June California Trip

We (the girls and I)  tagged along with my parents on a trip to California the end of June.  We were gone for 10 days, five of which were supposed to overlap with Brett's YM Super Activity.  (They ended up leaving late on Tuesday and then coming home Friday night instead of Saturday afternoon, so Brett was home alone much more than anticipated.)  Overall, we had a fun time, but it was A LOT of driving for a very pregnant me (32-33 weeks).  The girls were troopers in the car and did quite well for our five days of 5-7 hours driving each.  

We first headed to San Diego, leaving in the afternoon Thursday and spending the night in Mesquite.  We were VERY glad to arrive Friday around 5 after battling Southern California traffic.  We could hardly wait to get in the hot tub.  This trip was especially fun because my sister and her family were there, too.  The girls LOVED spending time with their cousins.

We spent all of Saturday at Sea World and thoroughly enjoyed it yet again!  It was super fun to share it with cousins and Grandma and Grandpa!

Emmy, Dallin, Henry, and Spencer (not pictured) figured out how to make all sorts of creations from palm fronds in the backyard. 

 After only 2 full days in San Diego, we headed to a family reunion in Fresno (6 hours away).  Emmy drove with her cousins in their car, but we made a  short detour to Viselia where my dad lived for most of his childhood.  We went to an amazing, huge park with a river running through it as well as a pond area where there once were paddle boats.  There was even a museum and a couple cabins in a fenced area in the middle.  Apparently stray cats live there, and Abby fell in love with them.  We spent 10 minutes with her watching and talking to them.  We also found the huge statue of an Indian on a horse that my dad remembers from 30 years ago.

  This is the overpass that was right around the corner from their house.  My dad and his brother, Richard, once (or twice or more) filled newspaper bags full of water and dropped them on unsuspecting cars below.  My dad insists it was Richard’s idea; after all, the bags were from his paper route! 

At the reunion, it was fun to reconnect with some of my cousins.  We sure missed those who weren’t there!  My kids and Julie’s kids were most of the few young children, so we were glad they had each other to play with. 

Abby has become a little pack rat like her sister.  She is constantly finding “treasures” (aka trash) like bits of broken plastic, water bottle lids, rocks, and sticks.  She loves it when she has pockets because then she has a place to stash her stuff!  Here she is lining up her new found treasures on a bench next to my mom. 

We have a tradition of the young grandkids (now great-grandkids) fishing in the fishing pond and then getting a present from my grandparents. 

My grandparents picked perfect gifts for my kids.  Emmy got a Polly Pocket set that she loves and has taken very good care of as well as a pair of fancy fairy wings.  Abby got a tiny FurReal kitten and a keyboard. 

We had some extra down time one day of the reunion, so we drove out to see a dam my dad remembers touring as an elementary school student.  Unfortunately, the dam is now closed to tours (thanks to 9/11).  But our trip was not in vain!  We stopped for ice cream at The Dam Diner! We all had delicious shakes and ice cream…and thoroughly ruined our appetites for lunch when we got back!

Abby and I shared a shake.

Here’s Emmy holding out a bite for Daddy.  (We missed him SO much!)

(I’m including this particular picture so you can see my HUGE belly.  Do not travel when you’re that huge; it’s not fun.) 

After 4 days and 4 nights (of sleeping on super hard beds), we headed back home.  Since it’s about 14 hours from Fresno to home, we spent the night in a [really nice] hotel.  Even though it was approaching bedtime by the time we finished dinner at McDonalds, the girls had to swim in the hotel pool.  My parents were up for the adventure and got in their suits as well.  Unfortunately the water was pretty chilly, so the girls got in a floated around with their ring and water wings while the adults just soaked our feet, ready to jump in if anyone needed rescuing.  J  Abby especially became a very brave swimmer with her ring and gave us a few scares before we called it a night.  

This hotel had two nice armchairs, so we put them together to create a cozy bed for Abby.  She seemed to enjoy her little nest!

All in all, we had a lot of fun amidst all the driving.  I can’t say I’d sign up to do it again if I had the chance simply because traveling the third trimester (in the summer especially) is more difficult than I thought it would be.  But I’m sure grateful for the fun memories we made with my parents and my sister and her family.