The San Diego region as a whole has a lot you can do. If you want to pay admission fees, there are the various museums at Balboa Park, Sea World, LegoLand, the San Diego Zoo and the Wild Animal Park. All very much worth checking out, depending on your schedule.

Or you can do lots of things for pretty near free. Plenty of beaches – we generally go out to La Jolla Cove. Nice beach and it has tide pools as well. Some canyons are really good for hiking. Sycamore Canyon is one we go through every once in a while.

You can also take a walk along the waterfront by the bay. Plenty of things to do that cost money, such as if you want to tour the Star of India, but you can see quite a bit for free as well.

Well, that’s about all I have for the blog trip. I hope you’ve all had fun.

Today’s topic is shopping, and that’s actually something I do as little as possible of. I’m not into wandering malls or stores, except on rare occasions with one of my sisters, and the goal is generally just talking. Well, maybe finding something specific that one of us is after. And eating some lunch.

I do like that in my area I can efficiently shop 3 grocery stores. We have a Vons, Henry’s and Stater Bros. all very close together. Two share a parking lot, and the third is just across the street from the other two. Makes it easy doing comparison shopping. About all I buy from Vons is their loss leaders, though. Overall their prices tend to be higher. It’s a real treat to be able to shop multiple stores with so little driving, though.

The San Diego area in general does have some interesting malls. Seaport Village probably has the most unusual shops, while Horton Plaza has the most interesting design. It’s a bit confusing to figure out which level is which there at times, but it does stand out from your typical mall. These are a bit far for me to visit often, as they’re both in the downtown San Diego area.

We don’t eat out a lot in my family. I enjoy cooking and really don’t like paying restaurant prices, not even at fast food places. A couple of the local grocery stores have really good fried chicken, though. Not quite KFC or anything but quite good.

Discounting the standard fast food places that just about every kid in America would gladly drag their parents to, my kids love Round Table Pizza. There’s also a Chinese buffet called New Panda Buffet that’s not bad. They have Dreyer’s ice cream for dessert rather than soft serve! Can’t complain about that part at all. Otherwise it’s pretty typical Chinese buffet, with a Mongolian grill thrown in and a bit of sushi.

Today it’s been suggested that we talk about local gas prices. This is a topic I actually have to dig into my memory just a little bit for. You see, working at home means I drive very little. My husband and I share one car, and since he has to drive more than I do, I rarely fill up the car!

But I believe one of the nearest gas stations is at $3.85/gallon. We generally go to Costco for gas, as that saves us $0.15-0.20 per gallon most of the time. It’s also pretty nearby and barely off one of the main roads we use.

Right now we’re a one-car family. That’s going to change soon, as our car is a 4-seater. There’s no middle seat in the back, just cup holders. With two kids and a baby due in February, I think you can see a problem there.

Not to mention how many doctor’s appointments you generally have with a new baby!

Living with one car has not been as difficult as some would imagine. I just walk my daughter to her school, plan appointments around my husband’s schedule as much as possible, and yes, sometimes ask family members for help. I try to avoid that last, of course, even though we’ve had lots of willing help. And of course grocery shopping is done when my husband is home from work, and I have to really plan my trips out.

Makes for a great excuse to go shopping without the kids. Shopping isn’t a great break, especially if it’s just for practical things like groceries, but it does help. And shopping without anyone else along means no one is begging for treats. I only have to control my own impulse buys then. Saves a lot of money.

Today’s the introduction to the blog trip and for those who are following it, an introduction to me and my site. I live in Poway, CA, which is near San Diego. It’s a pretty quiet area, but we like it. We get some hiking done at some nearby fields, which my two kids think is a real treat.

For those who are new here, I’m expecting #3 right now, due February 3, 2009. It means we have to be a bit more careful on hikes since our usual path has some spots where it would be easy to fall, but we get around that by going into the fields a different way.

Poway’s a quiet area, but living near San Diego means there’s plenty to do. We have passes that we haven’t taken nearly enough advantage of this year to go to the San Diego Zoo and the Wild Animal Park.

Working at home can be pretty hectic, especially as everyone gets used to new schedules. In the past few weeks my husband has started a new job after being laid off in January, my daughter has started 1st grade, and my son’s speech therapy through the school district has started back up. Add in planning for a surprise baby, and getting actual work done is pretty tough some days. But somehow it all comes together most days.