**I started writing this post on Monday and it has been a work in progress ever since.

We got back from San Diego last night and may I just say we had a LOVELY time 🙂 . Unfortuntate that Jim was working all week but the boys and I kept very busy. I was so tired from all the walking but they were little troopers.

Heidi and I got in a discussion this morning about appropriate levels of male protection 🙂 . The question was raised in regards to travel in a “foreign” city. I think Jim is a protective partner but I also appreciate that he believes me to be more than capable and doesn’t (usually) try to control my adventures. There was one exception. Before children, I did quite a bit of traveling for Bank One. One such trip was spent in Chicago. After work one day I decided to set about on an expedition and I walked for 5 hours. I toured downtown Chicago, ate dinner, went out to the pier, took a boat cruise on whichever Great Lake is in Chicago, and made it back to my hotel room before 10:00 PM. That was one of those “rather get forgiveness than permission” moments. Jim wasn’t quick to forgive it either 😉 .

HOWEVER, I need to be married to someone who can let me feel my wings because my ministries would be wrapped in tight boundaries otherwise (traveling to DC with Tanner would be one case in point). So WAS Jim nervous about me driving the boys all over? Not that he mentioned but he did keep insisting that we needed GPS.

My biggest SD gripe is that I would swear that blinker usage in SD is an indicator to other cars to speed up. I couldn’t catch a break. If I put my signal on, sure as shootin’, they’d speed up. If I didn’t put my blinker on, they’d stay put. My Uncle advised me later to put my blinker on AS I was changing lanes. Smart thinkin’. What’s up with you San Diego people anyhow? Sheeeshhh 🙂 .

I’ll break trip highlights down into day’s to keep me on track.

Sunday – Drove to Seaworld. Had a fun time with the boys there. Tanner didn’t like the bat rays this year any better than last year. Probably less so considering the Steve Irwin issue. My theory that the second row at the dolphin show was not likely to produce THAT much water in the splash zone was absolutely wrong. Poor Ty. Jim actually used him as a shield. Isn’t that rude?

Monday – Boys and I went to the beach. Tanner loved the water and looking for seashells. Ty loved the sand and the food. Herein lied the trouble. Two boys wanting to do different activities at all times, both requiring mama’s expert eye. Wasn’t easy. Pictured below – Tanner’s collection.

Tuesday– Back to the beach. The pizza at Fat Boys was sooo good. That was right on Mission Beach. Ty ate an enormous ice cream cone with sprinkles while Tanner was feeding his food to the birds. NOT a good plan. The birds remembered us from Monday and I had nearly 30 seagulls oogling me while I ate. I was not happy. (And for all you bird lovers of which I am not, it wasn’t kind to give birds pizza either…I know I know I know. It WAS however fun for Tanner 🙂

While Tanner was feeding the seagulls a woman approached me. She told me she was a tourist from the Phillipians and wanted to know if I would take a picture of her with the birds. I said “Sure I will”. Then she adds “And your kids too?” Not sure what she meant I repeat her question. “You want me to take a picture of you and the birds AND my kids?”

“Yes please” she say’s.

In that moment I pictured all the travel pictures of Americans in foreign countries and how often they are pictured with the native children. I figured that my kids were the local “natives” so I grinned and agreed. Later my friend Courtney spelled out the truth for me. Not many red heads in the Phillipians or blonds either. THAT is why my kids were chosen. Aaaahhhh…yes I do get that. Personally, I think this Phillipino tourist got really lucky to have encountered Tanner and Ty upon the beach. I really don’t think you could get better American representatives for a tourist shot 🙂 .

Then there was the incident at the showers….

I was showering off the boys and a “local” came up to chat. What would you say to this monologue?

“Hi! Um…..I was taken by aliens and guess what happened? They liked me so much they said they would name their next born alien child after me? They did it too! When they were taking me home a baby was born and they gave her my name. Shhhhhhhh. Don’t tell anyone this.”

Oops! I am betraying this woman’s trust by sharing. I don’t recall actually agreeing to keep silent though. I don’t recall saying much of anything except “Rrrrreeeeaaaaallllyyyyy???? Hmmmmmm…that IS interesting.” 🙂 😯

Wed – Met up with Courtney, Carter and Abby at the San Diego Zoo. It was fun to see Courtney and Carter again and get to meet 17 month old Abby! When Tanner was about Ty’s age he showed a definite preference for Asian little girls. I will never forget him looking out a Baskin Robbins window at another little girl and saying to me (at about 2) “Ma….isn’t she cute?” LOL!!!! Well, just like big brother, I think Ty thought Abby was the next best thing to chocolate. He couldn’t keep his hands off her hair and he kept hugging her. Ty doesn’t usually pay much attention to babies or girls so this was a first. He REALLY liked Miss Abby. See pictures of Abby at Courtney’s site HERE. On the way home from the zoo I was wishing for a GPS. I learned a valuable lesson. If I am going to go through the trouble to print out yahoo maps from my hotel to every conceivable point I may visit, I also need to print maps on how one gets back. I thought that would be an issue of simple backwards deductions but it wasn’t. The freeway ramps are not in the same spots going the opposite direction. So I made a wrong turn and no sooner did I pass my intersection did Tanner say “Mommy do you know where you are going?” Of course I had to admit to being lost and he say’s “You have to turn around. You just missed it.” Come to think of it, what do I need a GPS for when I have Tanner? (And note to Tanner…mommy would have loved to follow your simple “turn around” suggestion but unfortunately every intersection thereafter had only one way streets!!!!! Aaaaghhh!) Took me 45 minutes to go 3 stinkin’ miles.

