Birch Aquarium...

On Friday the three of us went to Birch Aquarium at Scripps Institute of Oceanography in La Jolla.

I especially loved the seahorse section. It was interesting to learn that male seahorses spend most of their life pregnant.

Jimmy and Ashlynn enjoyed playing on the sea-saw in the energy park

La Jolla Cove...

We eventually made our way to La Jolla Cove, Dan and Nancy’s favorite swimming spot. Over the years, sea lions have claimed it as their own favorite spot.

 Sadly we came across a distraught mama next to her dead baby.

 Luckily the other sea lions were all happy.

 Our favorite mermaid managed to get fairly close.

That evening we went to Old Town for a Mexican fiesta. Ashlynn then caught an Uber home while the rest of us went to see an amazing production of Rocky Horror Picture Show in a small adorable Old Town playhouse.

Coastal Walk in La Jolla...

After our hike, Dan drove into La Jolla so we could walk along the cove before finding some lunch. It was a lovely walk under dry skies.

Hiking Torrey Pines Reserve...

Although it rarely rains in San Diego, we managed to get soaked and muddy while hiking on Thursday at Torrey Pines Reserve in La Jolla. Luckily Dan had ponchos for us to wear.

As always, the views were beautiful.

We made our way down to the beach where the rock formations were especially impressive.

Back to Extraordinary Desserts...

We finished off the evening with a trip to Extraordinary Desserts, a place that is very special to me and Jimmy as we went there for some important occasions in our life including our first date on February 27, 1992 and our last night that we lived in San Diego on March 25, 1996.

Fitting that we got a nice photo of us before we devoured our desserts.

There were no vegan options, so Ashlynn drank a matcha latte. Sure it’s no surprise that I chose the chocolate cake.

Lots of beautiful options.

Balboa Park with Dan and Nancy...

On April 6, we flew to San Diego to stay with Dan and Nancy for several days. We were quite excited to be back in this beautiful city. Although it was only two years since Ashlynn had been in San Diego, Jimmy and I hadn’t been there since 2007 and the three of us hadn’t been there together since 2001 when Ashlynn was just a baby. That evening we headed to Balboa Park to have dinner at the café outside of the art museum, which had great vegetarian options and local micro-brews. It was great taking a walk to show Ashlynn some of the park.

Leftover Pics...

As my ramblings about our trip to Northern California finally come to an end, I realized that I missed a few photos that I wanted to include. This photo was taken in a movie theater in Mountain View where every seat is a recliner. How cool is that! Definitely the most comfortable theater ever. Luckily the movie kept my attention as it would have been way too easy to have fallen asleep like my dad did.

Somehow I missed including these photos that Jimmy took of our two favorite girls. It’s so great to see how close they’ve become over the years.

Like Father, Like Daughter...

When Jimmy arrived with my parents to pick us up, Stephen wasn’t quite done. Leave it to Jimmy to manage to get in on the action.

 Do you think he has a future in modelling?

When he came up to the apartment, we took this lousy bathroom selfie in an attempt to show how our shirts matched the beautiful art deco tiling.

Natural Light, Natural Beauty...

Stephen took so many great shots, it was hard for me to narrow them down.

Looking for the Light...

I tagged along as Stephen took Ashlynn outside to look for some cool lighting.

Here he is taking some photos next to the garages behind Marion’s building...

...and here are the results.

Ashlynn said it was favorite shoot so far as not only could she wear her own clothes, she loved the make-up and relaxed feel of the shoot.