the bargeron explorers | 2 days in San Diego, CA.

 My family recently took our first trip to the west coast together to..

Sunny California!

Our trip began with a mid-morning flight with Southwest out of our home airport and a (brutal) five hour layover before arriving in sunny CA for a 10-day trip that we had high expectations for. We started in San Diego, drove up to Anaheim, flew to San Francisco, and then flew back down to Los Angeles for a final night before flying back to the east coast. It was exhilarating, exhausting, and FUN!

Because we only had two full days in San Diego, we chose a handful of must-do things based on our personal interests and preferences. We loved San Diego and definitely wished we had more time there, but we were so happy with everything we did during those two days! San Diego has such a cool vibe, and it has only gotten cooler over time. (I say "over time" because I gratefully visited twice before this trip while I was in college! I loved it then and loved it again this time.)

After arriving as the sun set the evening before and crashing from a long travel day, we woke up with so much excitement on our first full day! We stayed at the gorgeous Manchester Grand Hyatt San Diego, and were blessed with a large room, separate sleeping space for the adults and kids, and a beautiful view of the San Diego Bay from our room. This particular hotel, also, has a club where we received breakfast, snacks and drinks throughout the day, and heavy hors d'oeurves and desserts in the evenings (our access is part of my status with Hyatt hotels). We took advantage of this perk every chance we got, and it was always delicious each time we went.

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Day One

On our first full day in San Diego, we did ate breakfast at the hotel, and immediately called for our rental car from valet and headed to start our trip with a bang at the...

San Diego Zoo!

We explored this amazing zoo for over five hours, and it was AMAZING. If five hours at a zoo sounds crazy, let me say this: we could have easily stayed LONGER. There were so many exhibits, and all of them were just outstanding. The kids were on cloud nine all morning -- and so were the grown ups! We saw koalas (!!!), elephants, a polar bear, a tiger, a rhino, and MORE. We don't get to see animals like this on a normal day, so you can imagine our excitement. We splurged on frozen icees, t-shirts, and stickers to commemorate such a fun morning here.

After we left the zoo, we headed to another iconic place in San Diego:

Old Town San Diego!

While in Old Town, we walked the streets, went into (what felt like) a million shops, devoured street tacos, watched a folklorico dancer performance, listened to a mariachi band, and more. The character throughout Old Town is just incredible and full of Mexican heritage and historical sights. We spent around three hours here, and (again) could have stayed longer.

After leaving Old Town, we went back to our hotel, ate dinner in the club, and then walked a mile along the bay so the kids could play at Waterfront Park. We saw this park on the way in from the airport, and immediately knew that we would play here at sunset one evening. This was the night, and it was so fun! We have a thing for scoping out parks while we're traveling, and it's one of my favorite parts of every trip. I know we'll outgrow this particular tradition once day (a reality that makes my heart ache, honestly), but I love that it's ours now. Pro tip: kids will enjoy traveling a lot more when they feel like the things they like to do matter, too.

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Day Two

After exploring some hot spots the day before (and walking twelve miles in the process), we spent our second day in San Diego staying near the coast. We love a good beach day, and this was one of the best! We started the day with another hotel breakfast, and then hopped in the car to do some more exploring. Our first stop was...

La Jolla!

This is a truly must-visit when in San Diego. The houses, the atmosphere, the seals (yes, seals!!). Just all of it feels other-worldly. We didn't tell our kids about the seals we were headed to see, only that we were going to hang out a fancy beach town for a bit. They were totally surprised and giddy, and it was such a fun surprise. We were giddy, too!

We parked at Children's Pool (super easy to find with GPS), watched the seals and birds up close for a while, and they walked along the La Jolla coast to admire the town's seaside character. The majestic rock faces are hard describe but easy to feel, and watching the waves crash into them is an experience that I think everyone should have at least once in their lives. Again, hard to describe but easy to feel. A beach with caves? Yes please!

After a couple of hours in La Jolla, we hopped back in the car and backtracked to spend the rest of the day at one of the most fun beaches on earth...

Mission Beach!

