Well, Here I Am...

Soooo...it's been a while. And a lot has happened, so brace yourselves. I'm about to open up a huge can of INFORMATION OVERLOAD all over you!

First: Our Family Vacation.

We went to San Diego. Oh yes we did. We drove all the way there. However, we're not insane, so we made sure we had hotel reservations in Las Vegas for the trip to California, and for the trip home. We stayed at the Excalibur, which was pretty nice. I've never actually stayed there before. 

On the first night we were there, we took the chiddlers to "The Tournament of Kings" for dinner and the show. It was a lot of fun, though we had a pretty lame crowd that night. I could tell all the performers were a bit disappointed by the general lack of enthusiasm. I mean, I did the best I could to be loud and raucous, but there's only so much that one little mom from Utah can do in a big crowd like that! Either way, it was still fun--especially for the chiddlers. AJ sat on my lap for the entire show and she was absolutely riveted!

We arrived in San Diego the next day, and stayed there for eight days altogether. While we were there, we proceeded to make an admirable attempt to kill ourselves as we used those days to go just about everywhere we could manage to go.

Our first big adventure was at Sea World. Oh yes. And it was awesome. The chiddlers really loved watching all the shows. The whales, sea lions and otters, and of course the dolphins. Not to mention the penguin exhibit. I even took CT on one of the roller coasters--Manta, I think it was called. 

The next day, we took ourselves off to the San Diego Safari Park and HOLY CRAP THAT PLACE IS HUGE!!! Even with signs, maps, and asking directions we still took a few wrong turns and ended up having to backtrack. However, we did manage to find the tram ride that took us to see all the highlights of the park. After that, we just walked to a few other choice spots and called it good. Heck, the longest amount of time we spent in one spot at that park was in the gift shop. That's what happens when you take two kids into a place like that and say: "Okay, you can each pick one thing." You can probably imagine how things unfolded after that.

Once we left the park, we went to Ty's favorite beach (he grew up in California). Once we'd walked the beach for a while, we drove around to find some fun shopping. We ended up in a wonderful place called Carlsbad. We had a late lunch, and then walked around to some of the shops there. I just fell in love with that place! The next time we're in the area, I'd very much like to visit Carlsbad again. 

The next day was Father's Day. We went with Ty's older brother and his family to see and tour some ships that were docked in San Diego. We saw the ship that was used in both "Pirates of the Caribbean" and "Master and Commander". We also toured an old Russian submarine, and an old merchant ship that I can't remember the name of. We went to lunch at a nearby restaurant, and then we had a sort of parting of the ways. The boys wanted to tour this enormous aircraft carrier, and the girls wanted to shop instead. So...we split up. The girls all went to this fun little shopping area, and I found myself a ring that I just fell in love with. It was my birthday gift from my parents. (They gave me some cash before we left town, so I could find something I wanted.) 

Monday was the Main Event. The Big One. The Grand PooBah Event of every child's lifetime. Disneyland! Oh yes indeed. We went in the afternoon, for various reasons. So when we got there, they were quite busy. Just as we walked in the gate, Ty pointed out that Ariel was just in front of us. 

Now, we had been promising our little 3 1/2 year old daughter for over a week that she would be able to see princesses when we went to Disneyland, and she was soooo excited. So naturally I took her over to where Ariel was meeting with kids and waited for the kid that was already talking to her to finish up. When they walked away, I sent AJ over, and prepared to do my motherly duty and take a picture of this first magical moment. 

As I watched my daughter interact with her first Disney princess, Ty walked past on his way to the stroller rental place and said to me in an undertone: "Candice, did you cut in line?" As he walked away, I turned to my right, and saw--to my horror--that I had indeed cut in front of a line of at least 15 families!!! Well, what could I do? AJ was already in prime picture-taking position. So I snapped a picture, ran up and grabbed my daughter and high-tailed it out of there! I didn't make any eye contact with the people I had cut in front of, because I was afraid they would burn me with their furious glares. 

The worst part of it was not only that I had made such a huge mistake right out of the gate, but that it happened while we were at the park with Ty and his brother, the masters of teasing and sarcastic comments. Trust me, I was catching jibes about that incident ALL DAY LONG!!! I will never live it down, you can bet on that! Someone would comment on how long the wait would be for a ride, and Ty's brother would say: "Yeah, but that's no big deal for Candice, is it?" Yeah, I know. I'm a winner.

Anyway...As the day wore on, I was not seeing any more princesses anywhere! We went on several rides, and they were fun, but I had promised my daughter princesses, and dang it I was going to deliver! Finally, I turned to Ty and said: "Hey, I'm going to take AJ to find some princesses. You guys go ahead and find a ride and I'll meet up with you later." Ty said: "Okay, but I think we got here too late." 

