For day three, we were a little lazy getting out of the house and took our time driving down to Balboa Park in San Diego. Being lazy is what vacation is all about, and we take it seriously. We spent a little bit of time exploring, got sticky with snow cones, and sat in the shade waiting for our show to start. I love that Jeff captured me hanging out in the grass with the kids, Anna playing with my hair. Such a typical Mom moment for me.

The family shot is so awkward and forced, (self timer on a bench), that I had to share it anyway. Just to prove that when you force it (“Come on you guys, I know Mckenna is cranky and you are all hot and irritable, but LET’S TAKE A FAMILY PHOTO!”) it never works out.

Mckenna had a rough day, was not in the mood to be tooling around in the heat with her crazy family, and was nervous about what we were doing since it was all new for her. Before the show started I was ready to pack it in and take everyone home. I had to take a moment. Jeff took the other three to look at something far, far away from Mckenna and I. We had our moment and managed to make it through. By the time the show started she was incredibly excited and all of our moods improved. The performance of My Son Pinocchio was done entirely by children, and was AMAZING. So enjoyable for my two little thespians AND the ones who would never perform, not even for a million bucks.

After the show was over, we headed out into cooler temperatures, and the kids ran amuck all the way back to the car. Moods were still good and Jeff and I held hands and brought up the rear. We stopped and had a very late night dinner at Denny’s, where we suffered through horrible service and horrible food, and then packed it in at our hotel to get ready for another day.

Mckenna chose to sleep in the bathtub.