The Great California Vacation: Part 3

I want to be a better blogger.

There. I said it.

Now if someone could add about five hours to every day so that I can accomplish more, that would be lovely. Let me know if that ever happens.

The California vacation (you know...the one that we took four months ago) is finally getting part three tonight, with part four (lastly) hopefully shortly after.. I should be using this time to write more in my book. But alas, I am not. I was naughty and watched an entire TV series for the last two weeks and managed to lose my train of thought for the story. Oops. So now I'm procrastinating.

After Aaron and Michelle's wedding, we got to go see the sites. The next morning, even with his hangover...er...I mean random unexplained headache...Aaron managed to drag himself out of bed with his new wifey to join us on a grand adventure to the Drive Through Tree park in the heart of the Redwoods Forest. Let me tell you something. I've driven in Colorado. I remember thinking that those roads were crazy and treacherous with all the curves and mountain passes. Then I was co-pilot to my mom in the Redwood Forest. I stand corrected. Some of those twists and turns on that roadway made my head hurt. I think we traveled 10 miles in two hours. And that's being generous. That being said, the forest was just awesome. I hope we get to go back one day soon. I could make that drive again just for the fun of it. (With a much older Evie.) It was spectacular! Our first destination was the Drive Through Tree Park. There is a giant sequoia that's over 2400 years old that you can drive through. Of course, we witnessed an SUV scrape its mirrors on the inside of the tree as it tried to pass through, then opted out of driving our rental car through it. I'm guessing that the tree was carved out back in the days of station wagons.

 

Now, my goal was to get all of us in this tree and pretend that we were terrified. I was then going to later go in and photoshop a dinosaur into the picture and make this our family picture. Josh wouldn't go along with it. Grrr.

Cousins being boys.

See? Evie just wants to be one of the gang. She holds her own. That's for sure.

Mom was very camera happy. :)

There was a part of my writer's mind here, that was afraid a creature would come out of that tree and eat us.

We explored the paths of the woods nearby. Josh could have walked and explored much more, but having tiny kids makes that a bit complicated. It was awesome, none-the-less. After raiding the gift shop in true tourist fashion, we headed out to a place called Confusion Hill. It's a most peculiar place where the water runs uphill and your equilibrium is thrown out of whack. I think it's just an illusion, but it was pretty darn snazzy, if I do say so myself. We all got quite a kick out of it.

Weird, huh?

This is my favorite picture of Dianne. :)

Jeremy hanging out. It was really strange in that house.

Illusion or not, it was still really impressive.

Now here's where the fun started. Going on a trek into the forested lands of California, we assumed that somewhere along the way that there would be options for food. So, in true Clark Griswold fashion, we epically failed. There was no food. Anywhere. Ever. No McDonald's. No pit stops. Not even the gift shops had food we could use. Having a kid with food allergies makes this infinitely more impossible. I would have even paid good money for a gas station. At one point, I was hopeful that the Confusion Hill gift shop would have snacks. They did. But none of it was safe for Alex - with one exception - two lonely bags of Frito's corn chips. Fifty cents later, I had food for Alex and Abby. Those, combined with the bag of mini Oreos I luckily brought, was the most food I had to offer my starving kids. Talk about the middle of nowhere! We all had a good laugh through our frustration. I was just happy to know that even my brother Jeremy and his wife Dianne failed on this front just as bad as we did. :-) Birds of a feather, ya know?

