Road Trippin' Days 3 and 4

On Saturday we headed to Forest Lawn.  Some people might think it's strange to spend part of a vacation at a cemetery, but Forest Lawn is actually a really cool place to visit.  They have a ton of things to see.  First we went to the one in Hollywood Hills.  They have some pretty interesting artwork.

Later we went to the one in Glendale which has the stained glass of The Last Supper, but you aren't allowed to take pictures there.  They also have a replica of Michelangelo's David.  Wow.  Interestingly enough, when we went there when I was in high school, they did not show us that statue.  hahaha

We also spent part of the day at Griffith Park and Griffith Observatory.  It was so busy there. That's what we get for going on a Saturday.  We had to park really far away and walk.  A man stopped us and told me that my flip flops were a poor shoe choice, but I said I didn't have anything else and I was just fine.  :)

Matthew kept freaking out on the walk because he wanted to mess with the chain-link fence.  Each time we would stop he would grab it (if he was close enough), but as soon as we started walking again he fussed, and fussed for the whole 10 minute walk up to the observatory.

That's the Hollywood sign in the background.

After we had sufficiently explored, we left and tried to find the old zoo at Griffith Park.  I thought it would be pretty easy to find, but it wasn't.  Oh, well.  I did find instructions online of how to get there, but it was too late by that time.  Maybe next time!

That night we headed into the craziness of Hollywood.  We visited El Capitan, Grauman's Chinese Theater (that's not what it's called anymore, but whatever), and walked along the Walk of Fame.

Then we had dinner at a BBQ restaurant.  My food wasn't that great, but Connor really liked his.  We grabbed some dessert to-go and decided we'd head to our hotel.

That night we were staying at a Days Inn in San Bernardino.  When we got there Matthew was asleep.  We parked and saw about 10 people walking into one hotel room.  Right away we were thinking great.  Also, it just kind of had a strange vibe about it, even without all the people going into the one room.  So, Connor said he'd go check us in and we could check out our room, and decide from there.  We only paid $45 for the room, and we wanted to have a good nights sleep before heading home the next day.

So Connor checked us in, and while he did that even more people headed into the one hotel room.  Then one of the girls in the room opened the door and started shouting something to her mom and aunt who I'm assuming were in the car still.  Connor came back to the car, and said he had the key but I think at that point we were already leaning towards just going somewhere else.

He went to our room, which was 2 doors down from the "party room".  When he went in he said it smelled like cigarette smoke, even though it was supposed to be a non-smoking room.  Then he kept hearing the people above banging repeatedly on the floor.  So....yeah...he came back to the car and we decided to go somewhere else.  He turned the key in and the manager asked what the problem was.  He said the room stunk, and we have a baby and we need to get some rest.  The manager apologized for the room, but they were booked for the night so they didn't have another one to offer.  He said he would talk to the "party room" and ask them to keep it down, but Connor said it wasn't necessary.  It probably wouldn't have done anything anyway.

So, we drove to a much nicer part of San Bernardino, and stayed in a Best Western instead.  Much more comfortable, and a much better breakfast.  It was a good decision.

The next morning Matthew woke up way too early, but he was up and ready to go.  So we got a semi-early start, which was good.  The drive should have taken 10 hours, but with all our stops it took us 12. By the end, Matthew was done.  Nothing I tried would keep him entertained.  He did not want to be in his car seat anymore.  When we were a couple hours away from home we stopped and then when I went to strap him back in, he turned himself around and stood up.

He was not very happy when I had to buckle him in.

We finally made it home around 9.  It was a long, long drive, but it felt so good to be home!  It had been almost 3 weeks for me and Matthew. We had quite the adventurous summer, that's for sure.

Road Trippin' Day 2

Our original plan for the second day of our road trip was to go take a tour of Hearst Castle.  Well, after our incident the day before, we didn't want to have a repeat event so we opted to visit San Luis Obispo instead.

There's a mission there, and I've seen pictures and I've always wanted to visit it.  It really is beautiful.

When we got there, there was the cutest little hummingbird bathing itself in the fountain.  It was so cute!

Not the best picture, but if you look closely you can see it at the top of the fountain.

