Day 16: Last Day in California--San Diego and Reminiscing

Aha:

Our last day in warm, sunny, bright, warm, beautiful and warm California. Did I mention it's warm and lovely here?

Well, we went out on a bit of a quiet note and spent the day in Old Town San Diego and in Seaport Village. What a warm and lovely day!

First, a tour of the Mormon Battalion Center. The church actually did quite a good job at putting this center together. It started with a movie about the battalion and their trek across the US, and ended with gold panning and other fun activities for the kids. There was also a panoramic view of Old Town from a tall tower on site.

(Maddie and her two gold nuggets.)

(And then Sam's.)

After the 2,000-mile trek at the historical site we decided we'd worked up an appetite and stopped for our last bout of Mexican food before heading back to Canada (the land of no good Mexican food).

The restaurant was all outside and the weather was perfect for it!

We even had time for a proper tickle session. :)

After lunch we toured through Old Town and enjoyed the cute shops and beautiful weather.

We even stopped at an old-timey candy store where Maddie and Sam scored some giant chocolate coins.

And Rennie saw her first real cactus.

After Old Town we wandered over to Seaport Village and walked the shops there. I actually remember coming here when my high school choir came here for a trip about 13 years ago.

We saw this cool looking cactus tree. The bottom looks just like a tree trunk and slowly fades into a cactus. Pretty neat.

We posed for one last pic on the boardwalk and then headed to Noodles & Co. for a quick bite.

Once dinner was over we said our goodbyes to my brother and his cute family before traveling back up to Los Angeles.

We leave early tomorrow morning, but this has been an absolutely wonderful trip. We've seen so many touristy things, eaten too much food and had a great time together. I am so glad we could show Rennie what a warm vacation feels like and it was so fun watching her enjoy her surroundings. I am so glad my brother and his family could meet us in San Diego and that we had a few days with them. I feel so blessed to be surrounded by people I love so much...especially in a warm and lovely place. Makes my heart feel all warm and lovely too!

Haha:

I was reminded of something cute today that my nephew, Paden, used to call Clinton.

At dinner tonight Anton, pointing at Clinton, asked Maddie, "Who is that?" She looked at him unsure. Anton said, "That's Uncle Clinton."

Jen turned to me smiling and asked, "Isn't he Uncle Plinton?"

I smiled and remembered how cute that used to sound back when Paden was starting to talk. The closest he could get to saying "Uncle Clinton" was "Uncle Plinton". It lasted for a year or so but it was so cute while it lasted!