disneyland would have cost less

The last year has been kind of craptastic for the Chaos Clan. I didn’t really post anything about it because I know there are so many that were in the same boat that we were. Big Daddy’s hours at work had been drastically cut which meant his checks were drastically cut too. We were never without anything we needed, but there wasn’t money for very many extras.

Right after Christmas Big Daddy’s hours were back up to normal and even a few extra hours each week. It was such a relief.

Then last week there was talk about a little get-away to St George that didn’t happen, but Big Daddy and I felt like a get-away would be perfect for our family.

We live in the perfect place for a quick California trip. So we decided we would head to San Diego…on the cheap.

Big Daddy went to work on Friday morning and came home around noon so we could start a weekend of fun just a little early.

Hammie hadn’t ever been to California and the girlies haven’t been since they were little so it was exciting to see the “Welcome to California” sign.

Hammie was just as excited to see this sign soon after.

We had about 30 minutes to get to our hotel when we came upon this sign.

As we sat for about 20 minutes we started noticing a smell coming from the suburban…an expensive smell.

Do you smell that?

As we made it through the check point and started the final climb before we would drop into San Diego, the poor suburban gave out. We limped along I-8 hoping we would make it to our hotel.

With one slight detour to the wrong hotel we finally made it to the right one.

The next morning Big Daddy left in our poor crippled suburban to look for a transmission shop. It’s bad enough trying to find a mechanic in the town you live in, but even more stressful trying to find one when you are from out-of-state. Not long after he left he texted me that his phone battery was dying. At that point I freaked out got a little nervous when I realized that he was gone with all of our money and I had no way of reaching him and I was stuck in a hotel with 5 kidlets in a town that I am completely lost in.

A few hours later Big Daddy showed up back at the hotel after a lovely walking tour of San Diego along this trail.

So at least we were all together, but without any way to get around town.

A few hours later the mechanic called to let us know that they had found a rental car for us…but it would only be for a local rental and we would have to drop it off in San Diego. ummm…we don’t live in San Diego. Big Daddy and the boys headed back along the same 2 mile walk to pick up the rental so we would at least have a way to get around town.

After Big Daddy was dropped off at the rental car place he found out that we could have the rental until Wednesday and we could drop it off in AZ…WHEW.

Then as he was leaving the rental car place he saw this sign and realized things were finally looking up.

Finally it was time for the fun to begin.

We headed to La Jolla and got our first glimpse of the Pacific.

We headed to the sea lion beach by Scripps Park.

Sea lions weren’t the only animals that were there.

But there were plenty of sea lions around,

including a few babies.

It was nice to see smiling faces.

Big Daddy and the kidlets posed in a perfect spot…

To get splashed by the waves crashing against the breaker wall.

We walked down a little further where the kidlets could actually walk in the sand and get their feet wet in the ocean.

Hammie didn’t mind being in the sand,

But didn’t really like the cold water.

It didn’t take the Big Boyz very long to go from getting their feet wet…

to wading in the water.

Einstein realized at one point that his pants were soaking wet and it didn’t really matter if they were rolled up or not.

The Man-Child tried to see how wet he could get.

We stayed long enough to watch the beautiful sunset on the beach.

It was amazingly beautiful.

Even after a very stressful start to the day Big Daddy and I were still smiling.

I did make a couple of the kidlets strip down to their underwear before we got back in the car and even made them walk from the parking garage to the room without their pants…even past some team from ASU.

That night the shower in our hotel room looked like this:

Our hotel room was perfect.

There was a king bed in one room for me and Big Daddy.

And there was a set of french doors that led to another room for the kidlets.

Yes there were kidlets sleeping on the floor…which completely grossed me out.

And there were perfectly good bunkbeds in the room too.

On Sunday morning we headed off to do the Mormon tour of San Diego starting with the Mormon Battalion Museum.

It is a great tour that gives a very small taste of the march of the Mormon Battalion.

When they asked for a volunteer to wear the gear the soldiers wore, LaLa was very quick to raise her hand. I think she made a cute, little soldier.

After the tour the kidlets got to pan for “gold”.

There was even a little brick making going on.

The Man-Child was upset because his brick was chipped.

Einstein made use of the water pump.

Notice the results of the “gold” panning on LaLa and Hammie.

The kidlets were quick to give up the covered wagon

for our rental car.

After that we stopped by the San Diego Temple.

I think it is one of the prettiest Temples.

I loved the poppies on the Temple grounds. They are one of my favorite flowers.

It was time for us to finally head back home.

As grateful as I was for this rental car, I know that a Chevy Traverse isn’t the vehicle for us.

It was a little cozy in the back row.

As we left San Diego I really started missing my suburban. I am really attached to that silly vehicle, even if she did break down and leave us stranded. I don’t care that she is 10 yrs old. I think about all the places she has taken us, the laughing and singing…and dancing that has happened in that suburban. Not to mention the space.

But I could get used to the bells and whistles that come with a new car.

As we passed by the evil check-point that started all the problems I was just glad to be going home.

I was glad to see this sign.

We still don’t know how long it’s going to take to fix the suburban or how much it’s going to cost, but I am pretty sure that it would have been cheaper for us to go to Disneyland.