Back From Vacation

We just got back from a week in sunny California. We lucked out. There was a horrible storm that passed through before we got there. I guess it was one of the worst in California history for the month of September. I'm sure it was bad though because we stayed in a hotel half way there and it poured rain. I don't think drops were coming down. It was more like buckets from the sky. DH got up that day and had a 14 mile run to do. I guess the downpour started when he was about half way.

California was beautiful. We got there on Saturday a little later in the afternoon/early evening. We didn't do anything super exciting that day.

On Sunday we went to church. It was funny because we picked a service with a convenient time not the closest one to Disneyland. Youngest was really good and charming throughout the whole thing. Why can't she be that good when we at home? After the people sitting next to us greeted us and asked us where we were from. It turns out that DH works with her son-in-law and her grand kids go to school with mine. What a small world! What are the chances of being in the same services with someone that is connected to someone you know let alone someone sitting right beside you.

We took the kids to the beach after that. We figured it was sort of 'sabbathy'. The kids had a great time and ended up pretty wet. Only Oldest wore a swimsuit. We figured it would be too cold to get wet but of course it wasn't. Middle was the first in. The wetter his shorts got the less they wanted to stay planted on his hips. I tightened the adjustable waist and minutes later his underwear would be showing. I had some spare clothes in the car but I forgot underwear so Middle ended up without them on the way home. I enjoyed the beach too. It's really peaceful there when it isn't crowded. Of course, I was on self appointed tsunami watch. Leave it to me to be worried about that.

Life got a little more interesting when we got back to our hotel. Our key cards hadn't been working the best to open our room. The cards jammed the signal or something and the light wouldn't stop blinking. We tell the hotel. The hotel calls in the engineer. The engineer gets us another room and then tells us that some head engineer person is coming down from San Francisco to figure it out. He said they would should be able to let us get our stuff in 5 to 6 hours. WHAT? We smelled like ocean and looked like it too. Luckily I had worn jammies in the baggage from the first night out in the car. But really. What was I supposed to do? When you are carting a 9 month old you can't just wake up around midnight and start moving things over. Fortunately, about an hour later I noticed that the light had stopped blinking. I shoved a key card in there and it opened. We blocked the door and started moving our stuff quickly. It's a good thing because once the engineer came and let the door shut it wouldn't open again. Is it horrible that I actually thought about letting middle perform a Spiderman move from the room above ours into the window we had left open?

So it was a rough start to the night. Then about 3:30 or 4 in the morning we start hearing music in Spanish from the room next door. It was very very loud. It woke me up, then DH, then, Youngest. For almost 2 hours it was going. We mentioned at the desk the next morning that the people next door had music going loudly in the middle of the night and were informed no one was staying in that room. Most likely it was employees. Heck, this was a nice place we were staying at and not somewhere you would expect that not that you ever should.

Off to Disney we went, quite tired and a little grumpy. Luckily the happiest place on earth can fix even a tired and grumpy mom and dad. We made a few mistakes that day. We let the kiddos take turns choosing rides. So one would be in Adventureland and then next in Tomorrowland and so forth. We did a bunch of walking. For being so daring and spirited, Middle is a chicken. He didn't want to go on any coasters. His favorite ride was Heimmlich's somethingrather in California Adventure. He would ask to go back to Heimmy's ride when it was his turn. If you haven't been on this ride you haven't missed much. The only thing I can say about it is that Disney is missing an opportunity to sell a bunch of animal crackers outside its exit because the smell they pump through there is yummy.

What else did I learn that day? The rockets aren't meant for a chubby mom, a 7 year old, and a 5 year old. After the first go around Oldest decided to navigate her own. Now I know why DH wasn't so thrilled with that ride when we went to Disney almost 3 years ago. He's too big to fit in that ride even though the kids were 3 years smaller. We did the rockets a bunch on this trip as Middle loved them. He wouldn't go on Dumbo though. I couldn't quite figure that out since the Rockets are more scary that Dumbo. Middle did earn a special celebration of ice cream (bought in the park) for going on the 'log ride'. He didn't realize how Splash Mountain ended until he looked over the front (lucky boy got a front row seat) of the boat.

I also learned that 5 and 7 year old kids still really like characters. During the parade at the end of the day Middle was waving away at the characters. He really thought they were waving back at him. I'm glad he's still young that way.

