Photos From Our Trip To Old Town

The day we went to Old Town, we also took the Harbor Cruise. I got lots of pictures from the cruise but it was so cloudy and overcast, they didn't really turn out well, so I will just post pictures from Old Town. I really enjoy Old Town. It's fun to walk through the old shops as well as the stores. Or just stopping for a tasty adult beverage (which contains tequila).

Told you I was obsessed with how low the planes come in over the city.

Sam and I were also interested in some of the strange trees they have there. We saw some others that were even stranger but never had the camera handy. Ok, actually these weren't growing out of the roof tiles either.

Sam, Karen, Mr. Snowbird and especially Noah getting a lesson from the sailing captain.

Looking down the street of Old Town.

This was probably the most popular store in the village. The Candy Store of course. Who can resist salt water taffy and penny candy--which is a LOT more than a penny now!

I do love Bougainvilla and thought this was such a beautiful shot.

We saw three little guys who had their faces painted like this. I know that my daughter can tell you all about what they were made up to be but I have no idea. I just thought they were neat.

I thought this was hysterical. It reminded me of when my mother would hang my dad's long johns out on the line in the winter and they would freeze. No kidding. Of course my dad wore white long johns, not pink ones.

Last time we went to Old Town, we happened on this restaurant after we had eaten and vowed to come back some time. So this year we decided to eat there. We stood in line for about a half hour to get in but it was well worth it. Food and service were both great.

Here are Ethan and Mommy at dinner. Thank goodness for crayons and paper to draw on!

And here we are with those aforementioned tequila adult beverages. Oh, were they good! And so we say goodbye to Old Town.

Still Sidelined

OK, I think I've turned the corner but I'm still a long way from back to "normal". I can at least swallow today without having to think about how much it is going to hurt. I don't have a baseball in my throat anymore, just a golf ball. I still don't have much of an appetite and I now have a low grade temperature. It runs about 99 or 100 but for me that is a temp since I normally run a subnormal temp. I am still wiped out. I get up, eat some breakfast then go back to bed for an hour. Then I get up, fool around on the computer for an hour, then go back to bed. Etc etc etc. And of course, now I have this nagging cough. I hate to complain, but hey, it's my blog, right? Tomorrow is the last day of my antiobiotics. I was hoping that by the time I was finished with them, I would be all well and ready to take on the world. Nope. Man, it's a good thing I don't have little ones to take care of anymore. Oh, and guess what, the contractors come back tomorrow. Ugh! Hey, can people my age get mono??

Photos From Our Trip to the San Diego Zoo

Just an update on being sidelined. I still look like a Chipmunk and am still sleeping most of the time but the antibiotics seem to be taking affect--thank goodness. I'm eating a little more even though it still hurts to swallow. Not the best way in the world to lose weight.

Anyway, on to the photos! All of us, minus Michael, went to the San Diego Zoo. We became members there last summer and we hit the zoo or the Wild Animal Park or both each time we are in SD. This trip was no exception. I did take lots of animal pictures but I think I like my family shots better so will bore you with lots of kid and grandkid shots this time. OK?

It's hard to get both of the twins in one shot unless they are contained in the stroller. Here they are just before we entered the zoo.

Here is Ethan gazing at the Rhino.

Ok, so I am including some animal shots. I love the Koalas. Rarely do I ever see one awake. We just happened to catch this guy eating--and getting drunk, I might add. I've heard that they are always high because they eat Eucalyptus. Don't know if that's true or not, but just thought I would throw that in.

And that is precisely why you always see them asleep.

Here is Noah getting a little Mommy Love. Like the Koalas, he decided to take a nap too.

My next favorite animal next to the Koalas are the Meercats. They are so cute and this couple had some babies.

I wonder if this young lady knows just how lucky she is getting to spend time with the Meercats?

Here is Ethan getting a little Mommy Love too. Don't ya just love that little smile of his?

Here are my oldest and my youngest grandsons.

Here is Luka yelling, "Monkey, Monkey!!"

Here is Noah, still napping.

Here are the little ones watching the fish in the hippo tank.

This is one confused animal. He looks like a cross between a zebra and I don't know what else.

Here I am with Ethan on the Sky Ride. We couldn't all go in one car so Sam, who is taking the picture, rode with me and I took one twin while Karen took Noah (who finally woke up) and the other twin.

Here is Mommy with her boys. Notice that Noah kind of wandered off to the side. I'm sure the little ones would have too if she didn't have them firmly in hand.

I do like the turtles. This is a close up of one of the Galapagos turtles. They are HUGE!

We did get to the Kid's Zoo which is adorable. Here are Karen and the boys feeding the goats. Noah discovered that he could pick up straw on the ground and feed the goats. By the time we left, every other kid there was doing the same thing.

I think this big smile kind of sums up our day at the zoo. Except for the fact that Noah's favorite animal, The Poison Dart Frog, was in hiding. Oh, well maybe next time.

Photos From the USS Midway & Sunset Cliffs

Ok, so the Midway and Sunset Cliffs have nothing to do with each other except for the fact that they are both on the water. But, we visited them both on the same day so I thought I would just post them together.