They had this little creek running through the town, right next to the mission.  We walked down by it, and we even saw some guy getting arrested!  No clue what he was doing that got him arrested.

We let Matthew crawl around a bit.  Mostly he just pulled out the grass.

We headed to The Habit for some lunch (yum).  We got it to go and we went to a park to eat and play some more.  Then we hopped back in the car and drove to Camarillo, CA where our hotel of the night was.  We checked in, changed our clothes, and headed to the beach.

We made it there a little later than I hoped we would, but it was still beautiful out.

The water was very cold (colder than the east coast), and Matthew wasn't too sure what to think about it.

But he did have fun playing in the sand.

And now Matthew has been in the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans.  All before 11 months old.

It was getting kind of late, so we headed back to the hotel.  The waves must have hypnotized Matthew because he fell asleep in the car, and then was only asleep for 15 minutes until he woke up when we got back to the hotel room.  That always makes things fun.

Interesting story.  We ordered pizza for dinner and Connor went to pick it up.  When he got there he realized that he didn't have his drivers license or his credit card with him.  The last place he had had them was when he checked us in at the hotel.  So he got back to the hotel with the pizza, and went to the front desk to see if they were left there.  The man there was the same one who was there when Connor checked us in, and he said that he had given them back to Connor.

So Connor starts checking everywhere he can possibly think of to find his drivers licence and credit card, but he just can't find it.  So I said that we should pray and bless the pizza, and pray that he would find his ID and card.  Connor said the prayer, and while he was praying the hotel room phone rings.  It was the man at the front desk, and he had found Connor's stuff!  He had left them on the copy machine and he got distracted when Connor asked him about a nearby beach (which he says is my fault since I told him to ask).  The ID and credit card would have sat there all night, but someone came in to make a copy, so they were found. 

Road Trippin' Day 1

On Aug 8th we started our little family vacation.  The first day did not really go as planned.

Our original plan was to go to Raging Waters in San Jose with some friends.  When I got up that day I checked the weather, and it was supposed to be in the high 60's, so we decided that might not be the best idea.  Plan B was to go to the Winchester Mystery House.

Connor had told me about the WMH years ago.  It's supposed to be a really neat tour, and we've wanted to go for a while.  We were going to do that instead.  So we got all our stuff together, got in the car, and we got to San Jose.  Connor and I decided to stop at Subway for some lunch, and right before we were about to order, Connor realized that we had left the stroller in San Ramon.  Oops.  So, we got our food, hopped back in the car, I called my friend to tell her what was going on, and we drove back to San Ramon, got the stroller, and then turned right back around and went back to San Jose.  Sheesh.

We went to my friend Marifer's apartment to meet her and her husband.  Marifer was one of my mission companions.  I have missed seeing her!  It was so fun to see her and meet her husband.

Anyway, we all got together, and then headed to the WMH for a tour.

Waiting for our tour.  You can't take strollers, luckily I had the ergo.

So.  We get to our tour and the tour guide (Fiona) starts speaking about the house.  Matthew was babbling some.  Not screaming, not fussing.  Fiona had been talking for less then a minute when she looked at me and said"Do you need to take her out until she calms down?"  I didn't say anything.  I just looked at her and she said "Or him."  I said that he was just talking and he was fine.  Then I was thinking to myself, is this going to be a problem for the tour?  The tour was supposed to last a little more than an hour.

So Fiona kept talking when another woman, who was standing no more than 3 feet away from her, asked if she could take a different tour.  Fiona said that she didn't think that was a possibility.  The woman claimed that she couldn't hear a thing because my baby was too loud.  The tour guide looked at me and asked if we could do a tour at a later time when he had settled down.  I said "Seriously?  He's not crying.  He's just talking."  Fiona said that people couldn't hear and she suggested we come back later.  I said that we were visiting and couldn't come at a later time.  Then she said something else, and I really don't remember what but I said, "Fine we'll leave but we want our money back."  She told us to go to the gift shop and they would maybe be able to give us a refund there.

I'm still bugged by this, and it's been like 2 weeks since it happened.  I know I need to get over it, but it was just ridiculous.  I know that people wanted to be able to hear the tour guide.  I just felt like they were so rude about it.  They really could have said it in a nicer way.

