Vacation Update #4

Well, we're home. It's good to be here but boy, was our break nice...

We got up late the next morning after recovering from our gigantically wonderful meal from the night before. We checked our email, drank some coffee, read the McPaper (USA Today) and just took our time checking out. Then straight to the beach we went!

This time we tried out Huntington Beach just up the coast a little. I don't know if it's because we were by the pier or maybe that's it's a bigger surfer hangout, but there were a lot more people, and hence a lot more bird begging for food. We learned a BIG lesson yesterday: Do Not Bring Yummy-smelling Leftovers to the Beach. Omg, the birds would not leave our stuff alone!!! Fortunately, I was pretty tired and was looking forward to just sitting with our stuff and reading so we didn't really leave our stuff alone long enough for them to devour anything. Brian spent the afternoon body boarding again and getting a nice tan.

The pier at Huntington Beach


Brian "catching waves" at HB


The surf is, like, totally rad!

For lunch we had leftover pizza, mashed potatoes, mushrooms, & carrot cake- yum! We also planned on keeping some stuff left for dinner on the plane for later.

After about 4 hours we had had enough. We rinsed the sand off at the surfer showers, changed in our traveling clothes, and (don't tell anyone) took our stolen towels back to the hotel before heading to the airport. (Hey, we were not about to spend another whole day at the beach without towels again! Next time, we'll suck it up and pack a towel in each of our carry-ons.)

Even though we didn't have a full day in CA yesterday we were exhausted and happy. We're even starting to plan our trip for next year!!!


Sophia had a great time with Grandma & Grandpa Johnson- she was pretty happy to see us home too!

Vacation Update #3

Did I mention that we haven't had a vacation since our honeymoon 4 years ago? We are truly enjoying every since minute of this one!

Well...we spent over 5 hours on the beach yesterday...and I don't even consider us "beach" people. It's been cloudy every morning which makes it perfect weather for Brian to run in. He ran along the boardwalk at Newport Beach and I read and snoozed in the sand- yes, we brought towels this time.

We then walked up to Newport Pier and got some coffee and looked around in some of the shops- whew, it was quite a walk for preggo me but I was just happy to get my coffee! Brian rented a body board and we had a blast in the water. It only got up to 74 but somehow it didn't bother us much once we got used to the water. My preggo self even did a little body boarding!

Brian "catching a wave"

We ate lunch on the beach again and agreed that this was our idea of "roughing it". We've been also talking a lot about coming back down here and renting a house right on the beach for a whole week, maybe even with friends. I just can't believe how relaxed we are. I don't feel the pressure to always be productive with my time. And, you guessed it...we haven't changed a diaper in 3 days!

We left the beach, turned in Brian's board and headed back to the hotel to get ready for dinner. (I love this part.) We got all dressed up and enjoyed a spectacular dinner at Mastro's while overlooking the ocean and watching the sunset. We both agreed it was probably the best dinner we'd ever had: grilled swordfish, blackened mahi mahi, sauteed mushrooms, garlic mashed potatoes, a bottle of pinot noir, which we agreed was the most spectacular wine we have ever tasted. For dessert I enjoyed a cup of coffee and we ordered a flourless chocolate cake with fruit and the waiter threw in a giant piece of carrot cake since he knew it was our anniversary. Needless to say, we'd had a full day so we went back to the hotel to chill out after that. We both agreed it was a perfect day!

Our table was actually partially outside with some windows overlooking the ocean. We got there just in time to see the sunset.


Our dessert: flourless chocolate cake & carrot cake. If you can make it out, the chef spelled "Happy Anniversary" in chocolate sauce across the top of the plate.


Andi & Brian, September 22nd, 2008 celebrating our 4th anniversary

Well, someone's waiting for the computer here at the hotel so I better go...more later!

Vaca Update #2

...so to continue...

We had checked out of our first hotel and couldn't check into the 2nd yet so we just went to the beach...oops...without towels. No worries though, we made lunch and laid right there in the sand...and again, without changing any diapers!!!

Brian cajoled me into the cold water and it wasn't bad after a while. We rode some of the waves for a while and when I finally started feeling beat up I sat there and got some pics of Brian in the water. For those of you who know quiet, laid-back Brian, he turns into an excited 5-year-old in the ocean- jumping, diving, yelling, etc. "Just Add Water" It was pretty funny.

Brian getting swallowed by a wave...


