The travel bug hit and we decided to go to California for Thanksgiving.
The boys have become good travelers. In the past, I seemed to spend as much time packing things to keep them occupied on the road as I did packing everything else for the trip. Road entertainment was more of an after thought on this trip – and it it worked out just fine!
They spent a lot of time looking out the windows and telling us what they could see … letters on the mountain, temples, trains, etc. At one point in our journey, Tommy said, “I see a roll of toilet paper! And another. And another. And another.” Surely he wasn’t seeing actual toilet paper? But he was! Someone must have lost a case or two because all along the side of the road were rolls of tp. And Tommy let us know about each one, “here comes another roll!”
Tommy especially enjoys spotting letters on the mountains and the drive through Utah does not disappoint him. As we drove through St. George and past Dixie University, he declared, “D spotted!”
Tommy’s quick eye didn’t stop at the Utah border. As we drove through Las Vegas he observed, “I see soap on the road!” After the toilet paper, we weren’t as quick to disregard his eye this time, but it ended up just being the rain bumps on the freeway.
Once we reached California, Tommy still kept us entertained with his play by play …
“I see pom pom trees!” (aka, palm trees)
“I see another McDonalds!”
And when we stopped in Baker for lunch and Bobby dropped a couple of fries, Tommy reassured us all, “Don’t worry! They have vacuums here!”
Bobby wasn’t as fond of the traveling as the other boys, but he seemed to find his happy place.
Once we got to Kevin’s parents’ home, one of Bobby’s happy places was the wooden rocking horse. No prompting or encouraging … he climbed right aboard!
It turned out that Bobby wasn’t feeling his best on our trip. He took a rare mid-morning nap in my arms on Thanksgiving Day.
And my arm took the opportunity to sleep with him – oh the pain! The things we mothers are willing to do for our cute babies!
We were watching a rodeo on TV one day. Rusty came into the room and looked at the TV. The current event was bull riding. His eyes lit up and he said, “Now THAT’S a cow!”
Traditionally, the Friday after Thanksgiving is cold where we are. And, traditionally, I go out shopping with my mom – nothing crazy, but just to enjoy the Black Friday atmosphere. This year Kevin and I did something different … we took the boys to the beach!
They were a little excited.
Maybe not Bobby. He’d never been to the beach. He decided taking a nap sounded like a good idea to him.
Their excitement made the drive seem particularly long. Rusty kept asking what city we were in and what city the beach was in. As we got closer, I warned the boys to keep their eyes open for the beach. Just as Kevin turned onto the Pacific Coast Highway, Ricky was sure we’d never actually get to the beach and said, “There is no way there is any beach near here!” About two seconds later, the buildings parted and there were the waves! Ricky took back everything he said.
Oh, the beach! It was mostly empty. It was warm without being hot. The waves were huge. It was a perfect day. Therefore, there are a gazillion pictures.
We convinced Aunt Wendi to come with us and I’m so, so glad she agreed to come!
Check out this hunky man in the sunglasses! Alas, the sunglasses did not make the return trip home with us. They were sacrificed in an incredibly heroic throw-and-roll move that saved Tommy from being dragged out to sea by one of those huge waves I mentioned. Hunky and a hero … who could ask for more?!
The seagulls weren’t too bothersome until Wendi got up to play in the waves. She’d been guarding our stuff up to that point. Once she left, this guy thought he would like some goldfish crackers. Naturally, I took pictures instead of shooing him away.
Not to be mushy, but I love this guy!
It was a perfect day! (and the boys weren’t as cold as they might look – the water was chilly, but it wasn’t THAT bad)
Shortly before our trip, Rusty had gone on a field trip to the Nature Center where he learned many things. One such thing was about how birds sit on their nests and roost when they are waiting for their eggs to hatch. So naturally, when Ricky was sitting on his brother one day, Kevin said, “Ricky! No roosting on your brother!”
That Friday also happened to be Grandpa Brent’s birthday. The boys wanted to know if he was going to have a cake and blow out some candles. Grandma Jeanne can’t be around smoke, so the candles were out. Not wanting to disappoint the boys, I had them make candles out of paper for Grandpa Brent to “blow” out. Billy was trying to make 67 candles but I told him we could just pretend that there were that many on his paper cake.
It isn’t a true trip to California without a couple of game nights.
See? We have fun!
We played some trains and then we taught them how to play “Scum.” Kevin’s competitive nature is enhanced by the game “Scum.” He likes to win. He likes to keep winning. So, after finishing first, AGAIN, we (cough, I, cough) decided enough was enough and demoted him to the scum position. He took it fairly well.
We hadn’t been to California since Aunt Sheri bought her home, so we went over to check it out one afternoon. Bobby thought her garage was a good place to give his Poppy a kiss … with his teeth! It certainly LOOKED cute.
The boys enjoyed just spending time with their grandparents.
I enjoyed doing something different than my usual routine …
Tommy and Rusty enjoyed sharing a bed. At least I think they enjoyed it. I enjoyed seeing the cute positions they ended up in each night!
Kevin enjoyed himself enough that he was taking selfies with the boys!
When it was time for us to head home, Rusty just couldn’t stand to part with a particularly soft stuffed monkey. He’d enjoyed the monkey the whole time we were there and he really wanted to take it home. His momma’s first instinct was to tell him no – I’m mean that way. But I think he’d won his grandparents over and they motioned that it would be okay. I changed my tune to, “If you give ’em a hug and a kiss, maybe you can take the monkey home.” My intention was that he hug and kiss Grandpa Brent and Grandma Jeanne. Rusty’s understanding was a little different. As we watched him, Rusty picked up that monkey and he gave IT a big old hug and a big old kiss! A few smiles and laughs later, he did hug his grandparents and he did get to bring the monkey home (which he named Charles).
The trip home was a bit slower than we would have liked. About 4 hours slower than we would have liked. Ah, the joys of traffic. This was a frontage road along the freeway – the freeway itself was worse.
Tommy still kept us going with his play by play of sightings out his window. My favorite on the way home was when we passed a golf course in Southern Utah. Tommy gleefully squealed, “Gooooooolf Course!!!”
Bobby took the long trip home the hardest, but we managed to find some entertainment for him. Sometimes just sticking your foot straight up in the air for 15 minutes is entertainment enough …
And thank goodness he’ll nap in the car!
There was a time when we could travel at any time of day, for any long length of time and distance and my children would NOT sleep in the car. (It made for some very long trips to Washington State!) They still resist sleeping for a very long time, but they have learned how to give in. And they don’t seem to mind using each other as pillows in the process …
It really was a great trip. I’d go back to that beach day in an instant!