San Diego Part 2

Happy, happy, joy, joy! We had a great little vacation to San Diego! Just a quick trip - 4 days - to an awesome little beach house in Mission Bay! I had found this house with every toy imaginable and only 1 house away from the bay. And we had convinced Gabby to come with us so there were 3 adults to 2 kids so it was going to be a nice vacation! We didn't have any specific plans for our few days there - just to try to relax, enjoy the house and the yard and the toys, and that's about it.

We got down there and did not wait to dive right into the toys! The car was a big hit. But it was missing something really important... Kayla thought she'd look under the hood. :-)

Once we found the battery she and Tyler got busy. We couldn't get them out of it hardly at all for the next 4 days.

Dad got busy doing what he does best - grilling and watching the Cowboys season opener!

And I, well, I relaxed. :-)

We also made use of the bike, the wagon, and, um, the bay!

Gabby and the kids had fun playing in the water. It was in the 60s and 70s while we were there so a little too chilly to actually swim. The kids did get in the water but only the lower half of their bodies. :-) Instead, Gabby tried to collect sea shells, but they dumped out the bucket. Soooo, I'm not sure who had more fun. This was also about the time I dropped my barely 1 month old camera in the water. That was strike 2 on the trip. Strike 1 came when Tyler fell off the lawn chair and bit his tongue (we think) and ended up with a bloody mouth. And strike 3 came later this first full day when Kayla was playing around instead of napping and fell off the bed, hitting her nose, giving herself her first bloody nose. :-)

You would think 3 strikes you're out but not when you're on vacation. We ended up going to the San Diego Wild Animal Park on Tuesday. We went to the Zoo last year so wanted to try the other Zoo.

Strike 4 happened at the Wild Animal Park- Rita handed me her camera and it turned off. Figured the battery just died but she plugged
It in and still nothing. Great- 2 cameras down in 2 days! Whatelse?

After another day of playing with toys (another no nap day for Kayla who instead found Gabby's lipstick and painted herself with it - strike #5!) and a fun date night touring the Gas Lamp District of San Diego we had to say goodbye.

But not after getting a cute little family picture.

Just like any other day or vacation there were ups an downs buy overall it was a good experience. We were so glad Gabby came with us- she was extraordinarily helpful and is awesome with the kids. She needed a vacation from her vacation!

(And you know what- the fun didn't end there- we hit up gymnastics on the way home and spent the entire next day at the LA County Fair! But that's another post...)

Plans, Schmans

You know that saying "life is what happens when you're busy making other plans."  No kidding!  Life happens.  Crazy.  Fun.  Random.  Sad.  Exciting.  Life. 

We try every year to take a family vacation - even if it's just for a few days.  This year, just like last year, we planned a trip down to San Diego.  But this time we rented a beach house so we had some extra room for the kids to run around.  And, we invited Rita to come join us.  She was going to come out anyway - we just thought it would be a good idea for her to come while we were all together down in SD.  Plus that means we had an extra set of hands... and got to  have a date night!  So, the plan was for her to fly out on Sunday morning and we'd head down to San Diego after picking her up.  We also planned to go out on a group camping trip the Friday and Saturday prior to leaving for San Diego on Sunday.

But, Eric got a phone call on Labor Day letting him know that his only living grandparent, his dad's mom, had passed away.  We kinda figured that the funeral would happen on Wednesday or Thursday so we planned on driving out to Texas, attending the funeral, and then driving right back.  Yea, drive!  That's really long drive - we figured on 2 1/2 days.  We got the call at 4pm and were on the road by 8pm.  That night we made it to Phoenix.  When we got on the road the next morning I called his family and found out that the funeral was actually on Saturday.  Well, we immediately pulled off the road because we wouldn't be able to drive back from Texas after the funeral in time to make it to pick Rita up from the airport and make it down to the San Diego rental house.  So, we turned around and made arrangements for a flight out for Eric on Thursday and coming back on the same flight as his mom. 

