26?!?!?

In April, I had my 26th birthday. In celebration, my Mom flew out from Buffalo - and we took a road trip to La Jolla, California (close to San Diego).

The first night in La Jolla, we wandered around the beach. It was SO nice to see the ocean!

On our first day in Cali, we went to Sea World.

The set on the dolphin show was awesome, with all kinds of crazy tricks and dives done by both the dolphins and performers:


One of the shows was called the "Pet Show." I'm not going to lie, I had no interest in going. A show about... pets? Really? I tried pretty hard to trick my Mom into missing it. I failed. And yes, I'll admit it, it was the best show of the day. Humph.


Around the show, they had little animals set up in the stands, it was very, very cute. The perfect picture opportunity, right? Except - there were signs everywhere (and barriers) telling you you're not allowed to go near the animal statutes.

But does that stop us?! NO WAY! Under the guidance of my Mother, I snuck under the barriers, sat with all of my friends, and we snapped a quick picture. REALLY quick, because it was only a matter of seconds until the hosts of the show yelled at me from the stage to get out of the restricted area.

Whoops. So worth it though, right?!Anywho. We then moved along to the penguin encounter - where I was beyond shocked and thrilled to realize that my sister, Megan and Dad came to surprise me for this visit, too!

OK. So at least I thought it was them at first. The resemblance is uncanny!

After Sea World, we headed back to the hotel for some drinks and hot tubing. Overall, the day was pretty chilly with a bit of rain mixed in - so that hot tub felt great.

Friday, was my birthday. We woke up early and took a long walk through La Jolla (beautiful). There were Sea Lions EVERYWHERE, including babies. It was so cute!

After our walk, we headed back to the hotel - drank a glass of wine and got ready for dinner. Below is the view from the patio on our hotel room.


We started out at a cute little restaurant for happy hour.

Then headed to a restaurant for dinner. It was THE BEST Lobster Mac and Cheese Of. My. Life.

\Clearly.

Then back to the room for more wine (duh) and cake. It was delicious!

It was the PERFECT birthday! Thank you, Mom!

Saturday morning, we woke up early and went to Mission Beach for a picnic.

Afterwards, we drove over to Coronado Island and checked out the gorgeous beach, and views of San Diego across the water.

After more walking, hiking and sight-seeing, we went back into La Jolla for.. you guessed it... more lobster mac and cheese and to watch the sunset.

Yes, we are clutching the leftover mac and cheese with a death grip.

On Sunday, we got up - packed up our room and had lunch on the water. Finally, we drove home.

THANK YOU MOM for an amazing trip and birthday! You're the BEST!