California! Again!

We had our last family vacation for a very long time. I won't be traveling again until after the baby comes. We drove to California to spend a week in Huntington Beach. The drive down was actually really good. We left pretty late in the day so the boys could sleep on the way to St. George, slept for a few hours at the Mulberry house, and then woke up early to finish the drive. We did the same thing on the way home, and it was great. The boys really needed the break. Who am I kidding? So did we. I'm a sleepy driver anyway, but when I'm pregnant I don't have a chance...so Mike did all the driving. The whole way, both ways, 11 or 12 hours each way. (The other day I got super sleepy driving home from Costco. It's 6 miles.)

We went to Disneyland the day after we got there, and it was really hot. We spent quite a bit of time in Mickey and Minnie's houses. They were air conditioned, and Will loved them.

This is Sam with his flushed cheeks because he was so hot, and not happy about having to be in a picture.

Will had a hard day. The front bar wasn't snapped into place because we kept popping it out to get him in and out more easily. We didn't realize that it wasn't secure and he leaned on it too hard and fell out. He hit his head pretty hard, so we took him to the first aid station to get some ice. Sam didn't fare any better. He got hit in the face with a hydraulic gate and had two huge red spots on his face by the time I saw him.

Sam's been into this Buzz Lightyear phase, so meeting him was pretty awesome. This was right after we went on the Buzz Lightyear ride (I scored 91,000 points, thank you). I've been to Disneyland twice this year, and this is the only ride I went on both times. Most of the rides have a sign saying expectant mothers shouldn't ride. So really, I paid $35 for each time around on Buzz Lightyear.

I think I overexerted at Disneyland because I spent the entire next day sick in bed. I finally threw up that night, and eventually started feeling better the next day. And Mike and Will also shared a little cold. It's not fun if someone's not sick, right? That's our family vacation mantra. We didn't go on one trip this year where someone didn't throw up. Plus Will got hand-foot-and-mouth disease last time we were down (in addition to teething and diaper rash). We're just lucky I guess.

The boys went to Disneyland again, but Will had to stay home with me. He was absolutely heartbroken at being left behind. That sad face makes me feel a little guilty. But there was no way I was going again, and there's not much at Disneyland for a kid his age anyway.

My uncle and aunt rent a beach house every year on Capistrano Beach, and my mom usually goes down for a few days to be with them. This year my sister, brother, and sister-in-law went too, so we drove down on Sunday to have dinner with everyone. Mike had never met my Aunt Katherine, or my cousin Don (on either side of me). Don is my first cousin. He's 9 years younger than my mom and has children my age. All of my cousins are a lot older than me, but it's still weird to me that my first cousin is old enough to be my dad. Don lives about 35 minutes away from the condo in Huntington Beach, so we'll be able so visit family when we go out! It was really fun to see them. I've seen my uncle Lynn once since I got married, and I have no idea the last time I saw the other two. One of Don's kids (whom I've never met...of his three, I've met one) might be moving to Salt Lake soon, so it will be fun to have more family around. I've never lived very close to my extended family. That's one reason Mike's family is so neat. Most of his cousins live in Utah, so we get to see them a lot.

We had a great trip, but I think I'm all relaxed out for a while. Now I'm going to try to catch up on getting my house in order...or at least get the laundry put away!