Tacos on the beach? Yes please! A theme park right off the beach, too? Again, yes! People rollerblading along the beach path between the ocean and all the action? How fun! Although we didn't go to the theme park or go rollerblading, it was still a fabulous atmosphere all-around. I came here once during college and thought it was just so cool, so it was extra fun to be able to bring my family here over a decade later. The water was freezing, too, by the way, but we still got in just to be able to say we did.

We did, in fact, eat tacos with our toes in the sand and it was the best. The simple things really are the big things, huh? They have proven to be for me, anyway.

After a few hours at the beach, we loaded back up and headed back to the hotel for one more club dinner here and a night of resting in the room after two big go-go-go days. We had many more go-go-go days in our future, too, and we have learned to pace ourselves so we don't burn out too quickly. Some say that we are still too intense travelers for their liking, but I stand by this statement: your pace may not be my pace and that's okay; the important thing is that we are aware of the paces that are best for each of us.

We all agreed that two nights wasn't enough for us to fully enjoy San Diego, but it was the perfect start to our big California adventure. Stay tuned for where we headed next!

twenty-one years of us.

We’ve lived a lot of life since our early days.

Twenty-one years ago today, on the 9th of September in 2003, our today was officially set into motion. A happy, happy day, indeed. One that we’ll always celebrate. I love my Teesh with everything in me. We celebrated 21 years with a full day of serving in unique ways, a home cooked meal, a youth football game, a picture in our kitchen (taken by our son), and a heart-to-heart with both tears and laughter before bed.

Simple but beautiful.

I love us.

Everyday we spend together gets better, even as the hard days crash into us. The hard only makes our roots sink down deeper into the ground, and we rejoice because we have lived just enough life to know that this is not always the case. Steady love, that’s what we have. We fight for it and give it space to grow, but the real miracle is that we don’t just love each other — we like each other a whole lot, too. I would still choose him and he would still choose me over and over and over again.

What a gift to have loved (and had a big ol’ crush on) this man for 21 years and get to shepherd a family together. Every season has brought both sunshine and rain, and I pray the shade from our deep-rooted pursuit of each other and our Lord blesses generation after generation.

p.s. We’re legal!

thirteen.

13 years ago today.

We got up early, got married at noon, and officially began our lives together as husband and wife. We had grown up together up until that point, and we’ve been growing up together since. Sometimes I miss those two versions of us who truly believed the worst was behind us on the day that our lives were joined as one. We were naive. We were relieved. We were bursting with hope.

Some of that hasn’t changed 13 years later, though, and I am genuinely thankful for what has remained. Especially the hopefulness we carry in our spirits. Truthfully, I’m not sure we’d be able to press on without it.

Year thirteen was both exhilarating…and excruciating. I am certain that we have never cried more in each other’s arms than we have this year, but I’m, also, not sure we’ve laughed as much either. We are increasingly making peace with how joy and sorrow are often so closely acquainted, and I am so proud of us for being willing to keep learning new steps when life changes the song and tempo on us. Sometimes he steps on my toes, sometimes I step on his; but we keep dancing.

When our instincts pull us in different directions, our love keeps us looking for each other.

When our individual grief requires different things from us, our patience keeps us wise and aware.

When our hearts break over losses we didn’t see coming, our intimacy keeps us sobered to reality: that we are not immune to it either.

When our dreams come to life before our eyes, our humility keeps us tethered to each other and to the truth: that every dream has come with a price.

Thirteen years would have passed anyway.

I am bone-deep grateful that I’ve been loving my Teesh as they did.

I’m, also, giddy as can be to be celebrating this anniversary with my man and our beautiful kiddos from California.

Cheers to us!

the bargeron explorers | chicago, illinois.

 Last year when we were trying to figure out our fall break plans, we knew that wanted to go 1) somewhere pretty and 2) somewhere new to us. After a little bit of brainstorming, we landed on Chicago, IL! Sadly, that trip did not happen because of a big storm that blew through on the same weekend we were supposed to be there. Thankfully, we were able to cancel our hotel and flights with no negative repercussions and rebook for later on. Summer break was the soonest we could reschedule, and we thought it would be epic to experience Independence Day in the Windy City. We were right -- it was definitely epic!



