California Vaca Take II

We took our semi-annual vacation to California to visit the LGs grandfather and other friends and family there. This time I booked our flight out of Orlando (on purpose)

The flights this time were not nearly as bad. Only had one bad (short) flight were Avery was a pain in the butt. I highly recommend having a layover if you are taking a really long flight with toddlers cause they need the change in scenery and the stretching of the legs. We flew into Long Beach and stayed in Anaheim the first 2 nights and went to Disneyland. We had a blast!

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After Disney we went to the same place we stayed 2 yrs ago in Thousand Oaks. We got to go Grandpa and Nan Lisa's house. The girls loved Nan's bird garden and helped her feed them. They also loved the dogs and I could tell they missed their puppies cause they told every stranger they met about their pooping puppy and how she poops in their room (despite the fact that Leni has not pooped in the house in quite some time...not counting the accidents she had while we were away, of course) The other thing they told every single person they were near was how old they are. The amuzing part of this is that they told people they were every age from 4 to 16 and would try to hold up the appropriate number of fingers for the age. One would say, "I Avery, I 4 yrs old." and then Emerson would say, "I Emerson, I 10." Cracked us up every. single. time. Imagine how many people they talked to in the 4 different airports we were in!?!

We also got to visit the ranch where Nan's horse is kept. I got to visit Rowen again...

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We also got to visit Papa's work and the park team at the city of Malibu build, Legacy Park. It was really really cool!

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We went to one of Papa's good friends house for dinner and swimming. They had two girls one was going into 1st grade and the other was going into 3rd grade (I think) The LGs had a WONDERFUL time playing with them and they all put on a princess fashion show for us. Lovely family and a great time!

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Spring Break

I scheduled us a vacation through Priceline, not usually an issue, cause we know what area we like to stay in. This time though I added in Clearwater as an option. Had a total meltdown and booked for the wrong dates. Have you ever made a mistake with Priceline? When you call the recorded voice tells you about 1000Xs that you cannot get a refund for errors made etc. They did right though and refunded when I re-booked for the correct dates.

A few weeks later we finally realized it was at the same resort we had stayed at in Clearwater last August. Julie was less then pleased. She did not like that the resort is not ON the beach. The other issue we had last vacation was that the girls were NOT happy to be away from home and wanted NOTHING to do with the beach. We dragged them to the beach one of the days last vacation and it was the most miserable hour EVER! This fact stayed the same this vacation but everything else was different. Same hotel, but we ALL had a great time, even Julie! We did realize later though that the problem last vacation was that Julie brought Julie with us on vacation.

We opted to just go with it and not go to the beach. Instead we went to little beach (Cypress Point) when we got home. The girls were old enough to hang out in Lisa's Club house, the kids area where they do crafts and activities. They made tie dye shirts, stayed for a pizza party so mommies could go out to dinner, and made a bag full of crafts at Lisa's clubhouse.

The girls had a great time playing in the pool. One of their favorite activities was what they named the "Silly Game". Why? Cause Julie kept saying to them, "This is a silly game." So they asked her repeatedly to play the Silly Game with them. It consisted of them jumping into the pool, Julie catching them, Julie pushing them toward the steps, they get out and jump into the pool. Rinse. Repeat.

We also enjoyed "cocktail hour" the girls loved watching the bartenders make drinks. They got to sample some of the fun frozen drinks (virgin of course!)

Here are some of the photos from our vacation:

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"Picnic...COLD!"

Julie has been on vacation this week. It's been colder then normal here in the sunshine state. The other day she decided that we should have a picnic at the beach. Sounds nice right? It was! Kind of...
She packed us a great meal of popcorn chicken, sweet potatoes, honey glazed carrots, wine for us and juice for the girls. We packed up the car and headed out for a fun family picnic at the beach. We even took the dog, "Pooper" AKA Cooper to those over the age of two. It was cool and breezy at our house so we were not prepared for how freezing cold and windy it was going to be at the beach.


Since this picnic if you say the word picnic in front of Avery she will start a complete dialog containing many many "No, Mom. Picnic COLD. Pooper, No Mom... COLD" It can go on and on... To say that is was cold would be an understatement. It was REALLY FREAKING COLD! I have to take some of the blame on our lack of preparedness. I had them dressed in short sleeved dresses and when Julie suggested that we go on this infamous picnic I put some leggings on them. That's it. I did NOT grab sweaters or jackets for them. Thankfully, we have blankets in the car for them. Blankets are their lovies. So we were able to have them wrap the blankets around themselves for a little extra warmth.


You know how they say a picture says a thousand words? Well, in this case a a video says it ALL...

At this moment we are on what I call "my vacation". We are staying at the beach with the girls. We have to have (at the very least) a one bedroom suite because the girls go to bed at 7:30 most nights 8:30 is actually really late for them.

We got here at like noon. AND, by the way, with in 10 minutes of getting in our room Avery managed to get herself stuck INSIDE the coffee table. She saw Emerson attempt it. Emerson stopped when I told her to. I missed Avery's attempt so I had to help her get out.

I wanted to get the girls some lunch and get them down for a nap. Naps are VERY important!

At home they sleep together. Here for some reason they want to sleep on separate beds.

When I put them to bed for their nap Emerson started to cry when I went to leave the room so I decided to lay with her till she fell asleep. She was happy about this and cuddled up to me. Avery on the other hand laid in her queen sized bed and yelled at me, "MAMA, GO AWAY!" At the time I thought it was cause she wanted to trash the room. I found out at bedtime tonight that the actual reason was cause she wanted her Ma (Julie) to lay with her. This is what we had to do tonight to get them to sleep. Emerson and I laid in one bed and Julie laid in the other bed with Avery. Our plan was to lay with them till they fell asleep then head into the living room enjoy some wine and go to bed a few hours later. I kept my part of this plan, however Julie fell asleep at 8:30 with Avery. I feel bad for her...sort of. hee hee. I'm enjoying my solitude right now actually!

Here are some pictures from today:

Here is the view from our room:

Headed to have a snack on the beach:

(Avery on the L)

Emerson: