie is becomming quite the little swimmer. She dives, does hand-stands, tries to flip adn loves the deep-end. It is nice to have her so independent in the water and not have to worry so much. Brylee on the other hand THINKS she can swim. Bret and I would stand about 10 feet apart and I would shove Brylee towards Bret. She would dive in kicking and throwing her arms until Bret pulled her up. She would come up, catch her breath, push the hair out of her eyes and say again as she dove back in towards me. She was crazy!!
All five little girls at the hotel. Anna is a year younger the Ellie and Allyssa is just older than Brylee. Aubree is 4 and sometimes feels left out but they all got along very well considering. Ellie was completely occupied with her friends and had little time for mom and dad on this trip. I felt like the only time I saw her was in our hotel room at night. She also hated posing for a picture, which is unheard of. She got so annoyed with me whenever I asked her to take a picture with me that she started refusing to smile. So I eventually gave up and just took pictures of Brylee. Does this mean Ellie is growing up?? I hope not.
We went to Sea Port Village our first day in San Diego. (Ellie wasn't too annoyed yet). This is always a great place to visit. The shops are so fun and the music was great. The three older girls danced to the bands and just had a great time. A man even made them all roses from palm leaves for free because he thought they were so cute.
This dog was taking a rest in Sea Port Village and Brylee went right up to it and layed on it. I am trying to teach her to not just walk up and hug dogs for her own safety but she is truly an animal lover and she can't be stopped. Luckily this dog was so sweet and his owners just got a kick out of Brylee. She gave it kisses and hugs and layed with it for 10 minutes.