I couldn't deny this. We had completely missed seeing Tinkerbell (another thing AJ had been looking forward to), and Merida (AJ's favorite princess). But I couldn't rest until I'd made a real effort to keep my promise somehow! So off I went. I asked multiple employees, and all of them said: "Just head over to the Royal Hall, they'll be there until 7:00." Well, I had no idea where the Royal Hall was, and a quick look at the time on my cell phone told me it was already 6:40. I hauled some serious @$$ across the park--with my daughter in tow--to Fantasyland, and finally found the Royal Hall. I got in line and we waited. And waited. And waited. 

Finally, after about 40 minutes, we got our turn. Three princesses awaited AJ and to me it was well worth the wait. In the Royal Hall, the princesses are actually standing in their own little areas and take the children aside one at a time. They talk to them for a few minutes, and then take pictures and give lots of hugs and smiles. You don't feel so rushed as you do when you meet the characters out in the park. AJ could not have been happier. She got to see Cinderella, Ariel (not the same actress as we saw during the line-jumping incident, don't worry), and Aurora. Once we got those pictures and walked out of that building, I felt myself relax completely. I had kept my promise. 

We spent the rest of the night going on rides. Ty took AJ to see Fantasmic while the rest of us went on Splash Mountain. Then we all went to dinner at the Blue Bayou. The final event of the night was a lovely jaunt on the Indiana Jones ride. By that time, it was very nearly midnight and the kids (and adults) were ready to be done. It was a very long drive back to San Diego, but Ty got us there. The chiddlers were completely asleep--virtually unwake-able. We all crashed.

Every one of us slept in late the next morning. Luckily, we had already decided that this would be our "rest day". We all got up, got ready, and headed for the beach. A different beach from the one we'd already visited. But this time, we were ready to get in the water. It was a lot of fun for the chiddlers. CT got knocked over by a few huge waves, laughing the whole time. Of course, I was extremely nervous about it--being a ridiculous worry wart. But as I said, the kids had fun, and so did the parents. The water was cold, of course, but not unbearable. Then we walked along the boardwalk, people-watching and looking in the cheap little tourist shops. We walked past a hostel for "young adults" as it said on the sign, and I caught a whiff of what I can only describe as the most disgusting mixture of body odor, weed, and feet. It nearly knocked me over. But luckily I wasn't downwind for long. On our way back to the van, we stopped at a little ice cream shop, sat on the little brick wall outside, and enjoyed the ocean breeze. It was a nice, slow, relaxing day. I enjoyed it very much. We all needed it. 

Our final big activity in California was the next day--at the San Diego Zoo. We all got up, had some breakfast, and then headed out the door. Ty had the GPS on his phone going--just the map, not the vocal directions. It had worked just fine for him during the whole trip. But this time was destined to present some problems. While trying to find the correct direction to go at a fork in the road (separated by a little curbed island), Ty started heading the wrong direction, caught it at the last minute, and tried to correct the mistake. Unfortunately, he didn't quite make it. He rammed into the curb at a very high speed and popped the left front tire. He pulled up onto the island and got out to change the tire. While he was doing that, I took out my trusty internet phone  and found a tire place a mere five minutes away from where we were. We got there, and an hour later, were back on the road. 

The zoo was RIDICULOUSLY crowded!!! But we made our plan, and started off on our expedition. So. Much. Walking. This place was enormous!!! So many paths, twists, and turns. So many times we took a wrong turn and had to retrace our steps. Uphill, downhill, around and around. It was crazy! But it really was a fun day regardless. The kids had so much fun seeing all those animals. I was a particularly big fan of the giant pandas. So. Cute. I just wish I could have taken the baby panda home with me...but I foresaw a few problems there...

The next morning, we were back on the road. To Las Vegas. We stayed at the Excalibur again, had some dinner at the Hard Rock Cafe, went shopping at the M&M store (mainly for the kids) and the Coca-Cola store (for me). We made it back to the hotel, and we all crashed again. The next morning was actually my birthday, and we drove all the way back home. I wasn't upset though. We'd already celebrated our birthdays during our trip, and the greatest gift to me that night was the chance to sleep in my very own bed. 

I could not believe how much happier and more relaxed the chiddlers were once we were home again. Especially AJ. I mean, they had a lot of fun on the trip--but dang it, there really is no place like home. 

Anyway, here we are, almost a month later. Some crazy things have happened since our glorious return. However...this post has gone on long enough. So I'll spare you for now. Until next time then...