A Very COLD Getaway

Justin's work had a 21 days straight project at Sky Harbor and I just knew I wasn't going to get to see him very much.  I've been through this before, on a smaller scale and it just isn't any fun.  He's here but not here, working but not coming home for dinner...it's tough. So, instead I thought it would be easier for both of us if the kids and I went out to CA to visit Grandma and Grandpa Martin and stay for several weeks.  Once I looked at the calendar I realized we would be there almost three weeks.  The kids were ecstatic.

It was so nice of them to allow us to come out and invade their home that long.  Five kids in your house for 3 weeks isn't easy, I'm sure.  

Doug road his motorcycle out to Phoenix and visited Jarom and Charla for a few days.  Then on Saturday came and took the kids from me so I could pack the bags and the van. He took them on a hike. They LOVED it.

Sunday morning we finished up packing and headed out around 11am.  It took until 10pm CA time, which is 11pm AZ time for us to arrive. 2 food stops, gas, and a slight detour made the trip 12 hours.  But, the kids did awesome. They watched DVD's, had their snacks, their coloring  books and so many things to do.  I drove the first leg, while the kids started watching a show.  Doug drove the rest of the way.  I think the children did so wonderful, all in all.

It was nice to chat with Doug and spend some time talking. I just love Doug and Stacey very much and am so thankful for them.  We had a nice time just chatting and getting to know each other better.

Once we arrived the kids were right at home. It was great.  The only hiccup?

It was COLD!!!!!!!

It made playing outside a challenge which then engaged Cabin Fever a little bit and drove the kids to playing Wii Dance and Wii Sports quite a bit.  At least they got some healthy competition in with Grandpa as he let the kids challenge him to some Archery, Frisbee Golf and Bowling.  By the time we left, everyone had mad skills!

We did go to the park several times, the kids played on the trampoline, they rode bikes and went on walks...I was always running after them with jackets and they were always two steps ahead of me. I, on the other hand, was FREEZING a lot of the time!  

Thankfully, Westin and I and Brynn all slept in the trailer parked in the driveway so I could run the heat a little warmer than they liked it in the house.  The kids never complained about it being cold in the house so it worked out well.

Towards the end of our stay it started to warm up some.  That was awesome. 

I had asked Lacey and Stacey to help plan a birthday for Brynn. So we had a little shin dig for her 3rd Birthday and they invited some of their friends with little girls to attend. It was so cute.  They played some games, won some prizes, made pizzas, ate Chocolate cake, opened presents and had a great time.  It was so special to be able to have her birthday there, share it with them, and have friends for Brynn to celebrate with.

I am so thankful for such a great time for her birthday.

We took a trip up North to Sacramento to see Great Grandma Martin.  We stayed one night with her, visited, ate pizza, went on a walk to the pond to feed the ducks, and enjoyed a Kings basketball game on the tv.  We then headed over to Dianne's house, Doug's sister, for a quick visit.  That was nice.  

The next morning we packed it back up and headed South West to the Jelly Belly Factory.  We took a tour, learned all about how the Jelly Beans are made and even got a free sample.  The kids got to take $5 and pick jelly beans from the store to put into their bags. It was very exciting.  There were so many cool machines to see and robots to watch make the beans.  

We also took a second trip over to the coast and visited the tide pools at Los Osos.  It was a cool,  breezy hike along the ridge of the shoreline to the tide pools.  The kids got to try and race the waves as they crashed onto the rocks. They ended up getting soaked.  They found sea shells and collected all different kinds. There was a really neat cave carved out by the sand and Brynn sat and played with the beach sand so contently.  The kids really had a wonderful time. It was a first time experience with the tide pools.

We then headed further South to see the Monarch Butterfly farm where all the butterfly's come on their way to and from Mexico.  They were fluttering all around in the tops of the trees.  I'm not sure if the kids saw them clearly but they enjoyed the walk.  I stayed back with a sleeping Westin and a warm car!

After the butterfly's we packed it back in and went to the pier to eat a packed dinner and ice cream.  It started to get pretty chilly so that was a fast visit.

The sun began to set as we attempted to stop at the hot springs but the kids were too young.  Homebound we were, listening to Silas Marner. The kids had a great time.

Doug took the boys up to Ladybug for a hike one of the days. It is about 1.5 hours away and as soon as they got there, Cole threw up.  This was his second time throwing up on this trip, both times in the car.  GROSS!

They hiked around some before Cole finally said he couldn't go any further.  But, while they were there they saw the coolest redish/orange Salamander near the creek.  It looked fake in the picture.  It was awesome.  They helped put him back near the water.  I wanted to maybe try and head back up there when Justin finally arrived, but we didn't get the chance.

We also got to attend a Hanford High basketball game.  The boys had a good time, but spent most of the time talking with HS girls sitting nearby and eating licorice.  To top off the week we went Bowling too!

Daddy finally made it back out to us on Feb. 1st.  He rode Grandpas motorcycle back out to CA to come and pick us up.  He wanted to relax so we stayed until the following Tuesday, Feb. 7th before heading home.  It was so nice to have him there with us, relaxing, no work, just hanging out. The Superbowl was on so we got to see that with the fam before we left. 

We did go with Daddy to Adventure Park and the kids got to race the cars around the track and play goofy golf with daddy and grandpa, then settle in for some pizza and dessert.  They then spent quite a bit of time playing games in the arcade, which they LOVE, earning tickets and exchanging them for prizes. 

The whole trip was a wonderful time.

I am so, so, so glad we got to spend that time with them, share our children with them, let them in to our lives and our hearts and really be genuine and real.  

I am thankful for the opportunity, as hard as it might have been to be away from daddy, and living in someone else's space.  Hopefully we didn't overstay our welcome!

Oh Yes and the best part by far was the little Westin man started walking before daddy came and surprised him with his little steps.  Now of course he is flying!!!  So awesome to see that milestone happen at Doug and Stacey's house.

I have Thousands of Pictures.  So, I'm going to try and keep it down and then maybe make individual posts for each activity we did!  And yes...my kids are wearing shorts...CRAZY I KNOW!!!