VACATION!

San Diego is way cool.

On our second day there I walked to Borders and bought a notebook and a pen:

When I bought this notebook just now I thought the pages were lined. They're not. It's a good thing I'm gonna transfer this to my blog when we get home. Me and unlined paper aren't great together.

I'm sitting at Borders in San Diego. I'm in California. I'm in California. I couldn't stop saying it during our plane trip here: "We're going to CALIFORNIA!"

I like it. San Diego is very hip. Pretty much the hippest city I've ever been to.

......Okay, it's three hours later and I'm back at the hotel. I had the coolest time! From Borders I cabbed it to Seaport Village, a touristy area right on the water. Got some great pictures, sat by the water, walked through some shops and ate lunch (chicken tacos with beans and rice). My dining companion was a pigeon. There were pigeons and sparrows all over the place and they even sat on the tops of the tables. Annoying little buggers, but cute all the same.

A big coastal storm is rolling in as I write this. There's supposed to be major rain and wind as well as flash flooding and ocean debris on some roads. Lovely. I just pray that it'll be okay on Saturday when our plane's ready to take off. OH my gosh, speaking of planes -- I think we flew right over the Grand Canyon on our way here! It was rocky and cliff-y and mountain-y and unspeakably beautiful. Looking down at the land from 37,000 feet in the air is so, so awesome and it always reminds me of how powerful and beautiful our Creator is!!

This has been a fabulous trip so far. I miss my sweet baby girl something fierce, as I knew I would. It will be sooooo wonderful to see here when we get home. But this has been a super break (for her too, not just for us!). She's doing GREAT with Grandma and Grandpa and it sounds like they're having a blast with her. When I talked to Mom this morning she said that Lissy is truly "one in a million" and that it is clear that we're doing a great job with her. I'm sure I was literally glowing just then. What a rockin' compliment - one of the best I've ever received.
We have had our share of minor frustrations on this trip. Last night our hotel room smelled like rotten eggs. Sulfur in the water, especially the toilet. It was nasty. And I have a bionic nose, so eew. Finally they moved us to a different room on the tenth floor. Then this morning Scott discovered that our toilet would not flush. Thinking that it would be neat-o to avoid our new room smelling like an outhouse, I called the front desk and a dude came up and fixed the potty right quick. Phew. So now I raise a glass of sparkling water on the rocks to NO more bathroom malfunctions.

California is so way cool. I hope to visit here again, maybe next time closer to Hollywood so I can do some star-searching. How fun would that be?! I would also LOVE to go to New York City someday.

I'll write more about the trip soon. Obeedoobee.

So that's the gist. We went to the San Diego Zoo on Wednesday and had a great time. The day was perfect - sunny and about 70 degrees. It was an extra-special treat to see the panda. He looked SO chubby and CUDDLY!! I wished SO badly that I could give him a huge hug!!

Friday was rainy, windy and chilly so I stayed in the room most of the day reading books and magazines and watching "Grey's Anatomy" on my iPod, and lounging on the bed. Bliss.

Then Saturday we flew home. The flight home seemed to go really quickly, which was great. I was really anxious to get home by Saturday! The American Airlines plane seemed like a glorified tin can, but it got us home in one piece so I won't complain too much!

Sunday morning we went down to Mom and Dad's to pick up our girl. When we first walked in, she looked at us with a completely stoic look on her face for a long time. Then Daddy picked her up and she smiled and said, "Dada!" and eventually she came to me and patted my shoulder and said "Mama!" Other than the couple of times she spontaneously broke into I-miss-Grandma-and-Grandpa tears today, she seems very happy to be home. We've had a nice, relaxing day together at home - with the fireplace on and candles lit and everything. It is SO good to be with my girl again!