Thursday – Word of advice. Never never never go to the Wildlife Park without your strong manly husband lest YOU have to push a stroller uphill for 5 hours. Soooooo not fun!!!!! I was sweating and panting and by the time I reached any destination it was very anti climatic after all that walking and climbing. I don’t care to ever see that park again. Not ever. It wasn’t just the walk either. The day started off all wrong. I had TWO sets of directions to get there. Everything was going according to plan until I was ONE mile away. Both of my maps insisted I turn on San Pasqual Valley Rd. Problem. There was no such road. I crossed the same intersection three times and finally set my odometer to check the distance. The title on the street said “Highway whatever”. Lo and behold Highway whatever IS San Pasqual Valley Rd. Nice.

The 1 hour train in the park was nice but fairly anticlimatic. The walking to get to all the highlight points was miserable and the bees chased us down all day long. I stood in line for a drink and ice cream and when I got to the beginning of the line the register broke. Finally, I was done. (The boys were really good all this time though – THAT would have really pushed me over the edge).

When we go to our Excursion, I seat belted the boys in. Right before I get in the car a woman starts yelling “STOP! No! What are you doing???? SSSTTTOOOOPPP!” I swing around to see the commotion and an SUV near me is backing over a baby stroller. I was closer than the mother so I run for the back of the truck. I grab the baby stroller while screaming “SSSTTTOOOPPP!” I take in an enourmous amount of air when I see that the baby was NOT in the stroller. The dad had buckled baby in car and forget to put the stroller up. He must have seen the terror on my face when I said with numb expression “I thought there was a baby in the stroller.”

When I got into my car and shut the door I was trembling all over and cried my eyes out. I was glad to know that in a crisis I could turn off the emotions and just do what had to be done, but after the dust settled the emotions of BELIEVING someone was running over a baby were just more than I could take. Tanner sat in the back seat wide eyed with clear concern in his eyes. Ty say’s “Mommy? Mommy? Mommy DRIVE!”

Friday – Packed up, went to the mall, picked up Jim, drove to Apple Valley. If I have never mentioned this before, I was born in Arcadia, CA ( a suburb of Los Angeles). My mother and father were both raised in Apple Valley, CA (near Hesperia, Victorville). We moved back to AV when I was a baby and I lived there until I was 4. Most of our extended family have since moved from that are but my Uncle Dale and Aunt Karen are still there as well as my cousins Tom and Sheryl Mercer and family. We don’t get to see them often enough so we wanted to stay the weekend in AV.

It was “interesting” having Ty at someone else’s house for a weekend stay. I saw him through the eyes of family who don’t get to see him much. He was turning their tv on and off, light switches, going for cell phones and lap tops, kept trying to turn the stereo on…typical Ty. I explain to people that Ty doesn’t have an “off” button but I guess you just got to see our little “Dash” in action to really “get it”. On Saturday we attempted to watch the Lake House (which I thought was good by the way). I tried to lay Ty down in the back room in his playpen but because he was in an unfamiliar environment he went into full blown panic mode. You know the kind of cry fiasco that a parent knows will only escalate? This isn’t the “They are really tired and they will cry it out” cry. It’s the “They are going to hyperventilate and start shaking because they are worked up into hysteria” cry.

I picked him up and told him he had to sleep in mommy’s lap. The problem with this is that Ty CANNOT absolutely cannot go to sleep in a stimulated environment like this. So he does what he always does. Tried to talk himself to sleep. First he sang the alphabet. Then he counted to 10. The he started in on “Jim Jimminy Jim Jim Jim. Jim Jimminy Jim Jim Jim”. (He had watched Muppet Treasure Island on our trip several times). Then he starts in on “Chicken and rice. Chicken and rice. Panda’s chicken and rice. Panda’s cookies. Chicken and rice”. Since Ty was a year old, he has recited lists to sleep. Usually it is people but now that he is getting older he thinks of more creative things to make lists about. This night it was food. :). After 45 minutes of this jabber I was done. I went to bed with him. He asked Jim, and Tanner and I if we would leave the light on all night (to which we all said NO) and then he laid down and repeated “Quizno’s is good. Quizno’s is good. Quizno’s is good.” Over and over until he finally passed out. It’s no wonder my Aunt mentioned seeing some autism traits in Ty 🙂 . Because autism is a spectrum disorder and SPD is on the mild side of the scale, I do wonder if some of Ty’s repeating things and lists are SPD behaviors. I think it is good though that he figured out how to cope with needing to sleep and being overly stimulated. His wife may not appreciate this someday but mama sure thinks it’s cute. (When he is in his OWN bed LOL).

Speaking of the Lake House, Jim told me tonight that he thinks I should cut my hair like Sandra Bullocks as seen here:

I don’t know about that. HOWEVER it is a FAR cry better than cutting my hair like Trinity’s!!! Yes he actually has asked me to do this for years. Is it the black leather? LOL! Good grief no. No as in NO WAY. NO WAY ON EARTH – THIS EARTH OR THE NEXT.

So that about wraps that up. I have other little cutie incidents to write about but I think I’ll those to my general post on the boy’s. By the way, if you have been trying to get a hold of me, I still have 26 messages on my voice mail. Not quite caught up yet:).