We flew out Tuesday morning, Aug 12 everything but our bags made it to San Diego! Those came later in the day. We were picked up by Grandma from Arizona, my sister Britta and her daughter Morgan. We hit Old Town, an area of town that is Mexican influenced for a hearty Mexican lunch.....I had a west coast staple...the fish tacos! After eating we took a trolley ride of the city which last two hours. Our tour guide, Deb, is probably the most knowledgeable person on the topic of all things San Diego....Deb became an inside joke during our week long stay. Here's a shot of Gabe and Abbi on the trolley taken with Tiff's new toy, her much sought after Canon Rebel. She took around 550 photos! I took about 2 hours worth of video.
Wednesday was Disneyland day!! Britta, Morgan and our five loaded up and headed out early in the morning for the drive north up the coast. We got there at 9:30am and didn't leave until 11:30pm!!!!! That's like 14 hours. We did as many rides as we could, ate some over priced food and bought some over priced merchandise. The day was as fun as it could be. The topper might have been riding the big roller coaster at the California Adventure, the Disney owned theme park next to Disney, for Elli and Morgan it was a first, but we all got through it in good shape. I bet we walked about 15 miles.
Here is the best shot.....some 20 minutes into our ride home shortly after midnight, Elli and Morgan passed out in the van.
A few weeks back, Britta noticed that the San Diego Padres were town and they had a Thursday afternoon game scheduled with the Brewers. She also noticed she could get upper deck seats for $7. $7!!! By then my brother JP flew in from Columbus and we finally met up with my bride to be sister Rachel and her man Tim and some of their friends at the game. We had a blast, ate some dogs, drank some brews and took in the excellent scenery of the new downtown ballpark. It was Abbi and Elli's first big league game. Rachel and Tim then hosted a party at their apartment where we were introduced to some of Tim's family.
Friday we headed to the beach at Cardiff by the Sea, not far from where Britta and uncle Tom live in San Marcos, a town over from Carlsbad, about 45 or so minutes outside of San Diego. Gabe wanted to surf and we wanted to introduce the girls to beach life. They have never been in the ocean before. We stayed for a few hours, Tom had all the toys, from surf and boogie boards to wet suits to sand toys.
Following our first visit to the beach we went to Mission Bay to check into the Catamaran Resort, the site of the wedding. The rehearsal was at the resort, the wedding took place on the back lawn over looking the bay. The rehearsal dinner was at a place in Balboa Park, not far away. I got some funny video there before the dinner began. The next morning we discovered a mama duck and some baby ducky's hanging out on our patio at the hotel, so we gave them breakfast, Cheezits and Fruit Loops!
Saturday was wedding day, the girls got their hair done while Gabe and I took a walk along the boardwalk and got a bite to eat and bought some t-shirts from a boardwalk shop. I got to walk Rachel down the isle, it was very special. Abbi and Elli were very excited to be flower girls, they looked amazing! Here is the girls in our room before we left for the ceremony, followed by Rachel and Tim entering the ballroom at the start of the reception. The ceremony went off without a hitch.
After the reception dinner, the hired DJ played some dance songs, the video below will start with Gabe and Elli dancing. Soon after, my cousin Rich from Chicago taps in to dance with Elli, as Rich's wife Germaine takes Gabe. That is followed by Tom and Abbi getting down. Then you'll get some scenes of the Grateful Dead cover band Rachel hired to play after the DJ. Yes, my sister hired a Grateful Dead cover band to play at her wedding. You're not reading that wrong. I was in heaven, they sounded wonderful. I was the guy yelling song suggestions, the one guy you hate to be around at shows.....but they played everything I threw at them. Tiff got that funny scene of me turning and waving at the camera. I truly didn't know she was recording, or why I turned around at that point.
Sunday we took it easy, headed back up to San Marcos and had a quiet day. I remember telling Tiff and Britta that I thought it was time to give the kids a break. For days we were asking a lot of them to be good and proper at Disney, the ball game, rehearsal dinner and wedding. Later that afternoon, Tom took JP, Gabe and I to a local brewery for a tour and a couple brews, Stone Brewing Company. It was impressive. That night we ate at Sammy's Woodfire Grill, where JP ordered an appetizer.....the duck tacos. I tried them, pretty good, to everyones astonishment Gabe decided to try it, he liked them as well. He normally doesn't venture out and try weird stuff. The girls got dessert with their meals, a messy sundae.
Monday was deemed another beach day, a beach in Carlsbad. The ocean water was very chilly, around 67 degrees I read in a local paper. But after about four minutes you really don't feel it any more, the water warms up to you and you get comfortable. Tom took Gabe out for more surfing and Abbi and Elli boogie boarded and Rachel drove up to be with us for our last day there. The weather was sunny and clear and the beach was ours, there wasn't many people there.
We left Tuesday morning, Ambrose was sure happy to see us return!
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