California trip!

I am going to try to summarize as briefly as possible our 3 week trip to California! And I am not going to post pictures, I will send a photo album to you if you would like & I will also post them on Facebook. There are just too many to sort through & upload.

So, we (the 3 kids & me) headed out on March 25 to make our way, in the van, to Palm Springs, CA. Some might call me insane, crazy, whacky, whatever...but I was optimistic! And, since the work was still going on in our home, it was a good time to get away! (Unfortunately the work is STILL going on in our home...apparently we should have stayed longer!) Our first leg was just to Portland, to visit my good friend Karin & her family. It was nice to start out with just a short drive, & also get to spend time with good friends. We spent the night with them, & then met up with my parents to caravan the rest of the way together. The next 3 days we spent driving, & overall it went really well. The DVD player was a lifesaver, & the kids did pretty well all things considered. We arrived in Indio, CA at about 11:30 p.m. on March 28...
You would think that the drive would be the worst part of our trip. No. About 1 hour after we checked in to our condo, Annika threw up. And again. 3 more times during the night. The next morning, my mom was sick. Tues. Kellen & Kaarin threw up, & late Tues. night I did too. YUCK! That is all I can say. Well, I can also say...CAN YOU IMAGINE IF THAT HAD HAPPENED ONE HOUR EARLIER????!!! What in the world do you do with a 2 yr. old puking in the car?? Not drive, I can say that. So, as much of a bummer that it was that we were all sick the first week of our trip, I am so thankful that it didn't happen earlier!! Whew! Unfortunately, again, the flu lingered on & on. I ended up taking Kaarin & Annika to the Dr. on Fri. because their symptoms had been going on so long.

After spending the first week sick & gross, we moved to Erik's parents' condo in La Quinta. This stay got off to a start with an earthquake! It was actually centered in Mexicali, MX, but we felt it good & strong! We felt another one later that night. I am not sure if it was the sickies still playing themselves out or if it was just all the transitions going on, but Kellen turned into a kid that I did not recognize. ATROCIOUS behavior. Biting. Kicking. Hitting. Screaming. Completely disobeying. It was ugly. Let's hope his memory is not too good (yeah, right) for the way mom handled some of it, too...erase. His behavior did start to improve toward the end of the week, when we moved in with my parents in Palm Desert. No more earthquakes, the wind died down, & we seemed to finally adjust to vacation. And then it was time to get in the car again & drive home. We ended up repeating our route home, since it had worked out so well. The kids, again, did great. But they are SO HAPPY to be home!!!

Some highlights of the trip:

*Staying at Running Y Ranch on the way down...what a great place!
*Staying at Angels Camp -- who knew it was such a neat area! Can't wait to go back when the kids are older!
*Yosemite!
*Annika is a total fish & loved swimming in the pool with Papa & grandma.
*Kellen had a blast playing golf, & I would dare say that he, at age 3, is a better golfer than some of the grown men I saw coming through!
*We found lots of parks & playgrounds to play at!
*Visiting with my friend Dani & her son Brandon, who is 1 yr. older than Kellen
*Spending lots of time with the grandparents!!
*New movies!! Up & Toy Story 2!
*Annika got to sleep in a twin bed the whole trip, & she did great!!
*The Children's Museum of the Desert!
*Build & Grow at Lowe's. This one was outside.:)
*Sun, sun, sun!! We only had about 1 hr. of rain.:)
*PERFECT driving conditions on the way home: it was sunny & 70 pretty much the whole way (until WA, of course)
*Great parks along the drive home -- made the drive so much better when we could get out & play along the way.

Some of the lowlights...
*Kellen still refuses to swim.:( I don't know why he doesn't want to, but he doesn't.
*Kaarin didn't sleep very well at night. Fortunately she seems to be back on track now that we're home.
*Obviously, the flu...
*And the earthquake...
*And the wind, which meant that Kellen didn't want to play outside. He is afraid that trees are going to tip over & that his stuff is going to blow away...
*Kellen's behavior...
*Kellen has some strange quirks: he refuses to use the bathroom anywhere but home. So that meant pull-ups the whole time we were gone. Now that we are home, our bathroom is not completed yet, & he is still refusing to use the potty. Ugh.
*Unpacking....
*The house is still under construction & we are down 2 bathrooms. We were hoping they would be done by the time we got home.

Funny kid quotes:
*On our 3rd day of driving on the way to California, Annika piped up from her seat, "Where me going, Mommy??!"
*We stopped at one park on the way home & a man was playing basketball. He was bald, & Kellen asked why he didn't have any hair. I said that some people shave their hair off, or others' hair falls out...he said, "I think God didn't make him with any hair." :)
*On the way home we stopped for dinner in Vancouver, WA. Annika said, "Where California, Mommy?" Long gone, girl...