The Great California Vacation: Part 1

Sooo...I've blogged seven times this year. Yep. Seven. That is quite possibly the most accurate definition of pathetic I can give. On we go.

When last I blogged, I mentioned the horrific fever-laden virus that we all got to endure. It was pretty horrific, to say the least. It was so bad, that we actually considered not going on our trip to California. And believe me when I say that it would have been pretty awful for several of our party if we didn't make it. Alex, being the ocean obsessed child, would have been devastated. He was the little turkey that brought this bug home. So he got to give us our accurate display of what the symptoms would be. When the fever didn't leave for three days, I knew we were in trouble. Because Abby and Evie both got it on Tuesday and we were to leave for California on Thursday. When I caught it on Wednesday with Josh, I realized that we were not sitting pretty. I went to the doc and found out mine had a sinus infection on top of it all. I got the meds we needed lined up in my monster-sized medicine bag and said 'to heck with it!'. The doc cleared us for traveling and the tickets were bought and paid for. How many opportunites do you get to show your three kids the ocean and Redwood forest? And guess what? Now I can say I got to be at all my brother's weddings (except my brother Russell who didn't have an 'official wedding'.

Off we flew, hacking our lungs out while battling remaining fevers, to the great land of California. I've never been there so I was pretty excited to see the west coast. And I was not disappointed. That state is B-E-A-utiful! The trees alone were enough to impress anyone in their right minds. The Ocean and everything else we got to see simply added to the awesomeness of it all. I am so glad we went, despite our sicknesses. Oh sure, we had to use ibuprofen a lot, but it was totally worth it. The kids didn't seem to mind and they were mostly healed anyways. Josh's fever lingered the longest. I told him to put his man pants on and suck it up. (Should have told him to put some woman pants on though, as men are big babies when they get sick. I was in full fever mode and had to pack an entire family, clean the house, take care of sick kids and several other things while Josh took a sick day and slept the entire day away. See what I mean?)

Flying with the kids was...well...for lack of a better word, horrible. Okay. Not really. Alex and Abby were just fine. Flying with a 17 month old, on the other hand, was terrible! We tried to refund Evie's seat and change her to a lap child, but it didn't work so she got her own seat. But that didn't work either. She had to sit on my lap for take-off and landing. Have you ever tried to hold a squirmy toddler for more than 1 minute? If not, then I don't recommend it. It's almost impossible. But I managed. Josh, my mom and the other two kiddos just enjoyed the trip with headphones and books. When we finally landed in San Francisco, I looked like I had just finished wrestling a bear.

She looks so peaceful, right? Yeah. Not really.

My brother and his soon-to-be wife met us there with car seats for the kids and a new stroller for Evie. Turns out, Evie doesn't agree that she should sit in a stroller. She must walk with the big kids. Go figure. We also met another of my brothers, Jeremy, and his family there. The kids were pumped to have cousins to share the trip with. Once we were ready to hit the road, we piled in our snazzy new rental car (a little too high-tech for me, of course) and began our awesome trip. First stop: Fisherman's Wharf, San Francisco.

Naturally, we go to sunny California and are rewarded with pretty horrific weather. It was darn cold and rainy to boot. But we managed. Our first stop was McDonald's for some grub. It's one of two safe restaurants with safe food for Alex and his allergies. We got really tired of that place by the end of the trip. But you do what you have to do, you know? From there, we scurried off to the Wharf and saw the sites. First, we went to the Aquarium of the Bay. Alex could not have been more excited. His goal is to see every aquarium in the world. It was a pretty nice one and I'm glad we went. Their shark tunnel was very impressive. There is a little walkway where you can either ride the flat moving track or walk beside it. It was stunning! We saw many creatures of the deep and Alex was all smiles. Abby was pretty happy too. Evie said more ooooh's and aaaah's than I've ever heard from her. She walked ran along with the rest of the kiddos and fit in perfectly.

Jellyfish.

Family photo plus one. My nephew Zach was the only one really smiling. Go figure.

They had these fun bubbles the kids could get in and see the tanks from an inside view. Very neat.

Daddy and Evie. Sharks!

Crazy cousins on the shark tunnel "ride".

Petting the sharks and rays with Shelly and Aaron.

We got to ride the famous carousel at the Wharf. Guess what? Alex rode the dolphin. Only because there wasn't a shark. Abby could have stayed on that thing all day. Evie was just happy to be on one of her own. It was Grandma's treat. She wanted her grandkids to have fun.

Then we were off to see the stores and go to the Pier 39 and see Alcatraz and a whole lot of sea lions hanging out on the docks. Josh's favorite? Alcatraz. Naturally. My favorite? Watching my kids and my mom smile ear to ear as they saw these things for the first time. Or in my mom's case, the first time since she was a girl. My mom, who was really missing my dad the whole time, had the time of her life. It was bitter-sweet for her, but she genuinely enjoyed it. Especially being with three of four of her children for a whole week.

98% of my photos of the kids don lovely goofy faces.

Josh's favorite: Alcatraz. The Rock!

Do you see Evie trying to climb over the rails in the background? I almost had a heart attack.

Pier 39. Look at those lazy bums!

Mom was really happy to be there. But I think you can see the sorrow touching her face...even if it is just a little bit.

After several hours at San Francisco, we packed up and got ready to cross the famous Golden Gate Bridge. I must say, that was a sight to see! Impressed, I was. The Bay Bridge was pretty cool too. It was the first bridge we saw before the Aquarium. The only problem with seeing the bridges was that it was foggy and so the photos weren't so impressive. The kiddos enjoyed watching the ocean and desperately seeking a tail or something interesting jumping out of the water. Several times I could hear them tell me they saw something. Who knows, right? I swore up and down that I saw a strangely serpentine shape of massive proportions in the ocean when I was flying out of Florida. You never know. Our great adventure in San Francisco had come to an end. It was a wonderful day and I'll treasure those memories forever. Next stop: Ukiah, California - Wedding time!

The foggy Golden Gate Bridge