3rd Road Trip

Phew!  After Uncle Paul left on Thursday it was time for me to do some more laundry and pack us all up for our 3rd and final major road trip of the summer, Solvang, California. 

Andy's mom and his Aunt Terri co-own a time share.  Back at Thanksgiving(?) we picked out Solvang for a summer trip.  Solvang is made to look just like a Danish town. It was the inspiration behind Leavenworth, Washington, which is made to look like a Bavarian town. 

We were going to take 101 down, but last minute chose I5. I5 is probably the most boring road in all of California.  Between Sacramento and Los Angeles it is a wasteland.  You have to get off on a side highway  to get to any nice town.  When we took our little highway, it was nothing. And then all of a sudden we found ourselves on the exact stretch of road that James Dean died on.  Crazy!?!?!  I was looking for a place for breakfast and found a place and all these reviews kept talking about James Dean so I googled it and sure enough, we passed right by where he died in his car accident.  Eerie.

We made it to Solvang around 10:30ish, and met up with Diana and Terri.  The time share was really nice. It wasn't super large like the last one we stayed in, which was nice.  We had a ground floor, our own patio with hedges and we were in the back of the complex so it was very quiet.  We got lucky and had a hot tub right by our room so that was convenient! We put the kid's down for nap and then Andy and I went to explore the town. Andy had gotten sick with a sinus cold so he wasn't top notch. 

The town is uber adorable!  The attention to detail was amazing.  It was so cute!  Andy's dad got in around 6:30 and we all made dinner. Which is another nice thing, a full kitchen so we all brought tons of food so we could make our meals. 

The next day we took the kids to this awesome park in town. 

It is all Danish looking. The kids went crazy!  Running all over the place, they had a gingerbread house that Verona loved to sit inside, a Dragon Boat to "drive".  We went to the park twice while we were there. That's how awesome it was!

The timeshare also had a wading pool. It was barely heated so it was perfect for the warm weather. 

We went downtown all of us and walked around.

I mean, isn't this town just super cool?!?

We also hung out at the timeshare.

V wearing Aunt Terri's sunglasses I believe.

Andy and I got a date night and we went to The Hitching Post II  This is where a few scenes from "Sideways" was filmed.  We had to go.  Merlot, not even, we had Pinot Noir which is what the area is known for.  The wine was delicious.  The food was pretty good, the service was meh. 

I found these signs inside a store and they made me laugh.

With football season starting up this just seemed appropriate. 

Overall, we had a great time in Solvang spending it with Diana, Terri and Andy's dad, Andy. 

However, the day we left was another adventure.............

Uncle Paul!!

Andy's youngest brother, Paul, came out to visit for almost 2 weeks.  We got lucky, because we got to spend time with him at the reunion, THEN he came and stayed with us for 5 days!  From Saturday night when we got back, until Thursday Uncle Pauly was at the house and the twins loved it.  They way they say Paul, is like a little New Jersey kid. Uncle Pwalie.  He got them their first Lego's (Duplo) and helped them put it together, a bubble gun that was very desired by all under 4 feet tall, and he even let Verona play with his camera. 

 

I don't have a lot of pictures for some reason.  On Tuesday night, we drove up to Paradise and went out to dinner with Andy and Paul's Dad, Grandpa, and Andy's mom drove up from Stockton and we had pizza then went to Baskin Robbins for the first time.  We let the kids have sherbet and they lvoed it.

Thursday, Paul and Diana headed out and we said good bye to Paul. We will hopefully see him at Christmas. He and his girlfriend, Diana (DeeAnna) are in St. Louis and the kiddo's miss their Aunt Didi and Uncle Pwalie.  I took this pic of the 3 brothers.

Andy, Paul, and Matt

I like the faces they are making. And we couldn't' have a pic with out our Oakland A's Flag flying proudly. 

2nd Road Trip

After we got back from Washington we had about 10 days at home before we left again. Long enough to do laundry, but not long enough to do the grocery store. For the last month I only went to the store for milk, eggs and bread.  I cooked out of our pantry and freezer.

This road trip was up to Sweet Home, Oregon.  Andy's mom's side of the family has their annual family reunion at a summer camp. Yeh, A summer camp.  How cool is that?!?!  I have been 4 or 5 times to the reunion since we have met.  This reunion was going to be a little better. Andy's cousin, Christopher was going to be married at the camp!  Christopher and his beloved, Thea, wanted a simple outdoor wedding and reception, and it was awesome!  But lemme start with the trip up.............

