California

I am newly pregnant (about 8 weeks) and very tired and bit nauseous, and the thought of having Jeff gone for 12 days in Berlin seemed very overwhelming to me. My mom was going to come out for a few days, but then we decided to have me bring the kids out. I'm so glad we came! The kids did great on the flight, though I was worried about how we would do the seating since there were four of us. Ryan and Lily both wanted window seats. But we met a couple families while waiting in the airport and standing in line, and one of the girls said Lily could sit by her. She let her borrow her iPad and shared a movie with her. Lily totally lucked out.

After my mom picked us up, we headed home to get the RV ready to take to the beach. Maria had gotten most everything ready and loaded it up. Max and Ryan slept in the car so it was perfect for them to have a little nap before setting out. My dad came home and we set off for Dockweiler Beach, which is by the airport. The kids loved being in the RV and couldn't wait to get there. Some nice people next to us helped my dad park his huge RV and got settled. The kids wanted to put their feet in the water so I took them down the beach. A wave came up and knocked Ryan and Max down. I quickly pulled Max up and grabbed Ryan's arm, but the rest of the weekend Max kept saying, "that scared me." So he didn't want much to do with the water after that.

The inside of the RV is huge so Max slept great in the bathroom in his crib (and there was still room to spare), Lily and I slept on the fold out couch, and Ryan slept on the floor. Everyone slept great (except for 2-3 a.m. when my mom, dad, and I heard lots of drunk people outside). The next day was so much fun! Lily and Ryan spent over an hour just running from the waves and playing in the sand. Max sat on a beach chair eating Sun Chips and was happy as can be. He sure loves to eat. We came in for lunch and Max took a great nap. My dad took Lily and Ryan to fly kites and Ryan declared, "I love kiting!" They had so much fun just holding their string and watching the kites dance in the sky. My mom has had these kites forever and doesn't think they have ever been used, so the kids felt lucky. Then after naps it was back out to the ocean to run away from the waves. My dad rode his bike 3 times, my mom once, and I rode my mom's bike once. We had dinner with my cousin Nicki and her husband Evans and their baby William. It was nice to catch up and then the kids watched Bolt and went to bed. It really was the perfect day and the kids were in heaven.

I have never given Max applesauce with a spoon, we usually just use the squeeze ones. But this was wonderful because it took him so much longer to eat it so he didn't deplete the supply of applesauce right away. 

The next day was more time at the beach and kiting before packing up. The drive home took a little longer than we thought and Max was not wanting to stay in his seat belt so that was a challenge. We unloaded and my mom and dad worked hard to get everything in order again. The RV is a lot of work, but my dad said it's totally worth it. It was such a pleasant weekend.

This was the best part of the trip for Ryan. My mom had this lego magazine and he LOVED looking at it. It helped pass a lot of time. 

That night Maryel and Jessica Woodruff watched the kids while my dad and I attended my mom's Patriotic choir concert. The music was beautiful and the choir did a wonderful job. Kirby Heyborne was the guest speaker and soloist (my mom asked him to do it and he readily agreed) and was great. He even added a little inside joke, meant just for my parents. He talked about the founding fathers and mentioned how Benjamin Franklin invented so many things and probably even invented Forever Mints (my dad's mints). No one laughed, but my parents and I were dying. Afterward we told him that was the best one liner and told us how he really does love the mints. He uses them all the time and even told his improv group they should get them for after their shows when they greet people.

Sunday the kids were bathed and ready for church by 8:30 and church was at 1. But Max went down for a nap before church and the kids did great in sacrament meeting, even though I had forgotten some of their books to occupy them. My mom directed choir and had people from the congregation come up so I went up for that. I was able to talk to some people and catch up which was nice.

The kids have loved playing at my parents house. There are so many dolls, Star Wars toys, instruments, the pool, motorized jeep to drive, and it has just been fun for them. I'm very grateful we came because I am getting a wonderful break too!

Monday morning I slept in until nearly 9 a.m. and Max slept even longer. Lily and Ryan woke up earlier than that, but Maria was here so they were out with her. My mom offered to take the kids with Maria while I stayed at home. They were gone for several hours and it was a wonderful break! I feel like I am on dreamy vacation right now. They did this several days in a row and it was just too good to be true, and yet it was true! My mom and Maria are and were amazing, and I'm truly grateful for the incredible help and love they gave us.

Everyone loves Darin's drum set. 

Rock climbing at The Cube.

Loa came to do yoga and I joined in too. I was so impressed with the yoga moves my mom could do!

My dad scanned Lily and Ryan at my ultrasound. They thought it was SO COOL to see their insides up on the tv. They felt really special. 

We went back to the cube, this time I went too, and hung out with Ryan while he was a hockey player. At one point he exclaimed proudly about the puck, "it didn't even touch me!" as it soared past him into the net. 

This ref took a lot of time trying to help Ryan get the idea of how to block. 

Putting coins in a piggy bank is surprisingly a very exciting activity for kids of all ages. 

Riding on the trolley at the Americana. We also watched Finding Dory at the theater. Max lasted an hour, and then he was all over that theater. My mom took him out while I stayed with Lily and Ryan. After the show we couldn't find her anymore and she didn't pick up my calls. It turned out she was in a store and it didn't get reception. I was just so relieved to find her and Max safe and sound. 

The pool was a highlight. The kids constantly wanted to swim.  I had tried to teach Lily to swim (she had had some lessons), but wasn't getting anymore. My mom on the other hand, who can't really swim herself, taught Lily to swim in an hour. I was absolutely shocked and grateful! Lily was so happy and proud of her accomplishment and that was the best part of the trip for me because it was so fun for her to be able to learn to swim with so much of summer left. Thank you mom!

Darin, Rachel, and Wesley came to visit and the kids had fun with their cousin. 

At Mormon Dodger Night with Elder Anderson. We didn't' sit with my parents, but with their office staff and had a great time. 

While showing the kids a little video about what to expect at the game, I didn't close the computer fast enough before they saw that there were going to be fireworks. So they were set on staying up late to watch the fireworks after the game. They took a nap and we all stayed up! 

We stormed the field to watch the show. 

They were tired, but somehow we managed to get back to our car. Then once we got home at 11:45, they wanted to stay up a little longer to look at the stars from the driveway. They had read about that in a Bernstein Bears book, so by the time they went to sleep it was around midnight. 

We headed to Descanso Gardens and there were these fun crochet  hanging flowers. 

Where we had our reception 9 years ago!

Maria enjoyed the gardens so much too. She is always such a huge help, it's wonderful having her there. I said she and my mom should just go on their own sometimes, it's such a pleasant place. 

My mom found my bin of Barbies and Lily was in HEAVEN. My mom didn't even know she had it, so it was an amazing find. 

Darin showed us how the drums are actually played. He is so good, it was a lot of fun hearing him. 

Celebrating Ryan and Lily's birthday early. They put some M&M's on the cakery bakery cake. 

It was so fun to see my college friend Virginia Stratford at church! Her sister is in my parent's ward and she came to church when I mentioned I would be there. There is nothing better than old friends, reconnected. 

Elder Anderson wanted to attend a second night of a Dodger game, so this time we got to sit by him, his  sons, and grandsons, and of course my parents. They had a nice talk with him before the game and during the game I enjoyed chatting with him about different places he's lived. It was so neat to be there and meet him and to hear about all the wonderful experiences my parents enjoyed with him and his family the night before. 

Finally going home! Jeff arrived from his Berlin trip a bit before us, but waited to see us get off the plane. The kids were thrilled to see him.