We flew out of GSP mid-morning on a Tuesday, picked up our rental car, and headed to the Hyatt Regency Chicago for the next 3 nights. This hotel was right on the Chicago River, and we were graciously upgraded to a room with the most fabulous view of the river and Lake Michigan. So picturesque! The location, in general, was practically unbeatable, too: just steps to the riverwalk & a short walk to Millennium Park, Maggie Daley Park, Grant Park, Navy Pier, Magnificent Mile, and more. We did a whole lot of walking around the city, which is our favorite way to explore!

One of our biggest motivations for renting a car for this quick 3-day trip was to explore the neighboring states. Last year (in 2023), we officially penned a family goal that we had been toying with: visit all 50 states together before our oldest child graduates high school. We had a good head start when we put it in writing, but we still have a long ways to go. One thing about me, though, is that I don't haphazardly set goals; if I set a goal, I will do everything in my power to see it through to completion (hehe). So, naturally, with 3 additional states just being a couple hours away from Chicago, I put together an itinerary that would only take us one full day to visit FOUR states in one day. And it was SO much fun!

We did the following in the neighbor states...

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I N D I A N A

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We drove 1.5 hours from Chicago to Michigan City, IN for begin our big roadtrip day! Zoos are a family favorite for us even when traveling, so when I saw that Washington Park Zoo was on the route towards Michigan I knew that would be the perfect first stop for us. We saw so many animals during our 2-hour stroll through the exhibits, and we even climbed an observation tower in the zoo that offered a stunning view of Lake Michigan. The kids were so happy to visit a new-to-us zoo in a new-to-us state!

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M I C H I G A N

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After passing through Indiana, we stopped in New Buffalo, MI to check an amazing thing off of our bucket lists: touch Lake Michigan. So exciting! The water was a crisp 57 degrees, and it was absolutely gorgeous. I didn't know that Lake Michigan was so blue, but it took my breath away in a good way. This particular beach was packed, which added to the fun culture that we were hoping to find, and we stayed with our feet in the water & searching for rocks and shells for over an hour. Before heading back out on the road, we enjoyed a Kona Ice treat and the kids played on the playground right off the beach.

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W I S C O N S I N

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From Michigan, we hopped back in the car and headed out on our longest haul of the trip so far: a 3.5 hour drive into Wisconsin! The drive wasn't originally supposed to be as long as it was, but we got caught in some heavy traffic a few times that slowed us down a lot. We were all happy to finally arrive in Kenosha, WI for dinner and another view of Lake Michigan. We ate at Tavern on 6th, and we ordered a big ol' basket of fried cheese cubes...because you can't go to Wisconsin without eating some cheese, right? The town of Kenosha was small with lots of character, and we were grateful for the 1.5 hours we spent there.

Even though there were lots of great moments and memories from our trip, we all agreed that the highlight of our trip was WRIGLEY FIELD!  We bought tickets to the Cubs vs. Phillies game for the evening we arrived in Chicago, and it was the best welcome to this incredible city. We ate a Wrigley hot dog and belted Take Me Out To The Ballgame in the 7th inning, and those two things alone made for a core memory. Bethany and I were practically running after Braxton who was running after TJ to get to the Marquee, and I will probably always hear myself giggling over the sheer excitement of it all. It's hard to describe, but it was easy to feel. I don't consider myself a Cubs fan generally, but there was something so special about getting to experience a night like this with my family and with myself. Long live this memory.

Our second favorite things were exploring Navy Pier and Maggie Daley Park. Both offered endless activity and opportunity, and we easily could have spent half a day at each. We really loved that both of these areas was so close to our hotel, too!

I, personally, loved the Architecture Boat Cruise that we went on a sunset on our final evening in the city; everyone did, honestly, but I loved it most. The guide was so knowledgable (and funny), and it was so humbling and awe-inspiring to ride beneath the towering buildings lining the Chicago River. I will recommend this activity to anyone who is planning a trip to the Windy City!

All in all, if I had to pick just one word to describe Chicago as a whole, I would say C O O L. Chicago is just so cool! The atmosphere, the people, the sights, the sounds, the colors -- all of it. I really wished we'd had one more day in the city so we could have taken spent a little more taking our time, and that means that we'll just have to plan another trip in the future (wink, wink). Big cities are so out of the norm for us, and I think that's why we love them so much. Also, because they remind us that dreams ought to be big.

'Til next time, Chicago!