Finally, after forty hours of driving (really it was only like three. just felt like forty.) we emerged out of the depths of the forest to see the most amazing view - the ocean. It was so vast. I almost couldn't wrap my mind around it. But the fun didn't end with our foodless adventure here. Our first goal was to find the nearest McDonald's and feed the masses. Luckily, at the end of Fort Bragg, we found our feast. Now, this is where it got funny. We fed the kiddos. They hungrily swallowed their food as Josh and Jeremy checked for a local restraunt that served fresh fish and chips. They swore up and down that we couldn't be on the coast and not eat fresh fish and chips. Now, my mom smartly ate a fish sandwich meal from McDonald's. And the two people who actually live in California (Aaron and Michelle) ate at McDonald's. You'd think that would be our sign, right? Wrong. I'm not an adventurous eater. In fact, I'm the opposite. But I agreed to give the local cuisine a try. When in Rome, right? We GPSed a little dive on the docks and a short drive later, we were at Cap'N Flint's Restaurant. I believe they also offered boat tours and whale watching (if that tells you anything). Josh and Jeremy went in to order four orders of fish and chips...fresh caught that day. We then found out that they only accepted cash. Luckily, Josh and I had some we'd saved for the trip. It took them like 20 minutes (at least) to cook up our meal and Dianne and I joked that hopefully it wouldn't cost us more than $50 for four orders of fish and chips. (Because, between all of us, it was all the cash we had.) After waiting forever, I went into the place to find out what was taking Jeremy and Josh so long. That's when they told me it was over $40 for the food. My jaw agape, I went out and shared this moment with Dianne. We about died. It was so stinking funny.

They even had plastic chair inside to sit on. I laughed and laughed. I wonder if Cap'N Flint has all his legs?

I'd like to say that it was the best meal I'd ever eaten. But alas, I didn't get to eat it until it was cold (naturally). Mine was filled with bones and not really that fantastic. Everyone else enjoyed their bone-free fish. This is why I don't experiment with food. Never turns out well for me. It was, however, a great memory. So I'll take it.

Ocean as far as the eye can see. Mom was in awe.

We finally made it to our last destination: The ocean. But that's part four of this blog series. :-)

The Great California Vacation: Part 2

Guess who got the newest Dresden Files book and spent the last week devouring it? This lady did! So that's just one of the reasons I haven't been writing on here. So...the great vacation continues...

The Wedding

I've had the honor of being at all of my brothers' weddings (except my oldest brother who didn't really ever have an official one) and so I couldn't possibly have missed my baby brother's wedding. Even if he did have it half of a country away. When we got there, we spent some time enjoying the local sites of Ukiah, California. It was one heck of a beautiful place. The sequoia trees were just spectacular and they were everywhere! While Aaron (the baby bro) was getting his wedding practice on with the rest of the party, the rest of us out-of-towners went and found a local park for the kids to burn energy. All I can really say is: Best. Park. Ever. Seriously...it was pretty awesome. Despite the cold and gloomy weather, we had to burn the energy of several kids. Parks do that rather well.

Boys climbing on trees. Naturally.

I had a huge bruise on my shin for weeks after this from trying to jump on this monstrosity.

Later on we went to the rehearsal and dinner and spent some time at the wedding location. It was a very nice place. But the big day was upon us and off we went to the wedding! I must admit, it was strange seeing my little bro up there in a tux and all decked out to get married. But I was so happy to get to be there. There were bittersweet moments mixed amongst the happiness. With my dad being gone, it was hard at times. He would have had so much fun being there and being the center of attention (even though he wasn't the one getting married). I would have been okay, but they handed mom a flower in memory/honor of dad. I lost it. Bawled like a baby. I got the honor of wearing it on me.

My new sister-in-law, Michelle, was stunning in her dress and Aaron was looking pretty good himself. My bro, Jeremy, was in the wedding party. I love this picture of him. I know it's just a trick of photography, but he looks like Andre the Giant. He really wasn't that much bigger than everyone.

My brother: Andre the Giant.

Me and my bros.

 

In honor of Dad.

The kiddos weren't thrilled with having to sit still for the entire thing, but they did well. Josh got to walk Evie around a bit while I watched the whole thing. I was thankful for that. Why, oh why, won't she just sit in a stroller and chillax like my niece, Lexi? That girl is happy to just relax and enjoy life. Evie can't sit still for two seconds, the crazy girl.

I've never been to a wedding with a dance. Actually, I think I have, but I didn't dance because it was more of a bride and groom thing. Anyhow, I had to bust a move with everyone else. What cracked me up was that my mom, the wallflower of all wallflowers, actually went out and danced. Did someone slip her some extra champagne? (Just kidding.) It was nice. Aaron did a back flip (that nut) and I got the pleasure of watching Aaron and Jeremy dance together in the Money Dance. (You pay to dance with the bride or groom. I gave Jeremy a buck to go dance with Aaron.) We all got a kick out of that. Then a little more bittersweetness smacked me in the face. The DJ said, "Time for the father-daughter dance. Dad's, take your daughters on the dance floor for this one." I never ever thought that I'd dance with my dad when he was alive. . It just never came up in life. But when I saw all those dads dancing with their daughters, I lost it. It was the most I missed my dad since I found out he was gone. I couldn't stop crying and was struggling to compose myself. Aaron took me out there and danced with me in dad's place. I think I did more crying than dancing. But dang it all, if that wasn't a big bucket of suck.

