San Diego

Zac's birthday was last week. I got an amazing deal on hotel/rental car and I had frequent flyer miles I could use for a free flight. So I decided I wanted to surprise Zac with a weekend get-away in San Diego. I coordinated with Bobby to watch the kids for the weekend and booked the reservations. There was so much drama that went on from the time I booked the flight, to when we went on the trip to keep this a surprise...all mainly the week leading up to this weekend. Number one...Fort Hood. The Utah soldier that died in the Fort Hood massacre was going to be buried at Zac's park...on Saturday...and he's the gravedigger. Problem. Zac told me he was the one burying him, and how it would only take 20 minutes. We got in a "discussion" about this because I couldn't reason with him as to why he couldn't just go into work for 20 minutes. He couldn't believe how "unreasonable" I was doing, and it was the least Zac could do for this fallen soldier. So I crossed the line - and e-mailed his boss, without Zac's knowledge. His boss was very kind and the next day instructed Zac that he has worked too many of the Saturday burials, and he has got this one covered. After-the-fact I did confess to Zac that I e-mailed his boss, and luckily he was alright with it. Number two...the night before we leave, right when we are falling asleep, Zac goes, "Hmmm....my drivers license expired last week. I should get a new one." Oh my. How can we get him on the flight without him knowing what's going on? So I snuck downstairs and got his social security card and birth certificate and put it in the bags I had previously packed. Number three...I had dropped everything off for the kids at Bobby's the morning before, when I dropped Eric off for school, and put our bags in the trunk of the car so Zac wouldn't get suspicious. There were so many other little things, and people I had to coordinate things with to make this happen. I was golden...up until 2 minutes before we were leaving. Zac thought we were going out to breakfast and Bobby was watching them for the day, and if they were good, they could sleep over. We had the kids ready to go, everyone was getting their jackets on, and Zac proceeds upstairs to brush his teeth. Ummmmm....I packed the tooth brush in my purse about ONE minute before that! So he caught on right then that we were going somewhere. After we dropped the kids off, I told him to go back home, I forgot my jacket. He goes, "Ya, Park City is real cold this time of year." So at least the destination was a surprise.

Right when we got to San Diego, we headed over to Coronado Island, where Zac grew up. We ate lunch there, shopped, and went and saw the house he grew up in. As we were driving by his high school, we saw the one teacher that made an impact on him growing up. After we were done with Coronado, we headed to Imperial Beach, then back up to Carlsbad where our hotel was. After we checked in, we headed over to the Carlsbad Outlets.Saturday, we started out driving up to Knotts Berry Farm, then went to several beaches, then headed back over to San Diego to eat dinner at the Gas lamp quarters, and ended the night at Ocean Beach on the fishing pier. We were on the pier for about 20 minutes when people had already caught a sting ray, baby shark and lobster! I couldn't believe it! I wanted to take a picture, but Zac thought I was being ridiculous. We flew back early this morning, just in time for church meetings, and the primary program. Aubrey did a great job. Eric wouldn't even stand up.All in all, it was really nice to have a vacation without the kids. We haven't been on one since we've had the kids. We had a fabulous time! Sidenote....this is what happens when Zac watches the kids....Jennifer in particular. She climbs ladders, and eats markers - and he takes pictures.
The end.