But, we were all the way out in Phoenix.  We couldn't just drive back without having done anything.  I figured the Grand Canyon was only an hour or two away so we planned to drive north a little bit and see the Grand Canyon for the first time.  Turns out it was a little longer drive than I thought but not much.  And for some reason Kayla decided she didn't need to nap and Tyler didn't need much of one either.  So when we finally made it to the Grand Canyon the kids were not well behaved.  We tried to corral them for a little while, so we could enjoy the awesomeness of the Grand Canyon.  But it didn't last long.  Visitors center, walk, go back to bathroom, walk, run, pull, grab, hold, walk, grab, hold, walk.... repeat 67 times. 

We saw the Grand Canyon but it was a very stressful event. 

And after about an hour we were back in the car.  We did stop at another visitors center to give the kids some more time to run around in a slightly less crowded, indoor, area. 

I was highly disappointed!  That is not how I would have planned my first/only trip to the Grand Canyon.  I wanted the kids to have napped.  I wanted to be able to take the little tour bus around.  I wanted to check out the stores up there.  I wanted to be able to walk along the edge of it for a while.  But when it's stressful it's not enjoyable.  So, we packed up, headed out, and were home by midnight that night. 
Eric's flight went out Thursday evening.  I decided against going on the camping trip on my own.  I do a lot of things on my own with the kids.  But Eric and I were both at the Grand Canyon and we had issues controlling the kids.  I didn't want to try that alone camping for 2 days.  Which I was also disappointed about.  We had been planning this with my friends for months.  But whatcha gonna do? 

So, I planned to have 5 of my girlfriends come over with their little girls and have a pizza, pj, and movie night!  They all had a ton of fun!  They had a few bites of pizza and then let loose in the house.

Every toy in the house was pulled out!  They were running around checking everything out.  We did manage to get the house cleaned up and the kids ready for a movie. 

They sat there and watched about 10 -15 minutes of a movie before they were up and running around again.  That was actually okay with the rest of us - we turned on My Best Friend's Wedding and watched that while the kids played.  And ate some delicious dessert way too late into the evening.  Ha ha. 

It turned out to be a great night but not at all what I planned. 
The only thing that did go as planned was the trip to San Diego.  But this post is long enough so I'll save the San Diego post for tomorrow (hopefully).
I love to plan.  I have to plan.  But life doesn't always go according to, um, plan.  Here's the proof!

My how things have changed

Last week the kids and I met GG down in LA while she was there for a sewing conference.  She was staying at a hotel that my co-workers and I used to go to for happy hour.  And this time as I waited in that bar chasing one kid going to the left and the other going to the righ I thought... my how things have changed. 

When we finally met up we went across the street to eat.  When I worked I didn't like to take a lunch because my commute was so long, I didn't want to waste time taking a 30 minute lunch break because I couldn't wait to get home to Kayla.  Now, sitting in Quiznos while the kids ran around, not eating, making it so that I couldn't eat I thought... my how things have changed.

There's a little area outside right by the hotel that I thought we could go hang out in for an hour or so letting the kids run around and spend some free time with GG.  While we were over there Kayla of course had to go to the bathroom.  So, we ran down to a row of restaurants, one of which I had visited with coworkers for a nice  lunch once or twice.  This time as I walked through it quickly carrying 2 bags overflowing with diapers, left over chips, and a nursing cover and dragging Kayla behind me I thought... my how things have changed.

The next day we left for a weekend trip to Ventura for Eric to ride a 100 mile ride.  Both Friday night and Saturday night we were all asleep by 9pm tired from a long week with little sleep (mom) and a long ride (dad).  We ate in the hotel which provided free breakfast and both days after spending about 10-15 minutes trying to convince the kids to eat we ended up back in the room to hang out on the bed and hand feed both of them.  And on Sunday as I slowly packed up the room so we could leave for the day by 9:30am (when we used to have to rush to be out by the noon check out!) I thought... my how things have changed.

It's no secret that kids change your life and it's really pretty obvious most of the time, so obvious you don't really even pay attention to it.  But when it's staring you in the face it's really pretty funny.  Just thought I'd share.

Less Words... Saturday!?!?

