I almost cried on the way to the airport because I didn't want to leave. I think I found my zen in So Cal.
We had a most excellent trip. We truly have awesome friends and they showed us a great time.
We went to La Jolla Shores Beach, the USS Midway (a decommissioned ship that's now a museum), a drive around Coronado, Torrey Pines state park, a coastal drive from Carlsbad down the coast, and out to dinner at an awesome steakhouse called "The Butcher Shop". DH and M (our friend) took the boys to MCRD (where they both went through boot camp for the Marines).
We did a lot of hanging out. Our friends have a pretty awesome home brew set up and they had a Summer Ale and a beer named after us on tap (which we tapped out...
) They have an awesome smoker set up and we smoked a pork shoulder on Sunday night.
We were going to go to the zoo Thursday night, but DefConn burned his hand by touching the lid to the grill (DH was in charge but distracted and he moves too fast sometimes!). Luckily, B (friend) received a lot of medical training in the Navy and has the biggest first aid kit ever. So she got him fixed right up. (But he did blister pretty bad and was so beyond tired that he was inconsolable. I think I was crying with him at one point.
)
Best.trip.ever. For realz and I'm already looking forward to our next one.