We left at 3am on July 4th.  Andy's middle brother, Matt, drove up from Oakland on the 3rd and he was going to ride up with us.  We left at 3 instead of 2 because the drive wasn't going to be as long, but we didn't want to hit crazy traffic either.  The kids were great, and Uncle Matt helped fend off any criers since he was in the back seat and could entertain them with songs, books, and all distractions I had packed.

We stopped off in either Yreka or Medford. I honestly can't remember!  It was probably Yreka.  As usual we are a party when we eat out in the morning.  Kids in their pajamas, I order coffee for Andy, we take turns eating breakfast and then I get to take each kid into the bathroom and change them into clothes. 

Sweet Home, is just east of Brownsville, which is just north of Eugene, and south of Albany.  Andy has tons of cousin's  and aunts and uncles that live in Brownsville.  The camp is used every summer as a normal summer camp. The camp is closed during the 4th of July so Andy's family rent's that time out every year. It works our perfectly. All the families stay in cabin's, we take turns making breakfast and dinner (lunch is a free for all) in the chow hall, there is a pool, sandbox, campfire with seating, and a dinner bell! It takes me back to my times of going to summer camp as a kid.

Friday was the big wedding.  I am just going to post all the pics I have.  Andy's mom, his Aunt Terri, and Aunt Veronica (Christopher's mom) and myself, did the food. I can't take any credit. I only made a pasta salad.  But the food was delicious. All home made.

 Right in the middle there is my pasta salad. Haha! It pales in comparison to all the yummy food that was made. 

Christopher and Thea took off for a 3 week honeymoon to England, Scotland and Wales. Andy and I are extremely jealous.  The kids had fun playing in the sand box, going for a walk in the forest, petting doggies, eating not their normal diet of vegetables, cuddling with Great Aunt's and Great Uncle's, seeing fireworks,  and most of all, spending time with their family they don't see as often.

We left on Saturday afternoon. We stopped off in Eugene at 5 Guys, which we don't have, and it was delish!  We took our time driving home, stopped off at a rest stop where I changed their diapers in the grassy area. I felt a little whiskey tango doing so, but whatever.  We got home waaay past their bed time, and they happily went to sleep.  They slept in the next morning where they got a much needed bath.  

Hello.............is it me you're looking for??

So, it's the last day of July and I have a TON of stuff to write. But it is going to have to wait.  I have lots of pictures to unload and we are finally back in a routine.  We were gone from July 4-19th, with a few days in between we were home, but just doing laundry. Then we all got really sick (puking sick) and I HAVE to clean my kitchen floors. They are disgusting. But I will leave you with some kiddo updates.

Crunky- This is what Verona says when something is crunchy. She can't say crunky.  Bites into a chip "Mommy, this is crunky". I laugh so hard every time. It's like living with a tiny Lil' Jon.

Alright/Sure- You ask Trent if he wants something, 'Trent, do you want me to read this book?" Sure. Trent, can you drink your milk? Alright. 

Poppins!!!!- When we were sick, we introduced Mary Poppins to them. We watched Mary Poppins 4 times over a weekend. Some observations from the kids " He is dirty" (All chimney sweeps) POPPINS! (every time Mary Poppins came on the screen).  "He/She Sad!" Any time Jane or Michael cried or anyone else for that matter cried.  Now it is almost a daily request, POPPINS. Last night, Trent did the sign for MORE, and kept saying and doing the sign, More Poppins, More Poppins, More Poppins.  Man I hate to disappoint.

Panties.- I wish I could remember which of my friends hates this word, but Verona LOVES it.  I let her get some toddler training pants, and now it's all "I need panties, I go poo in my panties, Daddy I have pantes" Lest you think she is potty trained she is not.  But she LOVES her some panties.

Meat Mush- Trent used to eat everything.  It was awesome. Now, not so much.  He likes his meat formed. Think meatloaf and meatballs.  I shredded some chicken and hit it in a quesadilla so I won that day. A usual meal goes like this. Veggie, Meat, Carb. Trent, will eat ONLY the veggie and Carb.Verona will eat ONLY the Meat and Carb.  They never eat the same thing, it's always opposite. Too bad for them, it's one meal to rule them all. 

Words- Verona is having a pronunciation issue with a few words.  When we sing Ring around the rosies, Ashes becomes Asses.  And Ducks no longer say quack, they say buck, but it starts with an F.  Yeh, that was crazy.  We no longer ask what ducks say in our house.  We skip the ducks.  Trenton is not speaking English as much as Verona. He has his own language that only he and Verona can understand. But he will start singing a song randomly.  When changing his diaper, he busted out Where is Thumbkin. 

