Sunday, April 6, 2014

Eight Days

Of fun. 

Of birthday parties.

Of love.

Of adventures in a very full minivan.

     Annie and I just got back of eight days visiting family.  Poor Dad had to stay and work (and somebody has to be here to party with the dogs and cats and chickens!)  It rained almost the entire trip, which I love (love!) even though it really cuts down on fun things to do with 4 kids under 3 years old, and wasn't so great for birthday party day.)

My little San Diego baby, in her jams, trying to figure out
what all this stuff is falling from the sky.  

         Other than our serious need to be with family at least once a month since Annie was born, the real reason for this trip was to be there to celebrate Norah and Shelby's first birthday!  I can't believe these beautiful, curious, adventurous, sweet, daredevil girls are one year old already!




    We partied all day! Bubbles, instruments, sandbox, swings, slide and kiddy pool in the backyard.  Party dresses, headbands, new shoes.  Running, climbing, playing, hugging.  Grilled cheese, tacos and coconut cake!  Family and friends who are like family.  What could be better to celebrate these two!

Oh, and Annie really likes having cousins just her size to borrow headbands from!


    We also got to pretend a little bit to celebrate Jack's third (third!!!) birthday.  Annie and I left a day before his birthday, but at least we got to give him his presents and see his excitement in person.  My friends, I tell you, I have no idea how this amazing, sweet, funny, explorer, energizer bunny, chocolate loving, lego building, sunshine singing nephew of mine became three.  



And can we all take a second to think about how amazing my big sister and my mom are to have put together 2 beautiful and fun birthday parties for 3 kids only 8 days apart! Phew!  And raising these 3 amazing kids!  Just one week there and Annie and I were exhausted!

     And man, oh man, we found so many fun things to do to keep ourselves busy on those rainy days!  

We walked dogs up and down hills, through trees and past beautiful views.  We walked to playgrounds and almost to the beach.  We walked the little early riser back to sleep.  


We cuddled with Zeus.  


Made and drank juice with Nan.




Had lots of smiles and high 5s with DP.

Paid visits to Beverly's and Hart's Fabric!  You can not get this kind of fluffy beauty in San Diego.  In my efforts to save on shipping I may have accidentally incurred an overweight bag charge with Southwest.  Moral of the story - while one big bag may be a whole lot more convenient while traveling alone with a toddler, two smaller bags will save you $75 and from being treated like a criminal by the check-in counter woman.  Whoops!  Good thing this fabric is pretty enough to make me forget all that.

Moda, Birch, Anna Maria Horner!
Birds, Polka dots, Flowers, Paper Airplanes, Monsterz, Gingham.
Swoon!

We piled in Em's minivan and went on all day adventures to the Monterey Bay Aquarium (plus picnic and playtime at Dennis the Menace Park) and the Children's Discovery Museum of San Jose.

3 adults and 4 carseats (and 3 napping babies!)



Both the aquarium and the museum have amazing quotes painted on the walls.
Fantastic and inspiring and I wish I had taken pictures of them all!  





We even got the see the busy bee Auntie Lu three times (between her work and yosemite hiking, photographing adventures)!  

Oh! And Annie and I got to attend the 2nd birthday party of the twins of more friends that are like family!  And hug, pet and get kissed by Lola!

And as always, we did lots of playing and reading and dancing, and cooking and eating, and giggling and hugging and loving!  It is hard to live so far, but we are so lucky to have these monthly visits full of love and adventures.  Can't wait till we can all be together again soon.  

Coming soon!  Handmade presents for two 1 year olds, two 2 year olds and one 3 year old, plus new blankets and bibs coming to the shop!











6 comments:

  1. Wow! Looks like you had an amazing time! I had to laugh at your overweight bag story... sounds like something I would have done! In fact, I did do that with Christmas presents one year, but the check-in guy must have been in a good mood and decided not to charge me. Oops. I'm flying alone with my little girl in a couple months... any good traveling-with-a-toddler tips? Did Annie have her own seat? Did you lug a car seat onto the plane? I can't decide what would be best.

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  2. She was on my lap! Luckily the seat next to me was open in both directions, so as long as the seat belt light wasn't on, we had some extra room to play. It has definitely gotten harder flying with her as she has gotten older and more excited about exploring. Snacks, books and a few new toys! How long is your flight? Oh, and no water for you, because trying to take her in the airplane bathroom probably would have been a disaster! Ha!

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    1. It's only a 2 hour flight... so not too long but long enough that it could go very badly if I'm not prepared! My husband is positive that I'll want to get my daughter a seat and I think he might be right because every time we've ever been on this particular flight (Dallas to Minneapolis) it is packed full... never any empty seats. And we'll need a car seat when we get there, so I'm trying to decide if it's worth bringing on the plane for her to sit in or if I should just have my parents purchase a cheap one to have ready for us when we arrive. Too many decisions! But thanks for the tips! And good point about the airplane bathroom! I can imagine even the airport bathroom could be quite the challenge too, but the airplane bathroom would be far worse!!

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    2. Ergo!! Or some other baby wearing device is a total necessity for me traveling with her, security (they won't make you take her out, only scan your hands), airport bathroom, baggage claim, walking across big terminals in a hurry, all so much easier with her strapped to you! I would decide based on which is cheaper, new carseat for your mom (which she could use multiple times when you come visit) or a plane ticket? 2 hours can't be too bad!

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    3. Good to know about security! I thought they would probably make me take her out of the Ergo, so I wasn't really planning on using it for the airport. But if I can wear her through security that makes total sense. And you are starting to convince me to try her on my lap. Heaven knows she'll be there for most of the flight whether I buy her a seat or not...

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