California Trip

This month we were able to go to California to visit family and friends for a nice long 13 day vacation. We had a ton of fun, but we are sure glad to be back home!

We drove down in two days. Our first day we drove to St. George, Utah. We got there early enough to play in the hotel pool, which was nice, because it was 105 that day! Well, I think it is that hot quite frequently, but that is warmer than we are used to. Patrick loves hotels. The first things he does is jump on the beds, and then he checks out the phone. After about 30 minutes, I had to unplug the receiver and hide it so he wouldn't accidentally call anyone.

The second day we drove through Las Vegas and headed to the LA area. My cousin Luke, was getting married that evening, and we had just enough time to shower quickly at the hotel and head across town to the temple. Well, what was supposed to be a 1.5 hour drive turned into a 2.5 hour drive thanks to Friday rush hour LA traffic. I am really thankful that we have been living in Denver for the last three years because it somewhat prepared me for the traffic there. There was still a lot more of it, but I wasn't as paranoid and panicked as I was the first time I experienced Denver traffic. Anyway, we ended up being about 30 minutes late for the sealing, but we weren't the only ones stuck in traffic, and the sealing was lovely. Luke and Brittany are a very cute couple, and I was so happy that we could be there for their wedding.

The reception wasn't until the next evening, so the next morning, Saturday, we drove down to Huntington Beach with my uncles Tim and Matt and their families. I had never been to a real live ocean beach before, so this was a very fun day. I was so excited to see the ocean! We had a really beautiful day. It wasn't too hot or too crowded, and the sky was really clear. The waves were fairly gentle, and we had a lot of fun playing in the water and sand.

Patrick was pretty hesitant around the waves. He enjoyed the water, but was just scared enough to not go running in my himself, which made me happy!

He went in the water with Dad a few times, but mostly just wanted to dig in the sand. He only ate a few handfulls.

Reed was a great dad and went to fetch water for Patrick when he didn't want to go in the water.

Then he buried Patrick in the sand!

The next day we drove up north to Lemoore, which is just south of Fresno. Reed's brother Adam lives there, and we stayed with them for a couple of days. After a busy weekend, it was nice to have a couple of normal, relaxing days. We all took long naps, and Patrick got in the water again to play in their pool. He loves the stairs, and likes to climb in and out of the pool. Sometimes he will jump off the side into Reed's arms, but mostly he just liked to splash. Who doesn't?

We also spent a day in Monterey with Adam and Kelli. We walked around Fisherman's Wharf and ate some awesome clam chowder (you really missed out Patrick!) and then headed up to the aquarium. I was really excited to go to the aquarium. I have always heard how great it is, and I think I was as excited to see the fish as Patrick was.

Emma and Jason looking at the fish.

Patrick LOVED touching the starfish. He was soaking wet from splashing too much. Reed probably wasn't that dry either!

The aquarium has lots of fun areas for the kids to run around and play, which was nice because we were there for a long time. And sometimes mommies and daddies play too!

Here we are at Monterey Bay!

And then one of Patrick picking his nose, which he does a lot right now . . .

Reed liked teasing the penguin with his cell phone.

Patrick was ready to crash after about five hours of non-stop running in the aquarium!

After the aquarium, we drove about 3 hours north to Modesto, where Reed grew up. We stayed with our friends Patrick (whom Patrick is named after) and Kelly. We had a lot of fun catching up with friends we haven't seen in many years. We had a calzone night and Reed's friends from high school came over. We spent one day at Reed's high school because some of his friends teach there now and we wanted to say hi. Reed enjoyed showing me around town, and we drove past his old house several times.

The Saturday before we left, we went into San Francisco to see Don (Patrick's middle namesake). After riding the BART and the bus, we didn't have time for much more than lunch, but it was a really fun day visiting. Patrick was really good in the big city, and he thought riding the bus and train was pretty cool. Especially since he didn't have to be in a carseat!

We also saw Reed's other brothers Jack and Lance while we were in the area. It was fun to see cousins again and catch up with everybody!

We were definitely ready to come home, and the drive home was a little more difficult. Patrick doesn't understand time or distance, so I can't explain to him how much longer we have to be in the car. Thankfully, we had a DVD player and a dry eraser board that kept him from revolting too much. Patrick really was a trooper the whole trip. He slept well everywhere we went, and he was in a pretty good mood considering how out of our routine we were. Now we are home, working on projects inside and out, and ready to be home for the rest of the year!