Sailing

Since it had been an entire week since we lived out of a suitcase, we flew to San Diego for the weekend.   Compared to international travel, this quick trip was a piece of cake. 

The purpose of the trip was to celebrate the birthdays of two special Dads:   Andrew's Dad (aka Granddad) and Kate's dad (aka Papa Ron).   Kate is our sister in law (married to Andrew's brother, Chris).   The Dads really dig sailing so Kate and Chris organized this special day for them and invited us to share the fun too.  So, 7 adults and 3 children boarded a 36 foot sailboat and spent 8 hours on the water under the beautiful San Diego sun!

I grew up in San Diego and we had a sailboat when I was in high school but that was a LONG time ago so this was the first time I'd been on one in many years.  It brought back memories.  I wish my dad could have been part of this day (I was thinking of you, Dad!).

Gwen was fearless and wasted no time getting to know every inch of the boat.   

She borrowed Granddad's binoculars and searched for sea lions (we saw many!).  We even saw a few dolphins.

Maddy searched for strange or unusual creatures too (and found me!).

This is Gwen and Maddy's Aunt Kate and cousin Paige.  Paige is two years old and pretty darn cute!

Here she is looking particularly adorable:

We weren't sure if the kids would do well on a long boat ride but they had a wonderful time!  If someone would have told me that a 2, 5 and 6 year old would be able to happily spend 8 hours on a 36 foot sailboat, I would have doubted it but I think they could have gone even longer!  

Here's Andrew:

And here's Maddy and me:

If you've still not seen enough, here's a slideshow of all of our best photos from the day: