California (Mid October)

I'm still trying to catch up. We have so many pictures! This blog doesn't even cover our little vacation. We took so many pictures that I felt so overwhelmed as to which ones to use. I think that's the main reason it has taken me so long to document things. Also, our computer is so old and slow that blogging has become almost painful because I have to sit and wait a couple minutes for each picture to load. So funny how we used to wait hours for things to load and now anything above a few seconds is almost unbearable.

This past October we took a pretty spontaneous trip to California. My 95-year-old grandfather has been pretty sick. There was talk that he would only live through the weekend. Yet, here we are in December, and he is still hanging in there. Well, back in October, when things were looking grim, we decided we would drive to Southern California to visit with Granpda Z before he passed away. My mom had been spending time with him and told me he was doing well enough for company. With that, we jumped in the car and drove down on a Saturday.

The kids did a really good job of traveling. Every couple of hours we would stop and let the bigger kids ride their scooters around the rest stop or the gas station area. After 15 minutes or so, the kids would jump right back into the car ready to go. Poor Solomon was not so ready. He was getting pretty tired of being strapped into his car seat. Traveling to Southern California now is nothing like it was when I was my kids' age. We had a big Copper colored Chevy Van with bench seats. My parents removed the back bench and laid a mattress down where we could all just lounge and nap or bounce or whatever. However, today we have GPS and portable dvd players and all sorts of modes of entertainment. If only we could combine the fun of the back seat mattress and the dvd players...

We stopped in Las Vegas because I thought it would be fun for the kids to check out Circus Circus and hit the buffet there. What a big mistake that was. Yes, the small circus part was fun. The kids did win a couple of things, but the Casino itself was what I envision the den of iniquity to be. It was way too crowded with people. I have no idea why it was so crowded. There weren't even very many kids there, it was all teenagers and adults. It was smoky and dark and we couldn't figure out how to get back to the car. I guess it serves me right for stopping on a Saturday night. We're never, ever going back to Las Vegas again!

We finally pulled into Grandpa's around midnight. Thank goodness the babies were asleep. When we awoke the next morning, we all visited with Grandpa. He really wasn't the same energetic Grandpa I've always known, but he was in good spirits. So happy to have family visiting. I wanted to start vacationing that day, but my husband said we all had to go to church. So off we went. Who really goes to church while on vacation? My husband does and I guess the rest of us do too. 

After church we took the kids to Travel Town. Since this trip was so spontaneous and last minute, we didn't really have any extra money saved for it. Our budget was so tight and limited. We had to find activities that cost next to nothing. My mom recommended Travel Town. She told us she used to take us when we'd visit Grandpa when we were younger. I didn't remember Travel Town at all, but was so glad she recommended it because it was FREE!!

Travel Town is just this little park that is filled with old trains. Big engines, old box cars, a little museum, and other train related items. There were trains the kids could climb on and explore and a train they could ride around the park. The weather was perfect and the kids were so happy to be able to run around and around and around.

The next day we decided to go to the Zoo. It was just around the corner from Grandpa's house. I thought the L.A. Zoo would be super pricey, but was surprised to find it didn't cost more than our little rinky, dinky zoo here. It only cost us 43 dollars to get our whole family of five in and the place was HUGE!!

We walked for almost two hours and still didn't get to see all the exhibits. I was so impressed. If the kids hadn't been so tired, I would've stayed there for another two hours. They were getting tired of looking at animals and really just wanted to go the beach. So we went back to Grandpa's, grabbed some lunch, towels, sun screen, and swimsuits and headed to Huntington Beach. My cousin recommended we go there because it's clean and well cared for and because he lives right around the corner. Indeed, the beach was clean and so beautiful.

Franklin Dancing!

We were a little disappointed though at the temperature difference between Burbank and the shore. When we left my Grandpa's house, the temperature was low 80's. When we got to the beach, it was low 70's. After a short while, it got even colder. Some dark, cold clouds rolled in and took all the fun out of our beach trip. Why couldn't the fog have waited just an hour longer? The kids were having so much fun running away from the waves, digging in the sand, and collecting sea shells. Solomon probably loved the beach most of all. It was so fun watching him run towards the water with no idea what was in store for him. When he got to the water's edge and the water was rising higher and higher on his legs, his face was so funny. He wasn't sure if he should be scared or excited. The little boy loves water, but it was a little cold. He also got some water in his mouth. Nobody likes salt water in the mouth. After his one and only encounter with the waves, Solomon stayed back and tried chasing birds. Oh if only he could've caught a seagull!! It was a great time at the beach even if it was only for a small time.

We're Here!

The next day was the most magical day of all! We spent the day at DISNEYLAND!! We have a very close friend who was able to give us four vouchers to the Magic Kingdom. I still haven't been able to thank him enough. We left Solomon at Grandpa's house and left bright and early in hopes of reaching the park just as the gates opened. We were a bit nervous as the fog, from the day before, was lingering in the area.

It was pretty cool, temperature wise, when we arrived, but come 11:00, the sun was shiny and the park was sparkling. Oh, it was beautiful and magical and fun and really not all that crowded. The longest we had to wait in line was 20 minutes. Some rides we didn't even have to wait. We walked right onto "It's a Small World." I love that ride. I know the song gets old after a while, but I could've ridden it a dozen more times.

Just Waiting in Lines

The Carousel

Toon Town

Mickey Mouse's House

Tarzan's Tree House

Peter Pan and The Sword in the Stone...

Sleeping Beauty's Castle

Autotopia

Wild Safari Ride

The "Magical" Parade...

We were sad to hear "Pirates of the Caribbean" was closed. That's one of my favorites and I know the kids would've loved it. We rode as many rides as we could and only stopped to snack. We were kind of bummed to find out the park closed early to let in a whole new crowd for Trick or Treating. If we wanted to pay $50 bucks per person, we could've stayed until 11pm. It didn't matter that we were getting kicked out at 6pm because the kids were starting to fall apart. They had had so much fun. They were just so tuckered out. We didn't even get out of the parking lot before they had fallen asleep.

I am so thankful we decided to make the spontaneous trip to California. It was such a blessing to have a friend give us Disneyland tickets. We never could have gone if it weren't for him.

We had the best trip and spent hardly anything! Since we were able to stay at Grandpa's house, our biggest expense was gas. We did spend more than we anticipated on food, but we were on vacation and didn't feel like cooking that much. It was such a blessing to have my mom there to help care for Grandpa and to help care for Solomon while we were at Disneyland.

When we first arrived, Grandpa didn't even leave his room. By the time we left, four days later, he was venturing out for every meal and sitting in the living room with us. He even decided to put in his hearing aids for a bit right before we left. Most of the time he just sat in silence. It was so nice to see him perk up a bit. It's amazing what happiness visitors can bring. I know he enjoyed playing with the kids.

We all wish we could've stayed longer. I begged and begged my husband to let us, but he had to get back to work and we had over spent the budget. We drove straight home on Wednesday. Once again, the kids did a great job traveling. Grandpa had some Disney DVDs he had never even opened that he let us have. New movies really helped make the drive more bearable. We drove straight past Las Vegas and didn't even look back, but I think I left my heart in Sunny Southern California. As I right this, almost three months later, my heart still aches to be there. The weather was perfect, the company was perfect. It was just one of the most memorable and enjoyable vacations we have been on since we had children. We are already saving our money so we can go again. Here are some pictures of my husband's run up to the Hollywood sign and some other random pictures of our adventure.