San Diego

We have been back for a few day's now from what I can say is one of the most memorable vacations I've ever had. Carter and I were able to spend two weeks with Nate on Coronado Island right outside of San Diego. It was such an amazing opportunity because we would have never been able to go somewhere for that length of time under normal circumstances. After spending months cooped up enduring a "Whidbey Winter" I was really shocked at what the sun can do to lift your spirits. I truly felt like a new person as we walked at least three miles a day just visiting the beach, restaurants and shops that were all in the area. We all loved just being outside and soaking up everything around us. So much in fact that we are starting a fundraiser on our own behalf. If any of you are looking for a worthy cause feel free to make your checks out to "The Saxton's Move to Coronado Island" and send them our way. We've got our house all picked out...It only cost a cool 7 million, and the view isn't half bad either...We had ample time to just talk about life, dreams and all the big and little things that we hadn't been able to catch up on. Nate said that if he had his life to do over again he'd spend it in California. I asked him what that meant and he just explained that he loves being a Texan, but California just might be the next best thing!

So, I've got a lot of fun things to share. I think I'll just start from the beginning and plan on making several posts throughout the next week about all the fun things we got to experience. On our first day we couldn't wait to get out and do a little exploring. We were dying to get our toes in the sand and made a little detour onto the beach. Carter loved it and I loved the way her face just lit up every time we were around the sand or sea...

I also noticed something new and really funny while we were on this trip. She has been into mimicking everything we say for quite some time now. But, the new development is she is now into copying our actions as well. Case in point here is a photo I snapped, these are definitely two peas in a pod..
Carter quickly grew tired of just walking around in the sand. She was eager to take off first her jacket, then her shirt and would have liked to run around naked if Nate would have let her! He put his foot down and insisted she leave her shorts on. She was so funny and immediately laid down on the sand. I think she just loved the warmth and seemed so happy just being there...

Our time on the beach ended fairly abruptly when she got some sand in her mouth...

We quickly convinced her that we weren't going to let a little sand ruin our day. After cleaning up we headed downtown to Seaport Village. We put Carter on a carousel at an early age and she has loved them ever since. I feel like at some point we will have a timeline of her life in pictures of her riding carousel horses...

Nate really wanted to ride so we talked Carter into going again...

She would have stayed on all night if we had let her, but we managed to bribe her away by promising her one of these amazing balloon animals. This really cute old man makes them right in front of you and I was so impressed. He has this board and they can pick anything you can imagine. See if you can tell who Carter wound up with...

Our vacation was off to a great start and the nicest part was that Nate was off the first few day's we were there so we got to spend a lot of time with him. When he headed back to work Carter and I decided to hit the beach again. It was a little cool but I put her suit on her this time in case she wanted to catch a wave...

We hadn't made it down to the water on our first beach day so I was anxious to see what she would think of the waves...

I think it's safe to say Carter loved everything about being at the beach! Check back soon for our trip to the zoo, Sea World and more time in the sand (Carter actually makes it into the water!)