Point Loma Tide Pools and La Jolla Cove

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We had a wedding to attend down in San Diego this weekend. My parents generously agreed to watch all three kids for the whole weekend, so Sandy and I got to enjoy a mini vacation. This was the very first time we have ever spent time away from the kids since starting a family 4 years ago. After my parents agreed to babysit the kids, my next question was, "how early can I drop them off Saturday morning?" LOL.

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The wedding was down in La Jolla. We drove down there early to spend some time at La Jolla Cove. It was nice just to sit on a bench overlooking the ocean and just enjoy the cool ocean breeze. It was kinda weird actually not having to keep an eye on the kids and take care of their endless needs. I spent some time photographing the sea lions sunbathing on the beach and taking in the beautiful vistas of the rocky cliffs and breaking waves.

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I regret not taking more photos at the wedding itself. It was mainly an indoor wedding with the ceremony in a dark church and then the reception in a big dark recreation hall. You know how I love to shoot natural light shots. You really can't get the same look with flash photography. There was one time when we were outdoors, but everybody was packed like sardines into this little side courtyard area. I didn't have any working room to shoot since we kept on bumping our shoulders and backs with other people trying to make their way through the crowds. I tried taking a couple of shots, but I was not satisfied with the results and so I put my camera away. There was one moment out in the garden when the light was just perfect. But that was when we were getting our food. After waiting 2 hours after the ceremony to start dinner, I knew we were all hungry and I didn't think that Sandys' friends would want to go back outside to shoot some pics. Ah well.

4)


We got a hotel and spent the night down in San Diego. On Sunday, we decided to drive over to Point Loma and do some hiking. Sandy and I use to do a lot of hiking before the kids came. There was a short trail that winded it's way on the cliffs above the tide pools. It was a grey cloudy day but the cool ocean breeze and the chance to get some exercise was quite refreshing. The hillsides were covered in beautiful spring flowers which made for some nice portrait shots.


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It was high tide when we got to the tide pools so unfortunately we were not able to see much of the tide pools critters. I used my canon 70-200mm f4 IS lens which worked out great for shooting portrait shots of Sandy, semi-macro shots of flowers and also landscape shots. The more I use this lens, the more I love it for a general outdoors walk around lens.



6)


Sunday afternoon, we hopped back on the 5 freeway and headed back home. Even though we had just left Orange County yesterday, it really felt like we had gone away for a much longer vacation. It was so nice to be away from the kids and experience the intimacy of just being a couple again. Sandy and I always talk about scheduling more date nights and mini-vacations away from the kids. However we just never seem to have the time or energy to do it. I think this weekend proved to us how important these moments are. Big thanks to Grandpa and Grandma Tran for watching the rugrats and giving us this opportunity to get away! Hopefully the kids didn't tire out the grandparents too much so that we can do this more often. Hahaha.

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16) Now where did I put my towel...



17) Hot sand!


18) Watch out for the crazy lady in the bushes!


19) Our intrepid "national-geographics-wanna-be" photographer...