Our travel gymnastics meet this year was to San Diego. Honestly, it couldn't have been a more perfect trip. McKenzie and I were the only ones to go, and it was so special being able to only travel with this incredible girl. Since she was the one running the show, it was also up to her to determine the itinerary. We would hang out with her gymnastics friends when times aligned, but when it was just us, McKenzie could choose what we did. She chose the beach every time. It's still winter in San Diego so it's not like the water or the air was particularly warm, but the sunshine and the sand were so therapeutic! We walked up and down the shore looking for sand dollars. We found a couple small ones that were mostly whole, and plenty of other pieces of them.
When we were tired of walking we just laid out and played pinochle on our phones.
At one point during our wanderings we found the old Belmont roller coaster. The best part was that we could buy a few rides tokens and give it a whirl. That was a seriously brain-rattling coaster, but it made us laugh so hard! We had to rest in between rides just because it was so wild, but we definitely rode it more than once.
For lunch we found an adorable cafe that served acai bowls. Eating those bowls while lounging in the shade with views of the palm trees and beach...a slice of heaven.
We weren't just in San Diego for beach time though, McKenzie had a meet! She competed Friday evening so we tried hard not to wear her out before her competition. She had a solid first three apparatuses. I was proud of her for putting together such a great meet. Then she went and pulled out a 9.3 on vault and I lost my mind! Her vault looked like it did before her accident, and her smile after she saluted was one of the most beautiful things I saw all weekend.
She ended up tying for second place with that score, took 6th on bars, beam, and AA.
Her team also took 3rd!
Coming home with four medals was a great win for her.
The next day we went to cheer on the rest of her teammates...
then played at the hotel pool. To clarify, she played in the pool and hot tub with her friends, while I stayed huddled around the fireplace because it still wasn't very warm. 
While she took advantage of the dark hotel room in the morning, I took advantage of the beach paths and went for a few runs. I didn't know I was feeling a little vitamin D deprived until those runs. The breeze, the palm trees, the sun, the waves, the beach...I came home feeling healed. I find myself wondering why we don't go visit the beach during winter more often.
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