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We returned to California for our Xmas break this year. It was a short one week but we packed a lot into that timeframe. And why not consider San Diego an exotic desintation worthy of reporting on? It's not actually our home (well, ok, technically for David it is since he was born at Camp Pendelton, which is located there, but neither of us grew up there) and it is a beautiful destination that attracts people from around the world.

Flying into San Diego from Switzerland typically requires a layover somewhere (although now there are direct flights that operate during certain times of year on Edelweiss, a Swiss carrier). We chose to do the 12 hour flight to LA Airport (LAX) from Zurich (ZRH).
Made it to LAX! With sass intact!

This seemed like a good idea at the time but then I realized when preparing for the trip about a week beforehand that we would be landing in LA and driving to SD in the middle of rush hour. If you know anything about LA traffic, you know this is THE WORST idea ever. We also decided to fly economy on the way there and use miles to do business on the way home (thinking we would need it be easier on the way back - I think that was correct). Anyway, we finally got our rental car and drove south until we got to my Mom's place and started the arduous process of adjusting the kids to the time zone.

So excited to see Boom Boom!

The Beach!
The first day there, we mainly just tried to get our bearings. We made it to Starbucks (necessary - Peppermint Mocha!!!!) and the beach park just a few miles from my Mom's house (Encinitas).
Swings!

The Del!
We decided to keep our Xmas tradition of going to Xmas tea. This year, we decided to do it at the Del (an iconic hotel in the SD area). The tea itself was pretty good - I mean they had champs so that's always good right?
Ready for tea!

Happy happy happy

Beautiful CA sunset - we have missed these!

Snuggling with Kiki - it gets cold at night!

The Del lit up at night

Disney!
Well this was my first trip to Disneyland (I have previously always gone to Disneyworld having grown up on the East Coast). The kids were pretty excited. We got there fairly early knowing that it was going to be one of the busiest days of the year. We managed to get in without too much of a line at all. We quickly swung by to see Anna/Elsa. Unfortunately for Amaya, it was just Anna. That was exciting but Elsa was her target - so that set us up to come back later in the day after watching the Frozen show (which she loved... and Z slept through...). We hit the main attractions - for the 2-4 year old set anyway - ate some lunch, saw some shows, met with Elsa and then decided we had already stretched the kids to the max and headed home. It was a great day!

First ones ready to go!

Disney crew

Coming out of the Wild Ride - Z couldn't have been more nonplussed

Princess Amaya

Chilling with Papa

Meeting her idol! She was totally Starstruck


Inland Empire!
David grew up in the IE and so we went to his parent's house in the desert to visit with them and his sisters. The kids had a great time playing with their cousins. They played outside, watched some TV, and of course opened presents.

Playing some B-ball outside da school

Light sabers!

Christmas!
This one is self explanatory - we stayed home on Xmas and enjoyed the day with the family! Lots of fun with presents and making Xmas dinner - which we ate outside and then took a walk around the neighborhood. Love love love that it was warm enough for that!
Who loves Xmas jammies? (hey Z, where are yours?!)

He was "hiding"

Xmas dinner outside - can't get much better than that!

On the way home, Swiss finally let me down and lost our bags. Not just any bag either - they lost one of our car seats.  Like the one we needed to transport the kids home! Luckily, there was a solution to this that involved renting a car seat from customer service center in the airport but it added hours to our day (including that ever-so-fun moment when you try to install a new car seat you know nothing about with YouTube instructions in German in the midst of a dark parking lot when it's freezing and you and your kids are jet-lagged and SO done with the trip).

How cute are they?

Baby on a plane!

Enjoying business class

Of course, the cap it off, we forgot we had turned our heat off so we had some snuggle time when we got home under the blankets to warm up cuz we weren't in California anymore!

Snuggle bugs
But yay! We're back home and REALLY, really enjoyed our time with our family back in San Diego.

Now, in case you were afraid we wouldn't be up for any more adventures, have no fear! We have a packed year ahead:
March Easter break: Verbier skiing
May Ascension break: Maldives
May (David): Cancun, Mexico (for a wedding)
July: Barcelona, Granada, and Andalusian countryside (possibly with a side of Tangiers)
August: London for a day to see Hamilton
December: back to SD and SF

Stay tuned. :)

- the Salimarkles




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