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!

Let the Holidays Begin!

I haven't written anything for a month!
Actually I've written several but they all end up whiney and then the whiney mood passes.


We had a fabulous Thanksgiving.  Ours is a multi day event, starting with dinner on Wednesday night and continuing until Saturday evening with a glorious revolving extravaganza of yummy food and playing games and a little shopping thrown in.  The only dark spot was a dominance problem with the dogs, who usually all stay with my sister, since dogs are persona non grata at my folks.  Her stepson's puppy was annoying all the other dogs so much her older, dominant dog seemed to feel the need to lash out at something, and it was Kelso, since he's the biggest of the little dog pack.  So we had to bring him over to my parents, where out of necessity he was tolerated.  Of course he did just fine, aside from a little shedding which my father politely didn't mention until asked later.  The shedding is not too surprising.

Oh, I took another one that shows even MORE hair.

I just HAVE to mention that when I took him for his Rabies booster shot he had hit a whopping 83 pounds.  He's 16 months old now and so has probably stopped growing.  Finally.



Since then it's been life back to normal.


Thing 2 has been having some friend issues.  Just when I think she's found a new one and we can relax about the whole thing, they have a falling out and she's unhappy again.  This time she tells me she asked the little girl what the problem was and was told, "you have too many other friends and I'm jealous."  We have tried to teach her to play with everyone, and apparently she's learned her lesson well enough to annoy other the other kids.


The countdown to Christmas has the girls very excited.  Thing 1 made a list which started out as a single page but then later gained a 2nd page and eventually a fully illustrated cover.


I didn't get out all the Christmas decorations this year, it just seemed like so much work.  The tree has quite a bit less of the usual flotsam and jetsam, I didn't set out any of the many nativities.  When I went to put up the outside lights, I found many of them had burned fuses and bulbs.  I put up what lights I could get to work, didn't want to deal with anything more than replacing a few bulbs, and called it good.  So far no one has complained about the relative decrease in festive clutter.  I think I'm the only one who noticed.

Hubby leaves tomorrow for a week in Paris, same as last year about this time.  He'll be back next Saturday and will be home for three weeks after, during the end of which is our week in Hawaii.

That's all, nothing big or exciting.

Tadaki has shrunk

I haven't seen Kelly since forever so I took the girls and the dog over to her place after the first day of school.

We had lot going on after the school and it was somewhat hectic getting out of the house, but once we got over there the dogs ran in a wild pack, and the girls jumped on the trampoline. I got to admire Kelly's shoes, quilts, and everything else she's done since I saw her last; basically we had much needed grown-up girl time.

The funny part was how much Kelso had grown. I got a picture of him next to Tadaki soon after we got him last October...


Then Wednesday I took a picture of them side by side again.


I thought Tadaki was SO HUGE back in October... I think he's shrunk. Kelly said he's not so broad across his chest because he doesn't pull her around as much every day as he pulled each day in training, but she assured me he's not the victim of some tragic dog shrinking disease. Kelso has just been growing like a weed. He put on 10 pounds a month for the first 5 months we had him. At 11 months I took him into the vet for a weight check and he was 80 pounds. He turned 1 year old on August 1st, and I suspect he's gained a couple of pounds since then. I understand the bigger they are, the later dogs will mature... so I'll give him a couple of months and then have him weighed again.

Cricket Wrangling

Thing 1 has a friend over. The friend's older brother, in 4th grade, came along so their mother, who is in an intensive nurse training program could get a little kid-free study time. I've had the two of them before and usually the four kids all get along well enough.

Not today. Today the brother won't let Thing 1 and her friend have their "alone time." The mother and I were getting in some much needed mommy talking time before she left but kept being interrupted by the friend, who was complaining about her brother. Finally I suggested they all go feed the gecko. Entertainment for all. I've never just turned my girls loose with the feeding process, but they've been there most of the times I've done it, I think they should be fine.

The four kids come out to the front porch about five minutes later. The mom and I are still talking. How did the gecko feeding go? Did you dust them with the calcium?
"Yep," Thing 1 tells me. "Dotty cornered one of them. Two of them. Before she ate them. And... one of the crickets went down the drain."
So I have to ask, "What drain? You mean in the bathroom when you were dusting them?"
"Not a drain," says the brother. "She means the heating vent."
Thing 1 pipes up, "But we caught more, so she's had four." Like the issue is that the gecko had enough to eat. Sigh.
"So there's a cricket loose in their room?" I ask.
"No," says the brother. "There's two. One went behind the chair. But the one in the heating vent will get fried right up when you turn on the heat."
It looks like my plan of turning the gecko feeding over to the girls might result in a herd of wild crickets roaming their room.