Sam really wanted to visit the Midway and saved much of his spending money for the giftshop there. He said he really would love to be a pilot. I say, go for it Sam! His daddy always had a dream of being an astronaut. Even though he didn't become one, he is probably one of the biggest NASA fans out there! And Sam & Erin have caught the bug. (Ok, so I got off the subject here--but hey, it's my blog, right?)

Speaking of astronauts (guess I didn't get off subject afterall), this is the helicopter that picked up some of the Apollo astronauts when they would land in the water. I always thought that was so amazing how they did that.

This is Sam and Karen sitting in one of the helicopters--not the astronaut one, though.

This is a view from the "island" or the place where the ship is commanded from. Four steep sets of stairs to get up there. An aircraft carrier is amazing. It has so many levels I know I would get sooo lost on one. Plus I don't think my claustrophobia would allow me to stay even one night in those bunks they have to sleep in.

Karen will hate me for posting this! They had a display of where the guys took showers and of course they had this mannequin in the shower. And of course, Karen had to give him a thumbs up. Sorry Michael!

Here is Sam next to the Midway Life Preserver. If you will notice just to the right of him on the ground is a giant statue of the Life Magazine cover of the sailor kissing the nurse in Times Square at the end of WWII.

This doesn't have much to do with the Midway but I took it from the deck. I have always been so amazed that the San Diego airport is right down town. The planes come in right over Balboa Park and you can see how low they are before they actually land. I kind of get the wow factor everytime I see one. Sam got the wow factor from all of the fighter planes training practically everyday. And man, are they loud at night. I guess if you live there, you get used to it.

And of course, being from Ohio and all, I had to take a picture of this--the Buckeye Trainer.

From there, we headed north to Sunset Cliffs. This is looking north.

This is looking south. I would give my eyeteeth--or even a bit more--to have a house overlooking this view. There were some houses for sale but I don't think I could afford to even take a peek at one of these houses. The downside is that you don't really have a beach. Well, I guess there was one small beach, but you had to scale the cliffs to get there.

Sam and Karen on the cliffs. We opted NOT to bring the kids to this place. No barriers and waaayyy too many places where they could fall off.

We had a ball watching the waves come in and trying to guess which ones would crash against the cliffs the hardest.

We moved on up the beach a bit and found these crazy guys diving off of the cliffs. I think they performed more than usual when they realized we were taking pictures.

And with this, I will just say that we had a great day--and bottoms up!

Photos From Our Afternoon on Pacific Beach

Well, since I am sidelined because I look like a chipmunk, I guess I could at least post some more pictures.

One afternoon we drove over to Pacific Beach. This has become one of my favorite areas in San Diego.

There are cottages out on the pier called the Crystal Pier Hotel and the surf rolls in right under your cottage. I would LOVE to stay here but at $300 a night, I guess I will just have to look and wish.

Another look at the cottages. Wouldn't you like to stay there too?

You get a great view of the surfers from the pier.

Unfortunately, everyone else seems to like Pacific Beach as much as I do. I'm not really into crowds so hanging on this beach is not for me. But Pacific Beach is not just all about the beach.

I think Noah was kind of looking and wishing too.

We went to my favorite restaurant in Pacific Beach. You can eat outside and you can also have a rousing game of pool if you want.

After dinner, we went back to the bluffs where the kids had a ball playing tag with Daddy, Mommy and Cousin Sam.

I'm not sure if this is the way you are supposed to tag someone but they were having fun.

We went for a walk on the beach. Here are Karen and Sam walking and talking.

Luka loves his hats and shades.

Of course I had to get pictures of a bird in the surf.

And at the end of the day, a surfer needs to catch one last wave.

It was a great afternoon even with the crowds. And maybe, just maybe, one of these days I will get to stay in one of those cottages.

Sidelined

I woke up Wednesday morning at my son's house, after our all day flight from San Diego, with a really sore gland on the right side of my throat and it felt like I had something stuck in my throat. Mr. Snowbird scared the you know what out of me by suggesting it might be my carotid artery! When we finally got to our house about noon, I called the doctor then googled carotid artery. That kind of convinced me I wasn't going to have a stroke in the next 10 minutes. My doc wasn't in so I got in to see one of his associates. Of course I had to wait until 5:00. He took a strep test and announced that it was negative so I had Pharyngitis and to go home and gargle with salt water and take some Tylenol. He didn't inform me that this could last 10-14 days and could get worse! (My son in law, the doctor, told me about the 10-14 day thing. And that I probably picked it up on the plane. Sure makes me want to fly again real soon--not!)

So, this morning, I look like a chipmunk and can hardly swallow. Great way to lose weight! I called the doctor again and they called in a prescription for pain--at least I'm guessing that is what it is for. Mr. Snowbird went to pick it up. We were supposed to go up to our friend Bob's house for the weekend and to go to the Detroit Highland Games to see Alex Beaton. Unless I have a miracle turn around from the prescription, that isn't going to happen. Oh well, I guess that means I stay home and post pictures from my trip to San Diego.

Mr. Snowbird just got home with the meds. It is Azithromycin which is used to treat certain bacterial infections, most often those causing middle ear infections, tosillitis, throat infections, laryngitis, bronchitis, pneumonia and sinusitis. I guess I fit in there somewhere although it doesn't mention Pharyngitis. Oh yeah, it is used for treating some sexually transmitted diseases too. Hmmm. Anyway, I sure hope it helps because I am tired of looking like a chipmunk!!