I did it again... missed Wednesday. But I had a good reason - I was just getting home from a couple days in San Diego and was tired. So, guess what this Less Words post is going to be!

(My friend Kim invited us to San Diego b/c her family all rented condos and she thought Savanna would enjoy playing with Kayla at the beach for a couple days.   That's the background of why we were there!)

My glasses are being repaired so I borrowed Kim's - hot huh?

The girls playing on the beach just as soon as we could get them there!

 

Tyler loves him some sand!

BFFs!

My carnivore really getting into his chili dinner!

Kim, Savy's mom, and I enjoying ourselves!

Yay!  How much fun is Mission Bay???

Tyler's first time in the ocean/bay.

Mommy and Kayla rowing in a kayak!

Sun worshiping!

That about sums it up - playing in the sand, eating, drinking, and some running around in the bay.  That's about all you have time for 30 hours!  We're headed back there in September for 4 days so we'll have a bit more time then!  Stay tuned!

How Many Christmases Can One Family Have???

The answer: 4!  Or at least this year that's the number.  I was going to do posts from each Christmas but that just seemed a little much since the general gist is presents, food, play time.  So here we go - 4 days condensed into 1 post. 

First Christmas: Skidmore's

Date: December 22nd
People present: Kayla, Tyler, Mom, Dad, Gabby, Uncle Jack, Great Aunt Joann, Great Uncle Calvin
Food: Pizza and Pineapple Upside Down Cake (the pizza was Eric and Jack's request)
Favorite presents: Word Puzzles and Glow worm
Favorite playtime toy: Joanns necklaces.

Second Christmas: Gabby's

Date: December 23rd
People present: Kayla, Tyler, Mom, Dad, Gabby, Uncle Jack, Paul (Rita's boyfriend)
Food: Turkey, cornbread stuffing with chicken, mashed potatoes, chocolate cake, etc.
Favorite presents: ABC bath letters and turtle.
Favorite playtime toy: clips and Dora doll

Third Christmas: Grandpa and Granny Chris's

Date: December 24th
People present: Kayla, Tyler, Mom, Dad, Grandpa, Granny Chris, Aunt Amanda,  Rafael O (Amanda's Boyfriend), and Little R Rafael's son.
Food: Ham, stuffing, sweet potatoes, mashed potatoes, cranberry salad, apple pie, etc.
Favorite presents: Elmo Doodlepro, phone, and driving toy.
Favorite playtime toy: bouncer and kitchen

Fourth Christmas: Nana and Grandpa Kris's

Date: December 25th
People present: Kayla, Tyler, Mom, Dad, Nana, Grandpa Chris, G.G., Papa, Great Aunt Amy, Great Uncle Harlan, and Cousin Adam. Mom's step-cousin Georgia, her husband Calvin, and their daughters Ameila, Ellie and Lilah joined us for dinner.
Food: Ham, stuffing, mashed potatoes, crescents, green beans with bacon, bread pudding, pumpkin cheesecake, etc.
Favorite presents: better be that dang giraffe and Dora backpack but it's probably actually the animal book and the vibrating elephant.

Favorite playtime toys: Minnie and Pluto, puzzles, Aunt Amy

We had an absolutely wonderful Christmas season thanks in no small part to the people above.  We are so thankful to everyone for all the cooking they did, the fact that they opened their homes to us (even if they were once our homes) and all the wonderful presents they gave to us and our children.  We are really very blessed to have such a large family, even if we are spread out, and we were so happy to spend Christmas with you.  And a great big huge thank you for everything you provided for us to be able to make the trip - plane tickets, cars, beds, play toys, pack and plays, bouncers, booster seats... everything we needed you all provided and we will never be able to say thank you enough.  It wouldn't have been possible without your help and Christmas wouldn't have been the same if we hadn't spent it with you.  So, thank you thank you thank you!  Next year it might actually be cheaper and easier for you guys if you come out here.  :-)

And, as a side note, not once, in all 4 days of Christmas did Mom, Dad, Kayla, and Tyler take a picture alone, together.  So, this is the closest we've got.  Maybe next year...