We were due for a family vacation. After Napa and Bahamas with just John and I, it was time for the kids to experience a new place! While Zika is still freaking me out, we chose to stay in the US and decided on San Diego as a fun place for kids and great weather! Unfortunately, our 6 day vacation hit 4 days of the worst rain SoCal has seen in years : / Flooding and cold ridiculous weather, it was such a bummer. But the two days of sun that we did get were beyond fabulous!

Photo overload!

We stayed at the Omni La Costa resort, which was incredibly beautiful! I chose this place because they had amazing kids pools, slides, a splash park, and a Kidtopia kids club where we could put the kids while enjoying an adults only infinity edge pool. However, with the rain and 50 degree weather, we only used the hot tub a couple mornings. Such a bummer!!

Since the weather wasn’t cooperating for pool time, we got out and about every day with the kids! There is sooooo much to do in San Diego! The first day of sunshine we got we headed to the San Diego Zoo which was SO much fun, I am a total animal and zoo lover! Ivy and Leo were growling like all of the animals and had a blast seeing the gorillas and lion.

We ended the zoo a little early and headed to Mission Beach which was gorgeous! There were huge waves to watch and Ivy and Leo LOVED to stick their feet in the sand and water. It was Leo’s first time to the ocean so that was extra special!

Back to the rainy days : / We spent another day at Sea World. This wasn’t planned, but it was either the Kids Museum or braving it and hitting Sea World, so we decided to brave it! Ivy and Leo had a great time feeding the sea lions, seeing the aquariums, and watching all of the shows with the dolphins and killer whales.

Lastly, what I was looking forward to the most was DISNEYLAND! I realized we were only an hour away from Anaheim/Disneyland, so I said we HAVE to do Disney! I am a total kid inside still and I could NOT WAIT for Ivy to see the princesses that she loves! It was our last day and finally sunny and beautiful! Perfect for Disneyland! Ivy made sure to pack her princess dress and it was super cute! Everyone at Disney called her Queen Elsa all day, they make it so special and magical!

The very first thing we saw was Minnie! She was so excited! Leo ran away with terror, it was hilarious!

Ivy about FREAKED when we saw the castle!

And she also FREAKED seeing all of her favorite princesses!

They had a blast on the rides too!

Gah, it was so much fun. Regardless of the rain, it was great to get in some quality family time, especially with Daddy because we never get him full time!

While vacation doesn’t really feel like a vacation when you bring kids, the memories I see in the photos and will have forever are so worth it! Seeing Leo growl like a lion and dip his toes in the sand, and seeing Ivy totally in love with the Princesses are memories that we will love forever!