First Flight & Graduation

April 11 - 16, 2013
San Diego, CA

This week I was in San Diego with J3 for Jessie’s graduation from physical therapy school. I can’t believe how fast times flies. It feels like just yesterday I travelled down to SD with Jessie for her interviews for admission. Now she is a doctor!

The travel down on Thursday was exciting because it was JT’s first time on a plane. He was a ridiculously good boy. If I ever posted pictures of faces, this would be the time to do it as JT’s plane photo shoot was insanely adorable. He definitely takes after his aunty and grandpa in terms of loving to fly. At one point on the flight I thought I heard him starting to whine. It turns out it was the dog in the carryon below Jason’s seat.

Friday was graduation day for Jessie. It was a beautiful sunny San Diego day. It would also turn out to be the only sunny day of the trip. Jessie seemed to greatly enjoy her graduation. It was fun to meet a bunch of the people we’ve heard about for the last three years. After the ceremony J3, Jessie, Christy, Mercy and I went back to Jessie’s apartment for a pizza dinner.

On Saturday we went to the beach for a picnic lunch. Unfortunately the weather wasn’t conducive to much activity. Jason decided to boogie but even in a thick wetsuit he only lasted for a half hour. I went for a walk. It almost turned into a half-jog in an attempt to stay warm, while in jeans, a sweatshirt and jacket. The highlight of the beach visit was learning of Joycie’s irrational fear of kites. Watching her squirm, squeal and run from the guy flying the kite next to us was hilarious. For dinner we went to a delicious Mexican restaurant where JT continued to be the best child ever. He slept through the entire meal. Including a stretch where a mariachi band was playing directly by his head.



J3 and I spent Sunday with our cousins Sarah, Eric and Hunter. We hung out at their house watching the Masters, eating yummy Sarah prepared food and chatting. I’m fairly certain it had been more than a year since I had seen any of them, which is way too long. Needless to say this was the first time that they had met JT. He was on his best behavior. I’m pretty sure Sarah wanted to keep him, which makes sense since we all feel that way.

Monday morning all of the girls and JT went to breakfast with Jessie’s friend Carlie at a restaurant called Swami’s. It was sort of like an order at the counter Glenwood on steroids. The food was delicious, fairly priced and had super generous portions. I’m shocked I’ve never been there as it less than a 5 minute drive from Sarah and Eric’s house. I’ll definitely eat there again the next time I am in Encinitas. The rest of Monday was spent shopping before returning to Jessie’s for soup and sammies for dinner.

Our flight Tuesday departed at 3PM. There were six of us traveling with a lot of bags and two rental cars to return so we thought it would be prudent to leave at 12:15PM. Clearly I didn’t accomplish anything in the morning other than getting up, packing up and departing. The flights home were on time and non-noteworthy, which is exactly what you want when traveling with a little one. My return to the airport was also of note as a special guy met me there with Voodoo Donuts. The donuts were delicious and seeing the guy for the first time in six weeks was pretty good too ;~)

All in JT’s first trip to celebrate Aunty Jess was a success. The weather was a big disappointment but the time with family was great. The next trip on the books is to see the East Coast family at the end of May.

Until then,
Katy