This year for Thanksgiving, the Davis family decided to break away from the dreary Utah weather and party in southern California. Needless to say, Phil and I were happy to join in on the fun.
My family headed down on Monday, and since I had to work, Phil and I drove down separately a day later. So while they were doing this:
Phil and I were doing this:
We can't complain too much though. The drive was totally worth it. We got there on Tuesday evening, got dinner and then relaxed. Wednesday, however, meant that the party could really begin. We woke up and hung out by the pool. If I could pick a way to start every day, it would definitely look like this:
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| #SoCalLiving |
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| Our Uniform for the Week |
The weather was gorgeous and Vera was a huge fan of the hot tub/pool combo. She had a blast. Josh made sure to capture it on the GoPro.
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| How Can You Not Love That Face? |
After hanging out by the pool and eating lunch, we headed over to Coronado Island. It's such a quaint spot. I loved the arts and crafts architecture of the homes there. I fell in love with this one. It's not a great photograph, since I had to take it from the car.
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| Ignore the Trashcans |
We loved the island though. The beach was fun and it was great to just hang out in the warm sun. We even spotted some sea lions as we were there.
Since we're awesome tourists, we couldn't resist taking some cliche beach pictures.
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| Sibling Love |
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| My Darling Hubby |
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| They Say We Look Alike |
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| Coronado Island |
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| Fresh Blooms in November |
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| Phil's Reaction to Beach Day |
Overall, Wednesday was a success. Thanksgiving day was no exception. There was more happy pool time and plenty of relaxation. Phil and Vera had some quality bonding time.
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| Counting Golf Balls |
The boys had to have a football session on the golf course in the back yard. It was two on two though, since the girls refused to play.
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| Jake with His Bare Feet |
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| Team Stripes (Oh Joshie) |
We didn't want to spend our vacation cooking a traditional Thanksgiving dinner, so we went easy and had grilled cheese for lunch and Hawaiian barbecue for dinner. I do have to say though, it was very tasty.
We all went to bed full and very happy. It was fun to do something different, but still talk about all the things we were grateful for in 2014.
The next day, we skipped out on Black Friday and spent the day playing in Oceanside. We rented beach cruisers and had a blast peddling up and down the beach.
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| Thugs |
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| We Love Bikes! |
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| Those Palm Trees Though |
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| The Afternoon Sun |
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| GoPro Selfie |
After riding bikes, we sat on the beach and chatted. I wasn't too excited about the cold water, but Phil had a fantastic time body surfing. He also paid tribute to all our friends that were freezing back in Utah.
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| Sandy the "Snowman" |
Oceanside was beautiful. Nothing like being at the beach at sunset.
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| Oh Vera |
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| Dying |
Corinne even captured a cool moment with my mom, Joshie and me. We're trying to spot Phil amongst the other body surfers. I love seeing candid moments like this.
Even though it got pretty chilly in the evenings, we decided to stop for ice cream. There was a darling sweet shop/ice cream parlor about five minutes from the beach.
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| Can't Go Wrong with Birthday Cake Flavor |
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| So Adorable Right? |
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| Right on the Wharf |
As if the ice cream weren't enough, we had the most amazing Mexican food for dinner that night. It was a great family restaurant slash cantina. The chips and salsa were heavenly. The tamales were delish too.
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| What Food in Heaven Will be Like... |
I felt like I could've rolled out of the restaurant. So yummy.
Saturday was a very special day as well, but for different reasons. Phil's extended family live in the San Diego area so we wanted to make sure we got to see them during our time there. We went that morning to see Grandpa Phil and Grandma Pat. Grandpa Phil lives in a treatment facility because he has Alzheimer's. I was so nervous that Grandpa wouldn't recognize Phil, but Grandma Pat had done a great job prepping him for our visit. He looked so surprised to see Phil there, but so happy. We sat and chatted for a few hours. Nicole and Isis showed up as well, which was so fun. On of my favorite parts was looking at some of Grandpa's old pictures from his bike trip to Vietnam. I loved this one:
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| Grandpa Kickin' It with the Locals |
It made me sad that I didn't get to know Grandpa Phil before he got sick because looking at these pictures and hearing stories made me realize what an incredible man he is. I felt so privileged to meet him. Even just sitting at the table, holding his hand, and looking at him made me feel so proud to be a Crepeau. I can't describe it, but I felt such a strong surge of love for him and a sense of peace to know that I'll get to know him in the next life. Truly God loves us because he allows us to be with our families forever.
After chatting, Phil got to feed Grandpa Phil lunch and then we, unfortunately, had to leave. It was such a sacred experience to meet one of the men for whom Phil was named.
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| The Philip Crepeaus. |
After we left, we spent some time with my Aunt Brenda and Uncle Paolo in Del Mar. We had lunch at a delectable Italian restaurant, Il Fornaio. Gorgeous views of the ocean, family, and wonderful Italian food make for a great combo.
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| The Crew (Minus Corinne and Vera) |
After lunch, we headed to San Diego, to visit the Mormon Battalion Visitors' Center. We even got to see the temple along the way.
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| A Californian Castle |
The Visitors' Center was a little cheesy, but so fun. The Sister missionaries did a great job with the tour.
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| Our Souvenir Picture |
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| Phil's a Cutie |
That night, Grandma was nice enough to let Phil spend the night with her, since he was going to the airport the next day to fly out for an interview in Ohio. I headed back with my family for one last night of relaxation. The vacation time passed much too quickly.
California was so good to us and we made memories that will last a lifetime. I'm so grateful to my wonderful parents for our special Californian Thanksgiving.
