Summer Vacation 2016: Part 1 of 3- Southern CA isn't all traffic and Botox

Tonight I lay in bed with my girls as they fell asleep. They tossed and turned for a bit, until their breathing became steady. I knew they were asleep when their muscles started twitching, no doubt reliving the running, jumping, handstands, and cartwheels from the day. They both wanted to sleep on my arms, so I had a wavy, dark-haired head on my right and a straight, blond head on my left. Vacation. Nowhere to be. The luxury of watching and feeling my girls fall into sleep for the night.

The girls have been sharing a bed for the past 8 days and it's been going fairly well. Except for the one time Ruby was overtired, well we were all overtired, and basically anytime Maia moved Ruby would explode in frustration that "Maia's pulling the blanket!" and eventually Ruby had all the blanket and we ended up giving Maia a beach towel which she found to be "really cozy!" and finally 45 minutes later they were asleep.

This was not that day. This was the day before and of course the picture I shared on social media, because it's idyllic, is it not?

The first day on the west coast is always the hardest with everyone waking up before the birds. We waited with open eyes in our dark hotel room, until we could just begin to see the sky change from black to light gray and then headed to the beach.

It was just us and the surfers.

We spent the 4th of July surrounded by Aleks' family and the beauty of oranges groves.

Uncle Greg had a stroke this last Thanksgiving. The entire family came together to help and through their love, Greg's stubborn nature, and the devoted care of his sister (my mother-in-law) Greg is home and doing better than anyone expected. Our 4th of July was a celebration of our country's independence, but also of Greg's tenacity and ability to host the annual party.

My girls had an amazing time.

The next day we headed to the beach, which as you can tell by daughters' faces, was highly anticipated.

Within 5 minutes Maia had a constant stream of spit sliding down her chin because the ocean was salty and kept pulling down her swim bottoms because she had a "sandy butt."

15 minutes after we got to the beach Ruby had to pee, so we walked a half mile down the beach to the public restrooms, during which a blister between Ruby's toes popped causing her to stop walking. Upon closer inspection, Ruby saw a loose piece of skin where the blister used to be and immediately began to wail that her toes hurt really bad. She took her flip flop off a had to walk right up against the cement rail to that she didn't burn her shoeless foot on the hot concrete. Total round trip took us about a half hour.

During our trek Aleks got an invite from his cousin to visit their place, which sits on a lagoon and has a bathroom. Needless to say, we were there 15 minutes later.

San Diego is a dream. We didn't experience too much traffic, I was warm during the day and a little chilly at night, which is how it should be. We saw the ocean, tasted the salt on our skin, and drove north with more vitamin D in our bodies than when we arrived.

On our trip to the Bay Area we stopped for brunch with my brother, who recently moved to LA with his girlfriend and dog. They are so dreamy and are going to thrive in that crazy city. I can't wait to see how their adventure unfolds.

(They took us to Sqirl, where I had the most amazing avocado toast. If you're in Echo Park, definitely check this place out.)

(I wanted to post a picture of my food, but tonight I'm feeling like I don't want to be one of those bloggers, so you'll just have to trust me that it was delicious.)

A few days ago Aleks asked me "so, what project are you looking forward to getting started on when we get home?"

Dude, I'm just getting the hang of vacation. Let's not get back to reality just yet.

CA Summer Trip 2015

I love California. Maybe I've elevated it after having lived elsewhere for the last 12 years, but once I step out of the airport and breathe in that distinct Bay Area air, I'm home. It's like I can finally take a deep breath. More than any other place I've lived, Wichita suffocates me. The hot, humid summers can be debilitating. Everyone is always looking at everyone else with a nose in your business. It's a small town.

But in California, I just feel free. Sure, you might be stuck in traffic part of the time, but you can either look at the Bay or the mountains while you're waiting. Who needs a big house with a yard when you can be outside all year long? And the diversity! People, food, fashion, language...

I will never ever take our visits home for granted. I feel so grateful that I can regularly expose my children to life outside our midwest island. So when we go to CA, we hit it hard.

Even if it means getting up at 4 AM to catch a flight to paradise.

Can I just take a second to mention how much easier it is to travel with my kids this year? It's remarkable. The last two hurdles to a completely easy travel life are the boosters and Maia's unwillingness to try new foods. Once we've gotten over those, we're traveling internationally!

We spent some time with Aleks' dad in Oakland. We ate a bagel that actually tasted like a bagel. Not those powdery, light things you get in a grocery store in Kansas. A proper dense, chewy, flavorful bagel.

We experienced the Alameda county fair, where Aleks enjoyed a turkey leg. Unlike a good bagel, you can get those in Kansas.

These girls love their Gramps. Especially since he gave them Barbies. *cough, cough* Thanks Gramps.

We drove through the Caldecott tunnel quite often and Aleks told the girls if they could hold their breaths from one end to the other, a wish would come true. When David gave the girls their Barbies, Ruby said with wide eyes "my wish came true!"

We spent the 4th in Alameda and went to the Alameda parade, which was delightful and fun and everything a parade should be. Aleks' aunt and uncle drove up from LA to see us and it was really nice to have our girls get to know them better.

Maia has got some pretty funky moves.

My brother's band, Vinyl Station is the opener for the opener on the Rob Thomas national tour this summer. As they travelled through the Bay Area, my mother-in-law graciously agreed to house them for a couple of nights. We unexpectedly and happily ended up sharing the house, giving us some quality time with my brother and his band. We all grilled together on the evening of the 4th and were able to see the fireworks from Danni's backyard. It was a really fun night and I'm so so grateful to have had that time.

