These Days

December 2016 chronicles continued... After spending Christmas with Richard's side of the family in Nevada, it was time to go to San Diego to be with my sister and her family. We have been to San Diego a few times before and have seen most of the tourist attractions. But I really wanted to visit the USS Midway Museum primarily for Neil who has a current obsession with ships (sunken ships in particular). The USS Midway is an aircraft carrier used during the Vietnam War and Gulf War, and was decommissioned in 1992. It's permanently berthed at the San Diego Bay as a museum. We had access to most parts of the expansive ship, and spent ~3 hours exploring. There was so much to take in. Great experience for all of us. I miss this weather...

It's almost February and I have not caught up on posting about our time in San Diego late last year. I will get tackle those soon but for now, here's a compilation of weekly pictures of the kids. I started this project last year and continuing on this year. Week 1 Week 2 Week 3 Week 4

The road trip to Page, Arizona from Las Vegas was the longest we've ever done with Ela. Happy to report that she was able to sleep for ~2 hour stretches and there was minimal crying in the car. It forebodes well for the future.=) Even though we spent a lot of time in the car, it did not get boring because the view varies, and they are awesome. On the way back, we encountered a snowstorm somewhere in Utah. It was Richard's first time to drive through snow so it was a mix of exciting and scary. We were extremely cautious, keeping to the tracks of the cars ahead of us. We knew that Zion and Bryce Canyon national parks had even heavier snow that day so we had no choice but to skip them this time. Here are some pictures taken from the passenger seat. =)

First stop for Day 2 of our Page, Arizona Christmas road trip was Horseshoe Bend. This is a popular, highly photographed spot on the Colorado River with the perfectly shaped horseshoe meander. We had to hike 3/4 of a mile to the lookout point. It's not visible from afar and we have to go to the edge of the cliff to see it. There are no fences or railings so it was a little scary especially with the kids. My shot of the Horseshoe Bend itself was taken crouched low to the ground because my knees were shaking. But it was beautiful and the surrounding area was so picturesque as well.

Another popular visitor stop in Page, Arizona is Lake Powell. After the Antelope Canyon tour, we drove to straight to Antelope Point Marina where we can take the Lake Powell Boat Tour. It's a good thing we did not pre-book the boat tour because Antelope Canyon took a lot longer than anticipated. We arrived at the marina and told we were too late but then the lady at the counter radioed someone and they accommodated us.=) Ela was tired at this point and she was crying shortly after the tour started (also bothered by the life vest) so we went to a corner and we were there for the whole boat trip. After the tour we checked in at our hotel after a quick stop at Walmart. It was a packed day but totally worth it.