Brian spotted a bunch of dolphins about 100 yards out- it was so cool! They were jumping in and out of the water! (I couldn't seem to get a really good pic...but it was quite a sight.)

Finally, we went to the hotel. It's a Holiday Inn by the airport, which is less than 10 minutes from the beach but it's much more corporate than the first one- not as "vacation-y". We got settled in, cleaned up, and went back out for a quiet casual night on the coast.

We found ourselves on Balboa Island (we've been doing a lot of just driving around) and ate at a little Italian place, got some hot chocolate, and walked around enjoying the evening...and, you guessed it, no diapers to change!

Brian and I have been having a really great time. We get along really well on vacation b/c we like to do the same things and we're both open to just doing whatever. I love the fact that half the time we don't even know where we are but we're just enjoying ourselves anyway. Haha, we've done A LOT of u-turns here trying to get the directions right but it's totally okay, b/c our intention was to just relax and do a bunch of nothing...

So since our hotel doesn't offer free breakfast (I don't recommend staying at a Holiday Inn) we did go next door to McDonalds- yuck- to avoid paying $8 for a small plate of eggs. It's a little chilly & cloudy so we're going to head out to the beach, Brian's going to go for a run while I read the paper, and then we're going to find a coffee shop on the coast to hang out at until the sun comes out. Then back to the beach to lounge around like lazy loafs!

Oh, tonight is our anniversary dinner. We're going to Mastro's Ocean Club Fish House for some steak & seafood. We've got a reservation right on the water so we can watch the sunset...ah, how romantic. We're planning on enjoying some wine and spectacular seafood...and maybe we'll have room for dessert!

Vacation Update #1

I forgot to update this morning about day 1 so I'll combine the first two days...

Got into Orange County yesterday- not a bad flight. We're driving a Pontiac G6, but I secretly hoped they'd upgrade us to a Mustang like they did for Brian a couple of weeks ago. Oh well. Brian just HAD to see the ocean ASAP so we drove down to the coast and soaked it all in. Then drove down to Laguna Beach. Our hotel wasn't ready so we went grocery shopping in an attempt to save a little money and avoid having to eat out for every meal. There are NO grocery stores on the coast! The one that we did find was a hoity-toity gourmet store probably for all the people who can actually afford to live on the beach. We speculate that they eat out the rest of the time because there are a ton of restaurants!

We stayed in a Best Western the first night but it was really nice! Our room wasn't huge but we had a balcony with an ocean view, flat screen tv on the wall, and 2-person hot tub right in our room. I personally loved (and snatched) the Bath & Body Works shampoo, conditioner, and body lotion.

Our hotel...can you believe it's a Best Western?


View from our hotel room...sigh...

Next morning, Brian went for a run on the beach while I sat on the balcony with my feet up drinking coffee, reading, and listening to my ipod. Not once did I have to change a poopy diaper! Breakfast was outside on the 4th floor veranda and we didn't mind that it was just waffles in the toaster, bagels, juice, fruit, you know, continental breakfast. It was pretty good though.

Brian at Laguna Beach

We spent our morning lounging around the room and getting ready for a vist to Saddleback Church after checking out. The service was phenomenal- we went to the rockin' Overdrive Service and thought about all the people we knew who would love it! I didn't think I'd be all that interested in attending such a big church, but I could totally see us getting plugged into such a cool place.

The stage at church before the service started- once it did, there were lights, smoke, and some really awesome music!

After church we headed straight for the beach...uh oh, it's getting late so I'll update more tomorrow...I also have pics to add...stay tuned!

Thought I'd share Sophia's "cheesy face" with everyone...

Sophia- September 2008

Well, football season has started...and Brian is teaching Sophia the fine art of loafing around all day watching games...



...but I didn't miss my chance to get her to do a little laundry...

Porch Party!

Yay, we finally got our back porch filled!!! It's pretty raw right now but we have big plans for it...

The steps from the back door leading to an upper level then to a lower level...



Imagine a pergola attached to the house on the upper level. We'd like to get an outdoor table setting, some white lights, and paper lanterns. I was thinking about grapevines running up the far posts- they seem to grow pretty easily out here...



Well, the porch ended up being bigger than we thought- but that just means there's more room to work with! I thought about using the space on the closer side of this pic for some tomato plants...



I'd like to find some outdoor rugs for the upper and possibly the lower levels...



We'd like to put a firepit and some wrought-iron chairs in this corner. Maybe eventually a grill...