Pools, palm trees, and a big presentation

By Mom of TJB and MMB March 18, 2015

Grandma, Grandpa and the grandkids!

We hit the road early on Friday to catch a 7:30am flight. Unfortunately, not one, not two, not three, but all four of us were sick this week with a bad cold that had all of us quite congested, with runny-noses and bad coughs, and we still headed to the airport to spread our germs and attempt vacation #2 with two kids.
Theo has the routine memorized: first, we park the car in the park-n-ride, then we take the shuttle bus to the airport, check the suitcases (except his of course), go through security (and throw a temper tantrum when they take your bags through the x-ray), buy Daddy his morning coffee, hop on the train to the S terminal, wait for the early boarding call "Those traveling with young children or infants needing extra time..." "Yes please!", hand over the boarding ticket and then run down the jetway and be the first on the plane. Mommy and I slept most of the flight and Theo watched the iPad and looked out the window.

Who's that cool dude?

We arrived in hot and sunny San Diego by 11am. The boulevards were lined with tall palm trees and there were lots of big ships in the bay. We couldn't check in for our rental until 1pm so we hung out by the rooftop pool for a while and Theo and Daddy went swimming (the first of about 10 trips to the pool over the weekend). We all fell asleep once we got settled inside but due to an issue with the leasing office (the rental apartment wasn't supposed to be rented), we were asked to vacate our rental after two days and had to re-locate to the nearby Embassy Suites for the remaining two nights. AirBnB refunded us and gave us some credit but if it wasn't for Grandpa and Grandma Jojo who were also in town to help us move while Mommy was at the conference, it would have been a disaster!

We enjoyed spending time in the Gaslamp district, exploring the Seaport Village (Theo was my chauffeur), checking out the USS Midway (Theo kept saying "Mommy, look! Airplanes on the boat!" which I'm guess is a bit surprising) and the famous sailor statue from way before even Daddy was born, but most of all, Theo liked hanging out by the pool.

Theo pushing Marit around Seaport Village

We were invited to one of Mommy's med school friend, Andy Bernhardson's, house on Coronado Island for a BBQ and swim in his pool. Then we watched sunset and walked along the soft, white sand beach near the famous Hotel Del Coronado and multimillion dollar historic mansions. It was quite a view!

We were in San Diego because Mommy had to present at a big conference at the San Diego Convention Center for the American College of Cardiology annual meeting. She presented her research, "Low Prevalence of Ideal Cardiovascular Health: CRONICAS Cohort Study". Unfortunately, she didn't win her category but she was honorable mention for the Young Investigator Award and won $500. Go Mommy! She was honored at the ACC Convocation at got to sit on the Dais (the stage), with other young investigators and the president's of dozens of cardiology societies around the world, including Peru!

It was a short trip and my 2nd round-trip plane ride in nearly as many months. I'm still congested and have a little cough but I'm getting better, slowly. I weighed 15 lbs at the doctor's office last week. The doctor said I had bronchiolitis and mild croup. If only Theo didn't bring home so many germs from daycare... little bugger! Oh well, what doesn't kill you makes your stronger, right? Until next time, hasta la vista baby!