San Diego

For years I’ve harbored a touch of jealousy when my friends run off for the weekend to their parents’ condos and cabins in Park City or St. George– free lodging/family time– what a deal! But I think I’ve finally hit the jackpot.

While my parents are in Utah we scurried off last week to their townhouse in San Diego where they’ve been living for the past year. Woo hoo! Free lodging in the most glorious climate on earth simply for the price of a long drive.

The 12 hour drive to SD is like childbirth. In the middle of it you swear you will never put yourself through it again, but the result is so worth while that within a year or two we inevitably find ourself packing our bags again(though I intend to make that drive many more times than I am willing or able to produce another child).

It’s been many years since I’ve invaded my parent’s space(though encroaching on parental privacy is the essence of what children do) and I was surprised at how comfortable it was. Sitting on the bathroom counter was the ancient Waterpik with the lid that never would stay on straight, the kitchen cupboards overflowing with spices, the beds lush with soft linens and 1/2 dozen pillows and books piled on every available surface.

On my Dad’s long list of instructions he noted that he’d purchased a RC helicopter that they could remove from it’s packaging– Xander and Hans drooled in anticipation the entire drive.

The micro helicopter certainly didn’t disappoint. It’s proved to be so popular that the boys set up an elaborate rotation system and still resorted to fistfights when someone went out of turn.

One boy, who shall remain nameless, came in from the community pool before the rest of us. After showering he found there were no towels in the bathroom and ventured out into the empty townhouse to find one. Sitting on the table was the helicopter all charged up and ready to go.

The temptation was simply too strong. He grabbed the helicopter and blissfully began flying it through the open room. Minutes later the door opened again with more swimmers returning and there he stood flying the helicopter buck naked.

NEW RULE: you must get dressed before flying the helicopter.

My mom was worried that the three double beds wouldn’t be enough for our family of eight. In truth, only one bed was used regularly. Gabe and Mary crawled into bed with Erik and I and the four boys slept in the family room.

Tucked between the San Diego Temple and Rose Canyon(perfect for long runs), minutes from my sister’s house and Trader Joe’s(oh my, the piles of treats we consumed) and featuring cable TV with the Disney channel(we’ve now seen Hannah Montana but I still don’t understand the hype) the townhouse is a veritable paradise. Besides the beach and my sister’s we could hardly drag ourselves away.

A certain lovely Miss M convinced Ben that reading the Twilight books would give him unique insight in the mind of a teenage girl. Unwillingly he picked up the first volume and soon found himself drawn into the stories(though he had to make snide comments about Edward’s smoldering eyes and cherubic face). Stefan and Erik soon followed suit and I laughed to see my big boys lounging around reading volumes 1, 2 and 3 of the girl books of the decade. They did stop short however of applying the faux tattoos included with book 2.

Lazy, lazy, lazy… a perfect vacation.