Well, we've been home over a week and both of my sisters have posted about us coming out to visit so I figure I better stop being lazy and post about our trip to California. Jeff and I decided that he should stay home and work since he needs all of his vacation time this year to learn how to row so we don't die on the Grand Canyon next year. :) I was a little nervous (actually, a lot nervous!) about driving all the way to California without any other adult to help me with the kids, especially after my last trip out to California which involved a lot of puking. I have a friend that lives in St. George so I decided to break up the drive on the way down. We took off around 11:00 am on Thursday morning and made it to Danielle's house at 4:30 that afternoon with just one stop in Nephi for lunch. The kids did so great in the car and then we were able to spend the evening playing and relaxing at Danielle's house. Danielle and I went out to dinner (with Emily in tow) to Olive Garden while her husband, Stu watched the rest of the kids. I had so much fun hanging out with Danielle, something we haven't done much of in the last ten years.
The next morning we headed out for sunny CA. The kids were great again, and minus some crazy wind and a scary (to me) drive out of the mountains, the trip went really smooth. We got to Shannan's house about 4:00 California time and began soaking in the warm weather. We spent most of the next week with me relaxing while the kids played in the backyard. Shannan's house doesn't have any stairs so I didn't have to worry too much about Emily and I really enjoyed being able to send Max outside to play. We have got to get our backyard usable this summer because what is the point of having a back yard if you can't use it! We also spent a couple of mornings at the park.
Max and Emily had so much fun playing with their cousins. Max seemed to really like Rachael and was always hugging her or trying to wrestle with her. Emily loved carrying around any purse, necklace, or bracelet that she could find. She also got a new nickname, Squanto, from her Uncle Jim. I think because of her short, squatty legs. Jim kept telling me how cute Emily was and it was fun to watch her playing with him.
I brought out my Cuddlebug machine with me so that I could do some crafting with Shannan's girls. We bought some foam crowns and sticky back foam sheets that we used to cut letters and shapes out for everyone to decorate their crowns. Kaitlyn and Rachael had a lot of fun picking out shapes and colors and running the dies through the machine. Shannan's girls are really into princesses and have a lot of princess dresses and I wondered if Max was going to spend the whole week wanting to wear princess dresses, but they only got pulled out on our last day there, but it was long enough for Max to try to stake claim to the Cinderella dress, which he wanted to bring home with us. We had so much fun hanging out with Shannan and her family. I'm sad that we don't get to see them more often, but it was fun to get to go out to visit and enjoy their warm weather.
The next morning we headed out for sunny CA. The kids were great again, and minus some crazy wind and a scary (to me) drive out of the mountains, the trip went really smooth. We got to Shannan's house about 4:00 California time and began soaking in the warm weather. We spent most of the next week with me relaxing while the kids played in the backyard. Shannan's house doesn't have any stairs so I didn't have to worry too much about Emily and I really enjoyed being able to send Max outside to play. We have got to get our backyard usable this summer because what is the point of having a back yard if you can't use it! We also spent a couple of mornings at the park.
Max and Emily had so much fun playing with their cousins. Max seemed to really like Rachael and was always hugging her or trying to wrestle with her. Emily loved carrying around any purse, necklace, or bracelet that she could find. She also got a new nickname, Squanto, from her Uncle Jim. I think because of her short, squatty legs. Jim kept telling me how cute Emily was and it was fun to watch her playing with him.I brought out my Cuddlebug machine with me so that I could do some crafting with Shannan's girls. We bought some foam crowns and sticky back foam sheets that we used to cut letters and shapes out for everyone to decorate their crowns. Kaitlyn and Rachael had a lot of fun picking out shapes and colors and running the dies through the machine. Shannan's girls are really into princesses and have a lot of princess dresses and I wondered if Max was going to spend the whole week wanting to wear princess dresses, but they only got pulled out on our last day there, but it was long enough for Max to try to stake claim to the Cinderella dress, which he wanted to bring home with us. We had so much fun hanging out with Shannan and her family. I'm sad that we don't get to see them more often, but it was fun to get to go out to visit and enjoy their warm weather.
4 comments:
I've already told you how brave I think you are driving alone. I hate long distance drives PERIOD. I am too much of a worrier! Glad you had a great time.
I didn't know you drove alone! That is very brave. I'm glad you had fun. I can't wait, we're going to So Cal in June. My favorite spot. Glad you are back!!
PS my little picture you see is me sitting at my favorite spot on the beach!!
It's about time! Just kidding. It was fun to read your perspective on the trip. I had already forgot about Emily's nickname, Squanto. Is it sticking, or was it a CA thing? Thanks again for coming!
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