Family Vacation To San Diego

We recently got to go on a little family vacation to Escondido/San Diego! The first day was a beach day. But do you know how much work it is to take a baby and toddler on a vacation where you will be outside most of the time? I mean, the sunscreen applications alone...whew!! Family memories though, right?

The beach was a lot of fun! Emily loved running to the waves and then running away from them as they came toward her, which gave me a heart attack each time. Fellow beach goers were watching and laughing as she squealed in delight and I was pestering Michael to stay closer to her and James was happy as can be as long as he was held and not put on the sand!

I taught Emily how to build a sand castle, which, let's face it, was just wet sand in disheveled upside down bucket form one right after the other but hey, she loved it!

After we left the beach we checked into our resort and had dinner at the restaurant on site. We ended up eating there a few times because it was delicious and convenient! The next day we ventured around the area, checked out the mall, went to lunch, and then came back to the resort for some fun in the sun. There was a splash pad and several pools to choose from so we hung out there for a while.

This is the only picture I took while we were at the resort. #fail

But trust me, it was gorgeous and we loved it. Our room had a full kitchen, living room, bedroom, and giant bathroom with a nice shower. Thank you, Expedia! Haha.

The next day (Saturday), we got all ready, slathered up on sunscreen again (I think we used almost an entire tube of sunscreen on this trip between the four of us), packed up, and checked out of the hotel. We went to breakfast, got a couple of things at Target, and then met up with Michaels brother Tyler, his wife (my SIL) Sarah, and our nephew Everett. We went to the Wild Animal Park (Safari Park)! It was awesome. We saw all sorts of animals. Emily especially loved the giraffes and elephants. I'm kind of "anti zoo establishments" unless they are rescued and there for their well being so this was a good place to go for us.

Also, we've become "those people" with the crazy hats out in public...but NONE of us got sunburned all weekend so I don't care!! It made for some good laughs the whole time. I felt self conscious wearing my hat and every time I looked at Michael I couldn't help but giggle. We're old. We do what we want, including wear these hats to avoid sunburn.

Family vacation- SUCCESS!

A Trip To Utah

Back in August/September I took the kids on a road trip to Utah to visit my sister and my friend Alicia! We drove up with my friend Heather and her two kids. It was the longest road trip EVER with a four month old who didn't play with toys yet and had to be nursed all the time. The drive was torture.

But while we were in Utah it was full of a lot of fun! Well, as much fun as you can have with small kids involved. It takes forever to just leave the house. But here are some pictures of our adventures!

After a full day of sitting in the car, we were all thrilled to finally arrive at our destination!

Alicia is one of my best friends and before this trip we had never even met each others kids! So it made me so happy to get to stay with her and her husband and adorable son so we could all play!

Alicia showed me the way to style James's hair!

Driving to the park...

I couldn't get over how GREEN Utah was. There was this park that Emily loved because she could run and run. 

Kristin met us at the park too!

You wouldn't think going to places like the PARK would wear someone out. But when you're vacationing without help from a spouse with two kids...it is exhausting!

 One of the days we were visiting, I got to meet up with a couple of friends from high school! I was blessed with a great group of friends in high school and I've stayed in touch with a lot of them. It was a lot of fun to see our kids play together!

Another thing we did in Utah was visit this waterfall area where you could feed fish. Emily loved this!!

We made many trips to get treats for ourselves because, why not? 

Luckily Alicia and Kristin live pretty close to each other. After the waterfalls, and I think a trip to the mall was the same day, we went to visit Kristin. We walked from her apartment to a hot dog place near her campus, and just hung out for a bit before I had to get the kids back to go to bed. Here is Emily playing with Kristin. Kristin is a great aunt!

 We cut the trip a little short (9 days was going to be too long for us) so after a few days we decided to fly home instead of make that drive back much later in the week. We all missed Michael and Jexi and they missed us!! 

Going to the airport with all our stuff was insane. Alicia was there and we had to try to push two strollers and carry all this luggage by ourselves. She had her son with her too.

People stared.

But we made it to the gate! There were actually some very kind strangers who offered their help along the way.

 I ended up sitting next to a guy who knew people I knew and he helped me on the flight a bit and then helped me get off the plane with my kids and get the stroller until we saw Michael. 

All in all it was a good trip and I'm glad I went! It was just really hard. Worth it though, just to see family and friends and to get away for a bit and go somewhere with the kids! It was their first time out of the state and James's first time on a plane!

Lake Arrowhead Adventures

On Wednesday night we went to Michaels parents house to hang out with his brother Jason, SIL Jocelyn and their daughter Ellie. It was fun to see them and watch the girls play.

The next morning we left with them to go on a short trip to stay at Michaels grandparents cabin in Lake Arrowhead.

It had been years since we went up there!

When we got to the cabin, we got the girls down for naps and made ourselves at home. Even Jexi was enjoying herself!

We played games at the cabin and then drove down to the village.

I was lucky enough to sit between these two cutie pies.

Brothers!

We love the scenery and little village there. We spent some time at the park!

Emily and Daddy

Jocelyn, Jason, Ellie

We showed the girls ducks and big fish in the lake.

We walked around the shops and bought Jexi some fancy treats. These looked yummy even to me!

We ate dinner and explored some more...

Then we headed back to the cabin to relax and watch a movie and go to bed.

Here's where it went downhill...

The cabin is nice except that I have a major fear of spiders and there are a ton of them in the cabin. Most of them are squished and left on the walls or dead but they still look alive and they are huge. They are mostly in the bedrooms so we all planned on sleeping on the pull out beds on the couches. After the movie and when we were all ready for bed and the girls were asleep, they took the couches off one couch and noticed something that looked like potting soil. Michael used his phone as a flashlight and shined it on it...we discovered it was MOUSE POOP and right next to the POOP were pieces of sheets and blanket for a MOUSE NEST.

We all freaked out and checked the other couch. Same thing over there.

Crap.

I was about ready to pack up and go home at that point but the others were not as discouraged. They covered all the couches and loveseat with sheets and the lights were turned off. I was reclined on the loveseat with Emily asleep in my arms and Michael reclined next to me. Joc and Jason were laying on a couch together somehow.

Sometime around midnight, after I hadn't been able to get comfortable and fall asleep, Michael had me lay down length wise (still on the love seat) and he layed down on a different couch. Joc ended up in a regular bed with Ellie.

It was a long night for all of us!

Then it got better...

Somehow the next morning (also, Jason's birthday!!) we peeled our eyes open.

 ...and went on a "hike" or, more accurately, two nature walks.

Please excuse my tired, makeup-less face.

Michael this was such a "socal girl" picture. Poor Jexi...she isn't used to walks like this plus I had to keep picking her up due to spiders and fire ants!

Jason and Ellie are far in the background. :)

When we got back we pretty much showered, packed up, went to the park one more time, and then headed back down the mountain.

Overall, it was fun to get out and do something different and spend time with family. I'm so glad Jason, Jocelyn, and Ellie could come with us!

If you would like to read Jocelyns blog post about it, go here!