Summer with Family

Last month we took a road trip to Santa Cruz to watch my eldest niece graduate from UCSC.  This was both the first long vacation we've taken since Abigail was 10 months old and a wonderful opportunity to spend time with my big family.  I often find myself talking to friends or reading posts about traveling with family members, and it seems like such a wonderful deal.  The grandparents (most likely traveling companions) get to spend quality time with the little ones, and the parents have the benefit of in-house babysitting and assistance with the challenges of traveling with kids.  Yet coordinating this, at least with my family, is nearly impossible.  There are so many of us with different circumstances and vacation needs.  In this case my sister made all of the arrangements for our stay in Santa Cruz, and went out of her way to make it possible for everyone to attend her daughter's graduation.  What a treat!  Since the 10 hour drive was certainly not going to happen in one shot for our little family, we made a road trip of it.

First stop: Crystal Cove Beach

In our day at Crystal Cove we learned that Elijah loves to lay in the sand.  He walks straight into the ocean, plays in the water, gets nice and cold, and then proceeds to sunbathe, sometimes for 45 minutes at a time.  It's absolutely hilarious to watch a child his age do this.  I don't remember who coined the phrase, but we now call it "lizarding", which Abigail loves.  The rest of the trip was accented by Abigial exclaiming, "he's lizarding again!"

The first of many "back of the van" meals for Elijah 

Jake's very favorite beach, and a beautiful spot on the southern California coast

Getting big, too fast

Abigail loves the water this summer, which is so much fun

My sweet

 Second stop: Disneyland
After a full day at Crystal Cove we drove 30 minutes to Anaheim and prepared for two days at the happiest place on earth.  Abigail was very much looking forward to spending the night at Disneyland.  In the week preceding vacation she asked every day if it was time to wake up and walk right into Disneyland.  We stayed at a local, castle-themed hotel, which sparked Abigail's interest in suits of armor.

Loving his new stroller

Many a tea cup ride was enjoyed 

Our first time riding It's a Small World

Comfortable in his new ride

This guy already knows how to wait in line

Some Bolands joined us on our first day at Disneyland.  Thanks for coming out, Amy.

 Since we usually leave the park around 4 pm to head home for dinner and bath time, Abigail has never experienced Disneyland at night.  I was really excited to take her to see the fireworks for the first time!

In jammies, ready for a few rides and a firework show

Either the fireworks or a little sickness wound up costing us some happiness the next day.  Abigail developed a fever and napped for 2.5 hours in Elijah's stroller, which is unheard of.  The day was pretty low-key.

Waiting for the Disneyland parade on the sunny side of Main street on a hot, hot day

Lackluster parade cheering

Breakfast the following morning -- feeling much better

Third stop: Santa Barbara
The morning of our fourth day on the trip we had breakfast at Disneyland, visited some princesses, and then drove up to Santa Barbara.  We stopped for a picnic lunch and some outdoor fun at the Santa Barbara mission.

Blackberries are good

Making a staircase up to the ice palace

Fourth stop: San Louis Obispo
We stayed in Santa Barbara a little longer than intended and wound up having our most challenging car journey of the trip.  We had reservations to stay the night in SLO.  We left SB around 5 pm, after feeding Elijah some dinner, and hoped that he would fall asleep in the car somewhere along the way.  Unfortunately, my kids do NOT sleep in cars, at least not without a fight.  After half an hour on the road we stopped for gas, diaper changing, and a potty break.  I put Elijah in jammies and hoped for the best.  We didn't make it very far, because he screamed so violently that he threw up after less than 10 minutes.  With a full bottle of water, a roll of paper towels, a bucket of baby wipes, and a toddler screaming at me that she "doesn't like that smell!", I did the best I could with the car seat (which I would later wash in the hotel bathtub using shampoo), while Jake cleaned up the baby.  We got back in the car with me in the back seat doing everything in my power to entertain the overtired one-year-old for the next hour, past his bedtime.  The lovely barbecue and happy hour that was included with our hotel stay in SLO was briefly visited by Jake and Abigail for some dinner while I tried to get this little guy sleeping and our stuff in some semblance of order.

Maybe he was missing home

Fifth stop: Watsonville
Packing up after just one night in SLO was definitely not my favorite part of the trip, but we did have four nights in Watsonville with my family to look forward to.  The trip there was uneventful, and we were very excited to see familiar faces at our destination!

Are we there yet?

Both my kids had some lovely Grandma time

We had beautiful beach weather in Watsonville

Lizarding

All the kids lizarding with Elijah

Dad and Jake throwing the football

Olaf sand man with Aunt Michele

Debi and the happy graduate

Elijah eating dinner on the beach

This was the baby beach house, rented by my sister.   All occupants had children 6 and under.  The other house was even more beautiful, but somehow I didn't take a picture of it

Post graduation beach bonfire

Congratulations, Miss Caitlin!  We are so proud of you.

Love my dad

S'mores with my favorite girl

Grandma's perfect s'more

Sister love

Thanks to these two, for an amazing weekend

My nephews who do not pose for photos (John is actively looking away)

It was a truly wonderful weekend of fun, though sickness and an incident with a dog kept some of our family from participating.  I'm grateful for the memories, and so happy we were there to celebrate Caitlin's accomplishment.

Sixth stop: SLO again
This time we were on a mission to get to Simi Valley (~6 hour driving) in one day.  So we got packed up and left, first thing.  We stopped in SLO for picnic and park play, this time watching the time more closely.  The deli we ate at in SB was quite good, but the SLO deli was incredible.  We were getting close to the city and Yelp led us to amazing sandwiches, while google maps helped us find a park nearby.  What did people do before smart phones?

Elijah dipping a fork in potato salad -- eating mayonaise is fun

Seventh stop: Simi Valley
Elijah did nap in the car that day, and though we hit some traffic before reaching our destination, we all survived the trip and arrived before Elijah's bed time.  My sister and her husband insisted on giving up their bedroom and the four of us enjoyed a very relaxing recovery day.

Feeding ducks

More park play

Being spoiled by her auntie

Watching rugby with his uncle

Last stop: HOME

Our drive home was blissfully uneventful.  We stayed at my sister's house through dinner and braved the "kids will sleep in the car" scenario with much more success.  Elijah was asleep within 15 minutes, and Abigail after an hour.  The three hour drive felt like nothing with the kids asleep and home awaiting us.  

We continued vacationing in San Diego, as we arrived home on Tuesday night and Jake took the rest of the week off of work.

We love Windansea beach

Day trip to Coronado beach

That concludes our first family road trip, or should I say beach trip.  I'm so happy I finally wrote it down!

Since then life has yet to slow down.  We had a wonderful fourth of July and 45th wedding anniversary party with my family in La Jolla, so I included that here as well.

The happy couple

45 years of marriage!

I love when my family visits

Missed these kids and their mom in Watsonville

Cousins after a full day on the sand

We spent the day at Windansea, with family arriving anywhere from 10 am to 4 pm.  Jake made burgers and hot dogs, and we had a post-beach feast, followed by impromptu patriotic songs on the patio.  Then we loaded all these kids up in every stroller my garage could provide and walked down to the cove for the fireworks.  It was such a lovely day.

Watching the fireworks at La Jolla Cove