Southern California Trip

Our annual trip to visit my snow-bird parents started out kind of rough this year.  Hubby was in town but working, so we couldn't leave until he got home.  And the snowstorm that started just got worse and worse, until when we finally left at about 7:30 pm on the 16th of February it was whipping up to be a blizzard.
It's a 12 hour drive, or so, and we lost nearly two hours the first night by slowing down because we COULDN'T SEE A DARNED THING on the road.  It was pretty harrowing, one of the scariest driving experiences I've had.
We had arranged to go the same time as my brother's family this year.  They left an hour ahead of us, and ran just ahead of the storm, where we were right in the middle of it.  They made it to Vegas for the night.  We made it to Cedar City (175 miles behind them) the same time they did (1:30 am.).
The next day Hubby was beat from the stress of driving the night before, so I drove.  I was so relieved to not be driving into a blinding snowstorm, I didn't pay attention to the car and I RAN OUT OF GAS about 20 miles north of Vegas.  It took AAA about an hour to get to us.
So my brother's family left an hour before us, but got to the beach about four hours ahead of us, long enough to play on the beach for the afternoon before we even got there.  Dagnabbit!


We went to Disneyland on Friday, and had one of the best times we've ever had.  My brother's youngest daughter and Thing 2 braved each other into going on the Tower of Terror.  Thing 2 talked her cousin into the California Screamer roller coaster and Thunder Mountain.  Thing 1 is more tentative about the Tower of Terror and the Screamer, and she sat back with my brother's 2nd oldest who is also not as into the rides.  So it worked out for everyone!


All in all it was a great day, until we got rained out.  Thing 1 was drenched from the bottom of her raincoat to her socks, and so we bugged out around 9:00 pm.  My brother and his die-hard family stayed until nearly 11:30 or so.


The next day we spent at the beach, with the little girls boogie boarding and burying each other in the sand.  My brother's older daughters boogie boarded and body surfed, while the parents lined up their beach chairs and read their books.
There was also some shopping going on, who can bypass the Carlsbad Outlet mall?


My brother's family had to get back, so they left Monday morning.  We moved out of the condo we had rented and into the spare room of my parent's condo for the rest of our trip.  We mostly spent our days on the beach after the left, but did take the girls to Legoland, and had a great time there.

It was a wonderful trip!  AND one of the bonuses was we drove back Friday to avoid a storm, and we did!  And we didn't run out of gas, either!
And since it's a pain to manipulate them into the appropriate place in the story, the photos are all just dumped at the end.

My brother's oldest, 3rd, and 2nd daughters...

 

My sister-in-law (who I rarely get pictures of because she's camera shy) and Thing 2.

 In California Adventure Thing 2 was picked to participate with the Super Dudes.  She exhibited great strength by lifting this huge weight over her head using the controversial "thumbs behind" grip.

Here you see the backs of Hubby, Thing 1's head, then Nieces 1 and 2, my brother, his wife, and Niece 4 all heading to the exit in the rain.

Back at the beach the "adults" and my oldest niece didn't get in the water as much, everyone had a book to read while we monitored the younger kids.

Thing 1 and my youngest niece did a lot of boogie boarding.

At one point my two and my brother's youngest were all out boogie boarding.

 My brother's middle daughters were very good sports and helped bury my two and their younger sister.  Left to right they are my brother's youngest, 2nd oldest, and 3rd oldest, Thing 1, and Thing 2's head attached to the sand... octopus or whatever it is.

At Legoland Hubby and Thing 1 spent some quality time at the building table in Legoland.  Thing 2 and I joined them after we were done playing video games in the other room.

 We waited in line for this ride for the LONGEST time... even though the park wasn't that crowded and the line wasn't that long... it was just SO SLOW.  Legoland hasn't quite figured out the quick line system like Disneyland has.

Back at the beach Hubby and Thing 2 did some boogie boarding.

 Mostly when Hubby or I go out with the girls, we stand in the water and then rocket them ahead of the wave so they have a good ride.

 Thing 2 had had enough of the beach, she wanted to spend the last day at the pool.

Grandma and I had to go out to see the sandcastle that Hubby and Thing 1 had built before the sun set and the water washed it away.

Yet another marvelous trip, made even more marvelous by playing with the cousins for a couple of days!

So Cal

The Wednesday before we came out to California we went to my brother's house to meet their new dog, to see if our dog would play with theirs, and to pick up his little girl wet suits and boogie boards.  Since he has four daughters and two boats, he has wet suits in all sizes.  They're not using them this time of year, so we borrowed two for the beach.  Since we have the big mom-mobile, we had room for two boogie boards as well.
The dog meeting went really well, their new puppy - roughly the same age as our dog, is quite timid and submissive, but she opened up eventually and played very well with Kelso.  I think they'll be good friends, and she'll be someone he can play with when we all get together, and when they go on vacation.  So that worked well, but it did knock an evening out of my preparation for leaving.

Once we got here, of course I started remembering everything I forgot.  But I remembered the swimsuits and the Disneyland tickets, I guess that's what's really important.  Everything else can be purchased here.
The kids got right out on the beach after we got here and tried out the boogie boards.  It took us a little while to get the hang of them, but with Hubby and I holding them in the water then pushing them out in front of the waves it worked out quite well.  They only got dumped in a couple of times, and we were never so far away that we couldn't do a running through the surf rescue...  They had a ball and it is so cute to see them jump up and throw their fists up over their heads yelling their victory cries.

One of our traditions is to create some huge sand feet for someone shortly after we arrive on the beach.

Thing 2 was fascinated by the sea foam.    

Hubby and Thing 1 mastered the Boogie Board thing. He holds her while she gets ready for the wave, then he gives her a big push and rockets her out in front of it so she can ride it all the way up the beach.

We all piled in the car and drove to La Jolla for breakfast this morning.  Did I mention I love the new car, that is big enough to hold dogs, boogie boards, luggage and equipment for four people for a week, or six people?  (Not all at the same time, notice the cleverly placed "or.")  The four of us plus Grandma and Papa... it makes it so nice to all go somewhere.  Anyway, there is a place in La Jolla that makes these divine Lemon Ricotta pancakes.  

After breakfast we came back to the condo and Hubby worked while I took a nap, and the darling girls played with each other and didn't even whine terribly about going out on the beach until about 4:00 pm when I woke up.  We took them out and they had a ball... When they got cold we took them over to the condo pool, where they played and swam until they got cold, and then we put them in the hot tub where they played and swam until they got warm, and then we came back to the condo for a late dinner.
I feel guilty that we were not on the beach during the best part of the day, but I was pretty sure I was going to slip into a coma if I didn't get a nap.  We went out and boogie boarded some more, then Thing 1 built a sand castle as the sun set.