On Sunday (April 2nd), Jonas and I flew to AZ to start our Spring Break adventure. This was only a pit stop on our way to our real destination, San Diego. Thankfully, we got to have another chill day in AZ. We spent the day with family while we watched the remainder of General Conference. In between sessions, we soaked up as much sun as we could. It felt like forever since we'd felt a warm sun. The citrus blossoms were still on the trees too! That is one of my favorite smells. After the last session, we made our way to a park so Jonas (who was feeling much better by now) could play...and get soaked! That evening, we had dinner with Auntie Co, Kate, Uncle Ryan, Uncle Mikey, Aunt Jackie, and Gma & Papa.
The next morning (Monday, April 3rd), Jonas, Gma, Papa and I headed to San Diego! Jonas was pretty excited that we got to share our adventure with Gma and Papa. We made it to Old Town San Diego around lunchtime. Our first stop was the Mormon Battalion Historic Site. Jonas loves history, especially if it involves some sort of battle or conflict. While the Mormon Battalion never actually saw battle, Jonas was riveted as he listened to the story of the miracles of these brave men, women, and children. We also learned about their contribution to life here in San Diego. They actually helped build the first court house and introduced the people to the art of brick making. After the tour, we got to pan for gold, make bricks, and do other pioneer chores.
After our tour, we walked around Old Town. We saw the original court house, found a candy & root beer store, and had a yummy lunch at Casa Guadalajara.
From there, we moved on to the Japanese Friendship Gardens at Balboa Park. Jonas also loves Asian cultures. While walking around a garden didn't initially sound fun to him, he actually really enjoyed the beauty of the gardens. He loved seeing the bonsai trees, koi ponds, and all the water features. The gardens were breathtaking! Once we finished walking around the gardens, we explored Balboa Park a little. Unfortunately, by that time, most everything was closed so we decided to call it a day. We made our way to our hotel. Gma and Papa were more than ok to relax in their room, but Jonas wanted to go swimming. It was a little chilly (in my opinion), but he didn't seem to mind. He is also more than ready for winter to finally be over!
The next day (Tuesday, April 4th), we started at the San Diego Zoo. The whole purpose of this activity was to see the jaguar. Jonas has had an affinity for jaguars since he discovered that their names started with the same letter. Unfortunately, Hogle Zoo in SLC doesn't have a jaguar so we were excited to get to see one here. The San Diego Zoo is HUGE! We got there early and made our way through the gates where we waited at the "rope" for the zoo to be officially opened. As we waited, Jonas was chosen by the head zookeeper to "open" the zoo that day. He got to participate in the count down then release several macaws to signal the opening of the zoo. He thought that was pretty cool. We then raced over to the double-decker zoo bus to get an overview tour of the zoo before trying to explore it on our own. We actually saw several animals this way, except the jaguar. As we drove by its enclosure, we couldn't see any animals prowling around. We hoped this was simply because they weren't awake yet. The bus tour ended and we split up from Gma and Papa so we could hurry back to the jaguar. We saw a few more animals along he way. We both loved the cute koalas, the playful elephants, and the mischievous polar bears. We finally made it back to the lions and the jaguars. We could hear the lions roar, but once again, there was no sign of the jaguars...that's because they weren't on display that day. What?! We couldn't believe it! We talked to a zoo volunteer who confirmed that for whatever unknown reason the jaguars wouldn't be seen that day. Jonas was so disappointed! He understands that the jaguars are slowly becoming extinct and he was excited at the prospect of finally seeing one. I was so sad for him. He had already experienced disappointment about not being included in his siblings' trip, and I wanted to make this the perfect trip for him. Unfortunately, perfection is rarely attained. Jonas allowed himself to feel sad for a moment, but ultimately decided that he didn't want to waste the rest of his time at the zoo feeling sad. I am really proud of him. This has been an emotionally growing and stretching year for him. He is learning how to cope with disappointment, mistakes, frustrations, etc. He is learning how to allow himself to feel those natural emotions, but also how to not stay in them. We decided to look for all the other fun experiences this day had to offer. (Plus, I looked up where other jaguars may be and discovered that the Phoenix Zoo has some! We decided that we could go see the jaguar in Phoenix on a subsequent trip to AZ.) We saw a few more animals then wound our way towards the kids area. Jonas loved this part! It had a climbing area and a splash pad. Unlike his splash pad experience in AZ, he was a little more wise and removed his shoes and t-shirt so he'd have a little something dry when he was finished. The zoo also offered these fun dryers that we took advantage of. We met up with Gma and Papa afterward and saw a few more animals before we had lunch.