The next morning we went to brunch with my grandma and aunt and uncle who are all delightful and happy and healthy and whom we don't get to see nearly enough.

The older I get, the more and more I resemble this lovely lady.

We had a few hours to kill so Aleks and I decided to swing by the winery where we got married. It was still there! And looked smaller than we remembered. What is it about things like that? Maybe the largeness of the event grows the memory or perception of the reality. We left with two bottles of wine  and happy memories.

Then we jetted over to see my grandfather who let the girls swim in his gorgeous pool while we sat and talked.

He also amazed them with his trumpet. We might have a future trumpeter on our hands.

We slept for a little bit and the next day, when we woke up, Danni took us to the Boardwalk! I think the last time I went to the Boardwalk was in middle school with a church group and I couldn't decide who I had a crush on, James or his friend. And I laughed so hard on one of the rides that I peed a little. Ah, memories.

I had forgotten about the rings on the carousel. I could have ridden that thing all day trying to get the rings in the clown's mouth. I did manage to grab two rings on one pass several times. I felt like a teenager again.

We ended the day on the beach. As we were leaving Maia said "can we go to the beach everyday? but let's find one that doesn't get sand everywhere."

Our final big adventure we had was to ride across the Golden Gate Bridge on bikes. We did this last year and all agreed it was one of the best days of our lives.

This year was different, of course. It was still a wonderful day. There was fog and mist and less sun. Not that we minded one bit.

Both girls rode tagalongs, which meant no one had to drag a trailer behind them.

But then I decided that we should bike all the way to Tiburon. It was only lunchtime and when do we get to enjoy the Bay like this?

I should have doubled checked the mileage. We ended up biking 22 miles without sunscreen or water. We all had sore sit bones the next day and I ended up with a nasty sunburn on my back and hands.

It was still a magical day that was topped off by Maia pulling out a tooth!

We had a busy, marvelous time and yet didn't get to see a fraction of the family and friends that we would have liked to visit. I could have spent a few more days at the beach too.

Now we're back in Kansas, where the sky is big, the houses are affordable, and the traffic is non-existent. I'll be dreaming about our California adventures for the rest of the summer.

Things

I can't believe we've been home for a week already. Re-entry has been fairly painless. Thankfully the weather here was mild, making our departure from paradise a bit easier.

Here are some highlights from our week:

1. Today Maia wrote some lyrics:
Somewhere over the rainbow, swimming birds drop
They fall into a lake, they're called ducks.

"Haha Mommy! Is that funny? They're called ducks, haha."

2. I scored a coat rack at Goodwill for $9. It's not in great shape, but I've been looking for one for over a year. I just couldn't bring myself to spend $50 on a new one. I also found some picture frames for a hallway project and a new ceramic container for my coffee. It was a good trip.

3. Some of the siding on our house is rotting. We're getting about 4 different estimates this week. Sooooo that's happening.

4. Still dreaming about our vacation to CA. It was such a great trip. Also, I have to include these photos of some old friends I got to see while in southern CA.

This is my favorite recitative partner.

We haven't changed a bit.

It's been over 15 years since I've seen this lovely lady.

And this gorgeous friend is now a mommy. Her son is so so cute. Dimples for days. Curls too.

Unfortunately we didn't get to see any of our NoCal friends. I had also hoped to see my aunt and visit my former piano teacher, who retired this year. I guess we'll just have to go back!

5. This is the first year we let the girls stay up for fireworks on the 4th. Both girls kept their hands firmly planted over ears the entire time. Ruby basically hated it and wanted to be held as our neighbors shot cannons into the sky (not really, but it was loud!). I don't really blame her. I guess when you live in the prairie you like to blow stuff up. Needless to say, I'm glad that week is behind us.

6. All of a sudden I'm learning ALL of the music. It's nice to have a full plate.

7. Only 2 more weeks until we get to go on vacation with my side of the family, but who's counting?

4th of July 2013

This year we got to spend the 4th of July with Aleks' family in Escondido.

Each year Aleks' uncle opens up his gorgeous home, which sits on an orange grove, to his sisters and brother and their families.

It was a full house, bursting at the seams with lots of Aleks' extended family whom we don't get to see enough.

Our girls, who are typically early risers, woke up even earlier on the morning of the 4th due to the time change.

So we crept out of the house in search of a restaurant open at 6 am on a holiday.

Somehow Teddy ended up sneaking into the car with us.

When we got back to the house, the rooster was crowing and we had to check out the rest of the chickens.

Back at home the girls picked oranges off trees in the backyard, eating them with second cousins and decorating for the party.

The party really got started around 3 and there was lots of game playing, BBQ eating, and pranking.

The girls LOVED their second cousin who is 11.

They followed her around like little ducklings.

I spend some quality time playing pool with the boys and talking about BMX biking, long boards, and being wild.

At times like these I'm thankful for my brother who exposed me to his BMX biking and other extreme activities.

As the sun started to set, the adult boys headed out to set up the rockets.

The goal is to send them up so they come down in the same place.

However, I think a large part of the fun is in the chasing and retrieving of wayward rockets.

My girls spent most of the time with fingers in their ears.

Until Ruby thought she'd like to try sending up a rocket.

Her bravery lasted about 30 seconds and she left Daddy holding the remote alone.

 I don't think he minded.

As the girls went to bed, I was thankful for a break from reading yet another princess story.

It was a wonderful 4th.