A Week In San Diego, Part One

A couple of weeks ago we spent a week in San Diego, at another Airbnb rental (use that link for a $25 credit). This time we stayed in a condo a couple of houses from the beach and it was SO nice being that close to the ocean. We've been to San Diego in the past, but never with enough time to really relax and take it in, and this time I really fell in love! We stayed in the Mission Beach area and all of us really enjoyed it; it was a nice mix of things to do, restaurants, and of course, the beach right there.

Before I even get into this, I just have to add that this is an unsponsored post- I just really like using Airbnb! :) I've talked about it before but as our family gets bigger and bigger, we've found that renting one house for all of us on a site like that is a LOT more economical and much more fun than booking three separate hotel rooms for my parents, my sister's family, and our crew. Plus, with three little ones, nap times are infinitely easier on us as parents. Having a house with a few bedrooms means we can just bring our baby monitors and enjoy hanging out in other parts of the rental home, or in the backyard. This way no one is stuck in a dark room for a couple of hours on vacation. Although sometimes I do find myself napping right along with them, it's nice to have options! We still haven't tried some of the other home rental sites, but next summer we'll be traveling the East Coast and I hope to try them out.

Some of my favorite things about our week in Mission Beach:

-waking up early and running/walking along the beach and boardwalk. Although it's not really a boardwalk like the one I grew up with in NJ. It is a beach-walk? Walkway?

-The Olive Cafe, which was right across from the condo. The food was so good- I especially loved the chocolate chip scones, fresh out of the oven every morning.

-Some other restaurants we enjoyed: Mitch's Seafood, Rosaria Pizza, La Playa Taco Shop, Babycakes Cupcakes, and Chop Shop.

-The weather. I LOVED the gloomy mornings. It always burned off by 10am or so, but those cloudy, overcast early hours down by the water were some of my favorite times.

-All of our firsts: Henry's first time boogie boarding, Charlie's first time meeting the Pacific Ocean, the first beach vacation we've all taken together since Charlie was born...it was awesome. Oh, and I can't forget my first time trying an acai bowl. Delicious!

Below are a million photos from our week, via my iPhone and regular camera. I had to split this post into two posts and I'll share part two tomorrow! xoxo

^a roadtrip essential!

^best ice cream at The Olive Cafe

^met up with our friend Kelly and her kids one afternoon- so fun