After lunch, we then headed to our next adventure, the USS Midway. Jonas helped me plan this entire trip. We looked at all the activities and sites then he narrowed everything down to his favorites. The Midway was at the top of his list. Like I said before, Jonas is fascinated with history, especially previous wars. He knows about the Battle of Midway that gave this ship its name. He was even more excited to be on a real (although decommissioned) aircraft carrier! Then, to top it all off, he got to tour the ship with Papa, who had served in the Navy. My dad was able to show him areas of the ship that were similar to the ship my dad served on. He showed Jonas the bunks that he would have slept on and the communication areas he would have worked in. We then went up to the deck to see all the jets and helicopters. Jonas got into as many as he could. He was in heaven. After each location, I would ask Jonas what had been his favorite activity up to that point, the Midway always ranked in the top spots.
The day was winding down at this point, but not before one last stop. Since we were near the coast, we drove over to the old naval training center that my dad had trained in prior to his service in the Vietnam War. This center had been closed in the 90s and has since been repurposed into restaurants, retails, and housing; however, there are still certain buildings that remained in tact. Jonas got to see the USS "Neversail" (aka Recruit) where my dad did some ship training. We also saw "worm island" where he did some of his basic training, the church he attended, and the commanders offices. Jonas was a good sport as Papa walked down Memory Lane. I loved watching my dad proudly show his grandson where his naval service began. I know this wasn't Jonas's favorite part of the day, but I also know, in the future, how much he will cherish this moment with his grandfather.
Wednesday (April 5th) we were off to our next adventure - SeaWorld! We spent the entire day at the park. I think the trip just kept getting better and better for Jonas. This was another activity that consistently ranked in his top three of the trip. He loved all the rides! In fact, that was how we spent the majority of the day. My parents were more than ok to let us ride the rides while they saw the shows and enjoyed all the animals. This was a trip down memory lane for them too. They had their honeymoon in San Diego nearly 47 years ago. Jonas and I ran to the first ride and kept bouncing between the 5 or so major rides the park offered. We did pause long enough to see the dolphin and orca shows. At the orca show, Jonas insisted on sitting in the wet zone. He was excited to get splashed by a whale...but we never did! It seemed like the whale would splash every other wet zone but ours. Again, Jonas was pretty disappointed. As a mom, I hate that I couldn't miraculously make the whale splash us (even though I was more than ok that we didn't get splashed). I hate seeing Jonas disappointed. We agreed that we could come back for the evening show if he still wanted to, but after riding the water ride and ironically getting more wet on that ride than we did in the wet zone, Jonas was satisfied. In fact, he even thought it was a little funny that we got soaked on a ride and not by a whale. Again, I was proud of Jonas for turning his disappointment around. I was proud of him for finding humor in the situation and not letting his disappointment ruin his day. After riding all the rides at least three times each, we decided we were done. I enjoyed the day with Jonas. The rides were thrilling and the shows were fun, but I'm not sure I need to go back to SeaWorld. It was a fun adventure for the day and we're all glad we went, but it's not like a Disneyland experience that we would be willing to frequently repeat.
Thursday (April 6th) was our final day in San Diego. We couldn't leave San Diego without going to the beach, so we started our day at Cabrillo Point to see the Point Loma lighthouse then made our way to Ocean Beach. The lighthouse was cool, but Jonas loved watching an actual submarine float back to base. It was so cool to see! We also got to see a Coast Guard vessel make it's way out to open waters as a helicopter must have been practicing a water rescue as it hovered above the water. I love that Jonas has a respect for those who serve our country. I also love that he has decided that is not a career he wants though. After spending time at the point, we made our way down to the tide pools and eventually the beach. Jonas was initially intimidated by the freezing ocean waters, but the temperature didn't stop him! He was eventually completely soaked as he ran into the waves. I think we could have easily spent another few hours digging in the sand and playing in the water, but it was finally time to make the drive back to AZ. When all was said and done, Jonas's top three San Diego moments were the Midway, SeaWorld, and the beach.
Our Spring Break was coming to a close. We flew back to Utah on Friday (April 7th); however, our flight wasn't until that evening so we had one final day to have fun. After a list of possibilities for that day, Jonas chose to play at a park and a trampoline park. He just wanted to be active! And he wanted to go to a park that he could climb. My parents took us to Riverview Park where there was a 40 foot rope tower. Jonas was excited to scale to the top, but about 3/4 of the way up, he stopped. He wasn't sure he could make it to the top. With a little encouragement from me and a lot of determination from him, he made it to the top! Have I mentioned how proud I am of him? He didn't allow his anxieties to rule him. After he did it once, he was able to quickly conquer it another couple times during our time at the park.
Once it got a little too hot to enjoy the outside, we moved the activity inside. Jonas loved the trampoline park. I love that he likes to be active. I also love to see his confidence as he moves his body with flips and tricks. He also really enjoyed playing volleyball. I wouldn't mind if he pursued that sport. Finally, we met up with everyone for dinner before finally going to the airport. It was an awesome Spring Break! In fact, he didn't even seem to mind that he hadn't been included in the trip to Spain. He was exhausted by the end of our week and, just like when he was little, he fell asleep on the plan ride home. I would say Spring Break 2023 was a success!