Alex has a blast talking Uncle Aaron's ear off.

 

Jeremy pinning the dollar on Aaron to "pay" for a dance.

 When the night was all said and done, I was one more sister-in-law up and had officially seen my last brother married off (not including my brother-from-another-mother. But that's another story. :-) It was a beautiful wedding with beautiful memories. The kids were exhausted and so were our feet. It was time to call it a night. I have no idea how late that dance went, but I was drained and ready to relax in the hotel room. Congratulations to my brother and his new wife! Glad to have you in the family, Michelle!

Next up: Confusion Hill and The Redwoods

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

Easter, Weaning, & Fevers

I was going with this whole monthly blogging thing, but April was such a crazy month that a single post would take too long to write and way too long to read.

Easter was not as fun as normal this year. First of all, it was the first Easter hunt without my dad. I miss his jovial laughs and smiles while watching the kiddos hunt for eggs. His prayer for Easter dinner will never be able to be replaced. Second of all, it was the beginning of one of the worst bugs/viruses to hit our entire family that I can remember. It was a doozy! It started with Alex. He had a fever during all of Easter, making the fun of egg hunts and candy a moot point. He wasn't into the festivities at all. He didn't even eat his dinner. Which, if you know Alex, means he's pretty darn sick. It quickly spread throughout the house. Abby and Evie got it next and Josh and I followed shortly after. We were all so dang sick! It knocked us on our butts. Even Josh had to take a day off of work. Josh doesn't take off work. He even worked when he had heat exhaustion and almost suffered a heat stroke. Honestly, I didn't think we'd make it to our California vacation (next post). But more on that later. This thing was in our chests. It gave us a fever for several days and ended with lots of snot and coughing. Yuck. No fun. Even I got a fever for two days. And I don't get fevers very often. So glad that's done with.

The kids enjoyed dyeing eggs and waking up to their baskets of goodies. Evie's two eggs suffered some major cracking and eventually ended up eaten before the egg hunt. Alex and Abby actually were more experimental with their eggs this year. It's so fun to see them get more creative as the years go by. And the years are going by so fast.

We went over to mom's house to eat a nice ham dinner and egg hunt. We were supposed to meet my brother and his kids there, but they got the junk too and their kids weren't up for it. They say that the first year after losing someone you love is the hardest. Each time you have to do something for the first time without them is very painful. Here's hoping next Easter is better.

Look how big he is getting!

Can you tell Alex doesn't feel well? I sure can.

Our traditional bunny cake. With our nasty bug, we ended up throwing half of it away. :(

And on other big news. Evie is officially weaned! I was supposed to wait until 18 months per doctor's request, but it got pretty annoying there at the end and I only made it to 17 months. But come on! That's rock star material right there in the breastfeeding world. It just got too annoying. She would grab my eyes and pinch my boobs and pull my hair...even pick my nose! It was all I could do to not scream. So I'm officially done with breastfeeding. I can roll up my boobs and put them away for good! Evie was my longest breast-feeder, but she's been different in many ways. She had RSV at just a month old and the doc said to nurse her through two flu seasons. I did it! And I'm proud of it! Will I miss it? Hmmm...well...that's an interesting question. Yes. In a way I will. It's a phase of my life that I won't get to experience again. The bonding that happens is wonderful and I wouldn't give that up for anything. But when it's time, it's time. I'll miss that sweet look when they drift off to sleep while nursing. I'll miss that cute little patting of her chest when she signed for nursing. I miss the baby phase as I slowly see it fade into the past. That's time for you though. Evie has done well. She won't drink any milk of any kind though, so that's a bit frustrating. She has asked to nurse a couple of times since, but doesn't cry anymore for it. She's growin' up! And I couldn't be more proud.