A very long post about a very fun trip

We spent seven glorious days in San Diego. Introducing our children to the place I lived as a child-- and again as a teenager-- was a great experience. As a parent, I saw my home in a new way. I laughed as I called the kids down from stair rails I often climbed myself. The best part of "going home" was spending time with my mom and stepdad.


The break from routine felt amazing. Our mornings were lazy. We chatted, ate breakfast, and lounged on the patio. In the afternoons, we played at the beach and the park. At night, we enjoyed delicious dinners cooked by Mutti & Humey, watched hot air balloons from the deck, and went on long walks.

The Park
Knowing the beaches would be crowded the first two days of our visit (Saturday and Sunday), we opted to spend those afternoons at the park. Oakcrest Park seemed especially quiet, and we had a blast.

 We loved Oakcrest so much that we went back often through the week.

 
The Beach
Moonlight and Solana Beach became our family-friendly favorites this visit. 

 Disneyland
Midway through the week, we took the boys to Disneyland. Mutti was kind enough to watch Libby for the day.

Scotty and Travis in line for Pirates (the first time):

 Waiting for the Haunted Mansion:

Dumbo:

Teacups:

Meeting Mickey. Remember once upon a time when you could walk up to him in the park and chat for a moment before snapping a picture? No more. Now, you wander through an indoor labyrinth (aka "Mickey's House"), waiting in line for your turn to rush through a staged pose with Mickey. Kind of a bummer. The kids still loved meeting him:

In all of the fun, I took very few pictures. We spent the day running from ride to ride, spending way too much money on food, and smiling from ear to ear. (There were a few mopey moments, but we won't focus on those.) Jamin even "officially" celebrated his birthday-- two months late (we were really sick, remember?)-- with chocolate mousse at the Blue Bayou. 


As evening came, I staked out a place by the river while Scotty took the boys to Pirates a few more times. They met up with me after the fireworks. Travis was asleep. Jamin watched Fantasmic by my side and dozed off during the show. 


We had a very cool spot, right behind the switchboard.

 The sign of a good, loooooong day at the Happiest Place on Earth:

Yes, we had a fantastic trip to San Diego. My mom and I even had a girls' afternoon in honor of her birthday. 


We left California sunburned and cheerful. Heavenly.

Dear Mutti,

The boys have something they'd like to say:

Libby was napping at the time, but she still wants to send her birthday wishes:

Happy birthday! We love you so, so much. 

P.S. See you soon!

Love,
Scotty, Alison, Jamin, Travis, and Libby

Round two. And three.

A few days after Jamin's pinkeye cleared, Travis got it.

He felt extra cuddly and often shouted, "¡Ayúdame! ¡Ayúdame! Help!" when he wanted me to clean his eyes. His eye gunk was gone two days later...

...the same day Libby woke up with pinkeye.

 

Those big, bright eyes turned puffy and bloodshot. Heartbreaking.

Thankfully, she's almost all better now. I like to think they got all their spring sickness out before we head to California. Right?

Nanay

We love Nanay.

Jamin proudly displaying Nanay's name in blocks

We celebrated her birthday on Monday.

Charlotte baked a beautiful, scrumptious cake. She also brought over fun party decor and a stunning flower arrangement. I cooked some copycat Olive Garden recipes. Brock and Jamin pasted the walls with hand-colored hearts.

Jeannie, thank you for being such a great mother to Scotty, a fantastic grandmother to the kids, and the best mother-in-law I could imagine. We are lucky to have you.

California Dreamin'

In exactly two weeks, we leave the cold of Idaho for our spring break destination:

 Ah, Encinitas. The lovely San Diego beach town. My home. We look forward to spending time with my mom and stepdad.

We plan to go here:

And here:

But mostly here:

 This will be the kids' first trip to San Diego and to Disneyland. It will also be T&L's first visit to the beach. We anticipate a brutal drive, numerous meltdowns, and heaps of dirty laundry. We also anticipate squeals of joy, days filled with fun, and many wonderful memories. And the sun... oh, the sun.

We can't wait.

Today

Due to all the catch-up involved with getting better, I have fallen behind in posting. I thought about all I could write but had no idea where to start. Instead, I'll just focus on today.

Today...

Jamin has pinkeye. His classmates have passed the yucky bug around, and it's Jamin's turn now. He either got it at school last week or at a birthday party on Saturday. Either way, he's quarantined at home for 24 hours.

 His class just finished a unit about dinosaurs, so Jamin wanted to tell me all about it. I started recording mid conversation (you can hear him shouting at Travis at the end).

Speaking of Travis, he is being his usual self today: happy, playful, pesky, endearing, and mischievous. He has perfected the art of being a brother, for good and ill. Even the ill is terribly cute.

 (Don't mind the crazy hair. He had just rolled all over the couch.)

Miss Libby is also up to her normal tricks. She is sweet as can be. Despite her daintiness, she has become our little daredevil. And she loves-- I mean loves-- to tease us.

Scott has a training meeting today, then he'll sleep, spend some time with the family, study, and head back to work.

As for me, today consists of surviving on 3 broken hours of sleep (oh, the joys of a sick child) and letting the kids be as messy as they want. 

Today may not be glamorous, but I'm lucky to spend it with the people I love... even if they like to paint the walls with mustard.