The day started very early for us! The night before I put the kids to bed at 7:00- James told me that he felt like it was his birthday or Christmas the next day…I agreed! They had a little bit of a hard time falling asleep but they all hopped willingly out of bed the next morning at 4:45 when I came to get them. Said goodbye to Parker the barker and loaded them all up. Angie drove us to the airport and we were on our way to a great family adventure.
Kyle could not believe that we were on an airplane! He loved every minute of it! Looking out the windows and squealing at the tiny cars. After the flight from Kennewick to Seattle as we were getting off the plane the flight attendant was smiling at Kyle’s exuberance and told us that she had never had such well behaved kids on a flight and said it was really a reflection of their parents. I thought that was such a nice compliment. We made it to LA in one piece and headed for the rental car agency where the kids and I waited outside while Ted went in to get the van. We waited for a long long time- probably an hour. But I could honestly say that Kyle would have gone home content right then because we were in the landing path for LAX and we probably saw at least 20 huge jumbo jets land right over our heads- it looked like they were going to land on us. You could see them coming from a distance, their lights getting bigger and bigger and Kyle would start to yell, “Shet! Shet! Big shet coming!” And yell it until it was right over our heads where he went, “Wooaahhh, big shet!”
Ted and I were both disappointed that we got the one van that wasn’t a Sienna- it was a Kia- and they told us we could wait another 30 minutes for a Sienna- but we were ready to be on our way. We stopped at El Pollo Loco for lunch and I called Allison to see how Parker was doing- I can’t believe I have a dog. And by following the directions on Ted’s palm- which has been very helpful- we ended up on a toll freeway driving through some beautiful parts of the coastal areas on our way down to San Diego.
I was explaining to the kids about the old Catholic missions from when California first started. And I saw the temple and said, "Like that one!" And then we drove past and Ted said, "I think that's an angel Moroni on top." And it was- so apparantly it was not a Catholic mission. But a gorgeous LDS temple. You should look up a picture sometime.
We'd had a late lunch so we checked into the hotel and headed down to the beach. We were just going to look at it because we were'nt equiped for beachiness...but the kids couldn't help themselves. Who can at the ocean?
When it started to get too cold we headed back to the hotel to swim. Like I said, we weren't equipped for the beach so we folded the seats down in the van and made the very sandy kids sit in the back! Agghhh! It was long two miles back to the hotel for me worrying that someone was going to rearend us! Well that plan was thwarted when we got there and the pool was closed because someone threw up in it. Okay- plan #2...dinner. Bennihana's was right around the corner we thought that would be fun- over an hour wait. We tried to find a California Pizza Kitchen- we found one actually but it wasn't open yet- so we ended up at In n Out. Had to do hamburgers at least once right? Then off to the grocery store for lunch stuff for LegoLand- home and the kids CRASHED!
I just have been praying that I could be laid back and roll with the punches and enjoy every moment of this time I have with my family. It's just such a relief to be together and enjoying one another. We needed a vacation! What a blessing it is to be able to do this.
Another thought I had today was that I understand why people sacrifice to live in a place like this- it is sort of a sacrifice time (traffic) and money- for obvious reasons- maybe not such a huge house- not so much land space...but it is just breathtakingly gorgeous- and most of the year. My spirit needed this lift. Today I stood in line at LegoLand and just enjoyed viewing the different plants. There was a plant with furry leaves...and purple flowers that were bursting everywhere like fire crackers. The ocean is stunning- the waves are so powerful and white and delicate at the same time. What a beautiful world we live in.
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