Califinia vacation

We just got back from our vacation to California. We had a wonderful time and the car ride there and back wasn't as bad as we expected it to be. We spent a lot of time with family and kept it all pretty low-key. We loved playing games and staying up late and hanging out. Here is a time line;

- Thurdsay we drove down in one trip. It went so well! Jacob had some tummy troubles, but otherwise the trip was near perfect and we made it in 13.5 hours.

- Friday was spent hanging out and recovering from our trip. That night most of the Turner family came over to the house for an evening of talking and getting to know you stuff whilst listing the The Number Fox give us an awesome personal concert. Colleen came, much to my delight, and I was able to meet gorgeous little Evaline. We had a really nice time. Jacob however, must have been bitten by the clumbsy bug or something and was falling and tripping over anything and everything! He even collided heads with Colleens son William - poor boys. We also discovered that Daniel doesn't like grass, really doesn't like it! we put a blanket down and even though he can crawl he never ventured off of that blanket.

- Saturday we went to Roaring Railroad camp. What a cool place! We had lunch with all the family and then ventured over to the general store. While on my way to our scheduled train ride I miscalculated the last step on a small staircase and I twisted my ankle pretty bad (pic below), I was holding Daniel and did whatever it took to not fall or hurt him in any way. I have the worst luck with my feet/ankles possible! It took everything in me to not spend the next 5 minutes cursing up a storm. I spend the train ride with my ankle propped up on the window covered with a large ice bag. I can just cry from the frustration I feel over this! We rested in the afternoon and then stayed up late playing games with JoManda and eating Ben and Jerry's ice cream, could there be anything better than that?!

- Sunday was Father's day and other than going to church we stayed in all day and rested. We thought it was really neat to spend that occasion with Brent's dad. More games were played while I continued to R.I.C.E. (rest, ice, compress, elevate) my ankle and pop Advil like an addict.

- Monday we left the boys with Brent's parents and we went to Great America. Brent pushed me around in his mom's old wheelchair. It wasn't the best, but I'm glad we still went despite my bum foot. You know, we didn't have that ideal of walking around slowly, holding hands, talking while waiting in line.. all that mushy stuff I love. But we enjoyed ourselves none the less. We were bummed to find out it is no longer owned my Paramount but by the state now and they renamed Top Gun "Flight Deck".. how lame is that! Also, Drop Zone is now the Drop Tower. However, they did have a cool new ride based on the reality hit show Survivor. That night JoManda came over and yet more games were played.

- Tuesday my friend Rebecca came over and we hung out in the morning. Her daughter Brielle came along and played with Jacob for a while, then she went into the hot tub with Ann. I enjoyed our visit and was sad that Jacob was a mean little stinker for most of it. He hadn't slept well the night before which meant we didn't either. Then Amanda came over and we hung out all afternoon (love you Amanda). Then we went up to Fremont to spend the evening with our friends Tom and Angela and their son Alexander. Tom made some seriously delicious pizza and Angela sent us home with a few dozen of the best chocolate chip cookies on the planet. ::Sigh:: We love our friends and were so glad to have had some time with them. Then JoManda came over once more and yet even more games were played! You guys are freakin' awesome!! We love you tons. I called all choked up and teary-eyed after saying goodbye to them. I miss being around family tremendously and was sad to see it all end. We won't be able to come back to California for a year or more.

- Wednesday we drove home. Pretty uneventful thankfully, however we did listen to the entire book Twilight on cd. We liked it, especially the beginning and the end. The middle was a little too much like a romance novel for a teenage girl... poor Brent. He was getting tired of it after awhile, but I sure enjoyed it. :o) Jacob kept telling us he wanted grandma and had a much harder time with they day then he did last week. We got home a little after 11 and crashed a little after midnight.

This morning when we were on our way to playgroup and as I pulled out of our garage Jacob asked where the sun was.. I told him we left it in California. He looked out his window and said, "goodbye sun". I laughed a little at his cuteness but I felt pretty much the same as him... goodbye sun.

Here are some pictures;




- cleaning out the boiler -


- looking out the train car window -


- Jacob loved the train ride and was excited by just about everything he saw -


- the cousins -


- cute little rug rats! -


- Daniel looking silly with a green circle toy in his mouth - Xander was always close by to give him hugs -


- the boys with Grandma Turner -


- the boys with Grandpa Turner -


- My bummed up ankle, don't you just love the greenish sickly color? Ick. -