After nearly 1900 miles, 74 Slugbugs, and more pit stops than I wish to recall, I'm finally ready to document our trip to California.
Warning. This really isn't a "quick recap," that would be impossible for me.
Thursday night - Sept 3 Mark drove home our rental van - a 2009 Toyota Sienna. Two words - Storage Space. This rental van was a lifesaver. I couldn't believe how much more room we had compared to our 97 Honda Odyssey. We drove to Mesquite and stayed the night in a cheap hotel.
Friday - We drove to San Diego, checked into our condo and stocked up on groceries. Costco and Albertsons, I felt right at home. The boys went swimming at the pool there which was filled with salt water. Never heard of such a thing and not sure I'm a fan.
Saturday - Legoland.
Big hit with the boys. They LOVED checking out everything. They were amazed at the first thing they saw made out of legos and had to just run up and feel it and make sure it was really made out of legos. They loved Miniland, USA. They got to play in the water too. Fun time for two little boys!!!!
Needless to say, they spent their vacation money at the Lego store and our condo became Legoland that night. They spent nearly 3 hours putting their new toys together and then playing with them.
Sunday - We needed some down time and that's just what we did. The temple was beautiful!
Monday - Sea World. Another big hit with the boys! How great to see and touch such things as star fish and bat rays. Although Ethan didn't think sitting in the Soak Zone was such a great idea, in fact he was crying about having to sit there. Granted, it was 8:30 at night and getting a little cold, but it was a funny moment watching Mark carry Ethan down to the soak zone and Ethan crying that he didn't want to get wet.
Tuesday - Beach Time. Mark's friend Matt lent us some boogie boards and before we knew it, we had two surf bums on our hands. It didn't take too long before they were hitting the waves. I learned that an 11 month old either loves or hates the sand. Alex had a love/hate relationship with the beach and I soon realized I did too. Walking in the sand is one thing, having it in places it shouldn't be is another. Try nursing a crying baby in your swimsuit when you are both covered in sand -- another great adventure for me and the little guy!!!
Wednesday - San Diego driving tour compliments of Mark and Callie (we named the GPS system my parents' let us borrow, another must have for long road trips). I also learned that with boys, shopping is definitely not on the itinerary. Pretty sure I didn't step foot in one gift shop except for the Legoland one. Seaport village was a quick walk through to the harbor where we checked out all the boats and cool sculptures along the walk way. We drove over to Coronando played on a cute playground with the beach and bridge as our background.
The boys really just wanted to hit the beach again, so we did. This time we went to La Jolla Cove. They were quickly disappointed when we were told they couldn't use their boogie boards. So, out came the snorkle gear. Both the boys did great, I guess I wasn't surprised; they really like the water. We also checked out the tide pools and saw little fish, crabs, and such. It was a beautiful area!!!
Thursday - Our last full day and I bet you can't guess what the boys wanted to do? BEACH DAY!! We spent more time boogie boarding this time at Torrey Pines State Beach. Again, they same story: sand, sand, and more sand, no more happy baby, no more happy mom. I loved watching Mark and the boys play out in the water. They were loving it! Holes were dug, bridges were made, feet were buried.
Mark also got to go on a 14-mile bike ride with Matt that afternoon. He did take a spill or two but couldn't stop talking about it afterward. I was glad he had such a great time.
The condo we stayed at had a nice club house with grills out by the pool too. Mark cooked us up excellent dinner that night, we watched us some Sandlot in the clubhouse and even played some pool and pingpong. I must say I was pretty good at playing pingpong with the boys while holding Alex in one arm.
Friday - We packed up and headed for Las Vegas.
It wasn't too bad of a drive. We got there and checked into our hotel and went out to dinner. Mark and I thought it would be fun to just drive the strip. The boys did enjoy looking out the windows and seeing the big buildings and lights and such. We all loved the fountain at the Bellagio and the ships at Treasure Island. Of course, a trip down the strip wouldn't be complete without a little spice. Needless to say, Aaron thought the scantily clothed girls on the truck next to us were a little funny and fun to look at. What better time to have a little lesson on modesty and respecting women.
Saturday - The final leg of the trip. We were getting anxious to get back home, and I know Alex was ready to be OUT of that car seat. We pretty much drove straight through, stopping only for ice cream in Beaver, this of course was on my scheduled itinerary.
It was great to pull into our drive way and know we were finally home. Whenever I am gone from home for an extended amount of time I always come home and find myself walking around and just staring at everything. It is hard to explain, but it always seems to happen.
My other favorite part of coming home from a long trip --- unpacking and laundry. Now that the boys are in school, I'll add HOMEWORK....Ethan and I are just barely catching up on all the homework his teach sent home to him the day he got back to school.
