This year, in celebration of the 30th anniversary of Southwestern Eye Center, we headed to San Diego for the weekend! The whole weekend was completely paid for; hotel, meals, excursions, flights there and back, included! Since I'm still nursing Hayden, she got to come with us.
Friday morning, we headed to the airport. I was a little anxious because I don't love flying on airplanes and obviously Hayden had never flown before so I was't sure how she would do. We were on the same flight as several other SWEye docs. Hayden was tired and started fussing before we even got on the plane and I was worried the flight would be a nightmare. I fed her before takeoff but she wasn't going to sleep, that's for sure. It was hot on the plane, a new place and too much weird noise going on for her to settle down. Matt was great with her. I was armed with a few new toys and books but she didn't care about those. I also bought a toothbrush specifically to bring with us for her to chew on and that kept her occupied for a bit. Gerber puffs and ice water were our lifesavers.
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| View from the air- brown Arizona |
As soon as we got off the plane and got her in the stroller, she zonked out before we even got down to baggage claim. Miraculously, I transfered her into her carseat in the car and she stayed asleep all the way to the hotel and through the transfer back INTO her stroller at the hotel. I guess she loved her new posh pink stroller! She loved being able to finally be down and exploring the hotel room.
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| Who is that hunk sporting the breastpump over his shoulder? ;) |
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| Hayden checking out the view |
She squeezed in another good nap before dinner with our group. After dinner, we walked down to the Gaslamp District, which was a little bit wild on a Friday night. I was surprised at how many homeless people we saw begging or sleeping on utility boxes. It was also VERY warm outside. Hayden slept nearly the entire 2 hours of our walk and went right down for bed after being fed once we got back to the hotel.
We woke early the next morning to grab some breakfast before heading out on our scheduled trolley tour of San Diego. Our tour guide pointed out points of interest and we made our way over to Coronado Island where we were dropped off with about an hour to explore and shop. As a gift from the company, we were each given a $25 gift card to use! We bought a starfish ornament for ourselves and little turtles made of shells and a shark tooth necklace for each of the kids.
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| "Oooooh, I like your flower!"-Niam. Dr. Patel's baby | |
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| Coronado Island, our hotel in the background (tallest towers) |
We got back on the trolley and headed back over the bridge to downtown, learned some historical facts and saw all the cool things there are to explore in San Diego. We had lunch after the tour then we grabbed some ice cream from Ben & Jerry's. It was sooooooo hot this day with record-breaking temps! I think the high was 107, even warmer than back home! How ironic! Here I thought we'd be enjoying cooler weather for the weekend on the coast.... We went back to our room and Hayden (and Matt) took a nap in the cool darkness while I got ready for our evening.
We had a dinner harbor cruise arranged for that evening, so we had a sitter come to the hotel room to watch Hayden while we got all dressed up for a night out. When we got the invitation and it said "cocktail attire," I immediately panicked because I don't really have dressy clothes in my closet. I shopped away and found a few dresses to choose from, then heels, a necklace, a clutch and Spanx to smooth out the baby bulge I still have going on. I even curled my hair (still learning). I will admit that it felt great to get all dressed up -- once in awhile. ;) We asked a couple barely-dressed college-age girls to take our picture in the hotel lobby and one of them even said I looked really pretty! I don't know why it meant so much coming from her, but it made me feel good. It cooled off a lot once we got on the water and we were able to enjoy an evening of mingling and good food. The traditional anniversary gift for 30 years is pearls, so all the women received a pearl bracelet and the men received a fancy mother of pearl pen. The whole thing was fabulous!
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| Us with Melissa & Scott Sellers |
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| My feet HURT by the end of the night!!! |
There is always a variety of food offered, many things I've never tried before and I make myself try everything. I tried halibut (!) and even shrimp (!!!) which I have texture issues with, but I tried it!!
Sunday morning, we got up for breakfast and while Matt socialized with his colleagues, Hayden and I took a nice long walk through Seaport Village and down along the San Diego bay in the cool, foggy air. Hayden loved people and dog watching as I pushed her in the stroller. Matt joined us for a bit then we headed back to the hotel to pack up our things.
After we checked out, we went to the Mormon Batallion Historic Site with the Sellers and the Thompsons and took the tour there. We grabbed a bite to eat at a yummy Mexican restaurant then made our way back to the airport for our flight back home.
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| San Diego wears a girl out!! | | | |
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I was hopeful that Hayden would do better on the plane this time but
once again, she was tired and I tried in vain to get her to sleep. She
was sooooooo close to actually falling asleep, but just couldn't manage.
She was definitely loud and all we could do was apologize and get out
of there as soon as we could when the plane landed!
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| So long, San Diego! |
We are so lucky that Matt works for such a great company. Lothaire and Connie Bluth are such thoughtful and genuinely sweet people! I forgot to mention they even had a gift for Hayden this weekend- three of their favorite Sandra Boynton board books and a $50 gift card to babyGap. How did they know I love to shop there? ;) They really make us feel like family and I'm grateful that we have an opportunity to get away once a year with the people Matt works with. I love getting to know everyone better.
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