I learned that my kids are map readers at heart and not just around our house. (We have map time at our house where we take turns spreading out big maps on the ground and then take turns finding places. Middle asks for us to find 'Mistersippi' and 'Mexicota'. Cracks me up!) The kids spent so much time looking at the Disney maps. They could identify just about anything on that map. It got a little annoying though because they don't walk as quickly when holding a map out. Luckily we were on vacation and didn't need quick anything.

Tuesday was our day off. We went to the American Girl Place in L.A. Oldest was in heaven there. My favorite moments of our whole trip occurred there. Oldest asked how much money she had in her spending money and in her bank account. She oohed and ahhhed over all the outfits and dolls while clutching her Nicki doll (9 months worth of savings on her part). She quietly told me something like, "Mom, it's all so expensive." Well, yes it is. It's horribly overpriced and absolutely adorable dang it. She would go back and forth from thing to thing. She wanted to know if she could split the 2 part dance ensemble and only buy half. Nope, not possible little one. She ended up buying a small bag for Nicki (7 dollars) and a swimsuit (8 dollars). She didn't beg one single time. I can't express how that made me feel. She didn't feel entitled to have any of these things and she knew she didn't NEED them. She wanted them but she didn't need them. I had tears in my eyes (which is no shocker... I not only cried on the first day of K for her but also at her first violin concert, first ballet recital, first (okay and every one after) finish of a race, and yes even on her first amusement park ride). She had really learned something I thought was so valuable. She learned about needs vs. wants. DH and I quietly talked to each other about how it was so hard to not buy her stuff. It wouldn't break the bank to buy her a bunch of stuff in the store but it might ruin what we have been teaching her. She proudly paid for her purchases and walked out with her American Girl bag swinging over her shoulder. I gave her a big squeeze and told her how much I loved her and that I thought she was one really great kid. It was too bad when the L on the swimsuit wore off 45 minutes into the ride back to our hotel. I will be sending that swimsuit back for a replacement. Of course we did hit the Target by Disney the next morning because they have a better selection of American Girl knock off clothes than our Target. Oldest bought herself a pet (with a pet bed, bowl, and food) for her doll and another outfit for less than one outfit would have been. Once again, I can't tell you how I beam inside when I think of her that day.

We went to dinner with my aunt and uncle that night. The kids were pretty good at the restaurant and we had a really enjoyable time. The kids aren't perfect by any means but I am glad that know when they have to be good and rise to the occasion.

Wednesday was another day at Disney. We did a few more fun rides that day (well fun for me... Heimmy doesn't cut it for me.) We didn't let the kids go from land to land so much that day. We watched the parade once again. It's not really an adult thing but the kids loved it and it was so fun to watch them.

As a kid I remember loving riding coaster after coaster at Disney. That's all it was about. As a parent it's a different story. I love watching my kids. They really like the boring stuff and I love them so it makes me like it more too. Fortunately they didn't ride all the coasters and that leaves more new stuff for next time. I will admit though that when someone started complaining about this or that we would use the 'Do you want to go on the Tower of Terror next?' line. It worked pretty dang well.

We left Thursday and took our time. I heard Costco had girls Christmas dresses in stock and so I went out hunting for a deal in California. They didn't have them but we did get lunch. In addition to that I will admit to searching the clearance racks at Target on three occasions. I ended up buying Oldest two shirts for spring and one for Middle. Then on the way home we stopped at some outlets and I got some smokin' deals for the kids. I can't stay away from the deals for a whole week.

It's great to be home. DH and I are always glad when we come home and find our comfy mattress. It took us a decade to buy a decent mattress and then we spent more on it than we care to admit. But boy do I love the thing.

Then today, Saturday, we got a really nice surprise. SNOW! Yep, it was only about an inch on the ground but it was snow. I always get so excited when we have our first snowfall and this was no exception. We didn't plant a garden this summer as DH was too busy training for his marathon to help with it and I couldn't commit with Youngest being so, um, spirited. It's different to have it snow when you aren't worry about it curtailing the life of your plants. The kids went outside and played in it for a long time. We still had their mittens, etc. in the ski bags though so they weren't super prepared for it. They didn't care one bit though.

I had a church meeting tonight were I was reminded of many of my purposes in life. I was reminded that it's what I give that is important not what I get. Of course I know this but it's always a good reminder because somehow the world tries to help me forget that. I'm going to use that as my focus this week and see how it goes.

Oh and lastly, DH barely answered his work phone during the whole vacation. He deserves a double thumbs up for that as it is hard for him to leave his work behind. It's going to mean longer hours this week but I am not about to complain as I know it was a sacrifice for him, a sacrifice for us.