I hope to get our summer adventure up soon-ish. Until, then..................

Our Pool/water feature/fountain. 

Days-8-10ish

On Friday Andy and my mom had their annual canning fest. What? Yes. For 3 years now, my mom and Andy can jam together.  The first year it was Strawberry, last year it was Pineapple-apricot, and this year was Sour Cherry.  It's so cute to watch them.  They went to the fruit stand, picked out cherries, spent time pitting the cherries, I tried to help, but was kicked out of the kitchen, and they had a grand ol time.  My mom even convinced Andy to enter a jar in our local fair next spring. 

Andy and I went to Mendocino B.C. (before children) back in 2005 or 2006.  We had this amazing sour cherry jam and loved it.  So he found a recipe, and luckily sour cherries were in season while we were up in Yakima and it worked out great. Meanwhile, my dad and I entertained the kids while Mom and Andy went to work. We stopped by my brother's new house, well, his and his NEW WIFE's house!  And then we took the kids to Nob Hill elementary school and let them run around and play. I was in shock to see they still had a merry-go-round. I immediately threw the kids on it and started spinning it. I love that as a kid.  They did too it seems.

After putting the kids down for nap I rewarded all of us with Arctic Circle. I want to take a moment to give proper praise to Fry Sauce.  This condiment is the stuff of my childhood.  I. Love. Fry.Sauce.  It can't be duplicated. It is only good fresh and from certain restaurants.  Arctic Circle was so good this time, I think I may go there for now own instead of Miners or Major's. Plus the lady gave me some kind of discount so it was all good.  Side note: I had my 6th birthday party at the Arctic Circle on North First street when Arctic Circle was still there. I also had birthday parties at Dairy Queen and Burger King too.  Yeh. That's how I rolled as a kid.

Friday night, Andy and I headed over to my friend Robb from high school and his wife Brynn's new house.  I can now saw that Robb and Brynn are OUR friends now.  Every time we come to Yakima we see them.   This time was extra awesome because they are expecting TWIN GIRLS!!!  We talked babies and all things twins for hours.  Robb, Andy and I went through 3 bottles of wine, then the men switched to beer, and I to water since I was driving.  Brynn of course had water.  They showed us their beautiful new home and it was nice to spend some time with them.  Robb and Brynn are going to make the best parents and are totally in for a life changing experience with the twins arrive.  

On Saturday after we were all ready, we went to Kids Castle at 10 in the morning. We went there last summer on a Friday, but on a Saturday you can jump on the trampolines, play on the main floor and just have more room to play. I love Kids Castle. It wasn't busy at all. And now that the kids are almost 2 1/2, I don't worry about them as much. Sure they got stuck and lost inside the tube maze, but it builds character.

We left my parents with the kids and Andy and I went to the movies and saw Monster's University.   This may be my favorite Pixar movie of all time.  It is probably tied with Toy Story 2 and 3.  The storyline was awesome, and it was relate able for adults, had a couple of good messages for kids, and was very funny.  It was our first time seeing an animated film in a theater after having kids.  There were TONS of kids there so it made it fun when they would laugh at parts that were not funny for adults, but the kids were howling.  Of course there were also babies crying, kids throwing tantrums and asking "what, and why" throughout the movie, but that's what you get when you go to a G rated animated film.  Overall, I highly recommend going to see it.

We had our last meal with  my parents on Saturday and just spend the rest of the evening packing up our van, and my parents were gracious enough to give us their car top carrier.  I remember using it as a kid, but now I feel it completes our whole transformation from a couple to a family with a minivan perfectly. Here's a pic.

We left at 2am on Sunday and the kids did great.  We didn't stop until Redmond, Or and had a delish breakfast at Sherri's I wish there was a Sherri's in Chico.  We stopped again in So. Oregon and let the kids run around.

We had a great trip and are pretty pleased with how well the kids did in a car for 10 hours one way.  We have our 2nd road trip coming up, and this one is shorter, but we are doing to leave at 2 am again, because it's like stealing hours when the kids are asleep and you are driving. Many congrats to my brother Adam, and his wife Stacy.  My poor mom has gets our names mixed up now. Andy and Sydney, Adam and Stacy.  I tend to yell Adam when Andy does something wrong, and I am sure Adam does the same when Stacy pics on him.  ; ) 

This is from their first nap back in their own beds. I think it went well don't you?