So, after we all got our money back we went to Starbucks, got some drinks (I forgot how good that Strawberries & Cream Frappuccino is), and then went to a park and hung out and played.  We had a really fun time!

It was so good to see Marifer again.  And after all was said and done, the park was more fun, anyway.  Plus, I think for one reason or another, we just weren't meant to go on the WMH tour that day.

After we visited and played, Connor, Matthew and I jumped into the car and drove to King City, CA (which is in the middle of nowhere), and got some rest.

Reunited!

After nearly 2 weeks of not seeing Connor, he arrived in San Ramon on August 7th!  Matthew and I were very excited to see him.

San Ramon (Aug 6 - 7)

I'm catching up!

On Tuesday August 6th, Matthew and I left Virginia and took a 5 1/2 hour flight to Oakland.  The flight went really well, thank heavens.  We were even on the plane an extra 45 minutes because of a weather delay, but Matthew did great.  People commented on how well behaved he was, which did not happen on our flight out to Virginia.  It was amazing.  There were quite a few babies on that flight, and one was not very happy.  I could definitely empathize with the parents of that baby.

We got to Oakland, where Crystal and her kids picked us up from the airport.  We got to their house, and pretty much took it easy for the rest of the day.  Matthew had a lot of fun playing with all of their toys, and it gave me some good ideas for toys that we might want to get him for his birthday.

They have this adorable little puppy.  Matthew loved him, and he loved Matthew.  I, however, did not love how the puppy always wanted to lick Matthew's face, and Matthew was all too happy to oblige.  I guess it's good for his immune system, right?

The next morning we woke up and had some breakfast.  Matthew is teething so he sucked on some frozen berries.  He was a huge mess.

After breakfast we headed out to a park with a trail where Crystal and I walked with Matthew and Addison in the stroller, and the boys rode their bikes.  After our walk we went to a park where the kids could play for a bit.  They had a big sandbox, and Matthew had fun playing in and eating the sand.

When it was about time to leave, Crystal went to load the bikes back into the car.  I was watching Cameron play on the teeter totter with another kid, Taylor was watching Addison, and they and Alex were playing on the playground.  I was chatting with another mom at the park, and I looked over and saw Addison, and then Taylor playing somewhere else.  I asked him if he was watching Addison, and he said yes.  I said 'It doesn't look like it.'

The next time I saw Taylor (a few minutes later), he was walking over to us with Crystal.  Taylor was in a lot of pain because Alex had kicked him off a slide because Taylor was in Alex's way.  He landed on the upper part of his arm, and it looked like he had dislocated his shoulder because it was sticking out.  Crystal dropped off the rest of her kids at a friends home, and we headed to the ER.  They took an xray, and it turns out it was broken!  Poor kid.  Not the most fun way to end the summer.

They put a cast on it, but it was weird because it didn't even cover the break.  They said the goal was to weigh his arm down so that the bone would align properly.  Also, the poor kid had to (and still has to as far as I know) stay upright all the time, even while he sleeps.  Needless to say, Taylor was not very happy.  Plus, the poor kid was in a lot of pain.  They didn't offer him any medicine.  I had to go ask for it.

So that was all very exciting.  I'm sure that's not my last visit to the ER.  I know people say boys are easier to raise than girls, but at least girls don't usually kick people off slides and break their arms.  Just sayin'.

Virginia Continued

On Saturday we headed to one of the Air and Space Museums.  I mostly wanted to see the Discovery shuttle, but it was interesting to see all the other aviation things that they had there, too.

Sunday was a pretty relaxed day.  Matthew hung out with Grandpa Byrd.

We went to this huge park that was about 20 minutes from the house.  It was really fun.  They had some swings that had a harness on them that I could strap Matthew into.  Technically, they're handicap swings, but they're fun for babies, too.

We had fun playing on the other toys, too.

On Monday we went to talk to a lady about DoTerra products.  We're trying out some essential oils.  We also drove around our old neighborhood in Fox Mill.  Then we had some lunch, and went back to the house so I could finish up some laundry and get ready to leave the next day.

Matthew had fun playing with this toy some more before we left.  He loved this toy.