Almost There!!!

We are so close! Since my last blog we have stayed in Omaha, Chicago and now we are in Pittsburg! So far the travel has been wonderfully uneventful, with very minor issues to deal with.

But last night Skyler presented us with the most difficult night in the history of Skyler. I think he was just so tired of driving, and being in places he doesn't recognize, and not having his own room (Skyler is a bit of an island, and enjoys being left alone a few hours a day). I finally resorted to putting him in the bathtub where he drenched the whole bathroom splashing and wearing himself out. But even afterwards he wouldn't stop screaming, so we turned off all the lights and TV and laid quietly in our beds until he was finally able to drift off. It was rough, but ultimately I felt bad for Skyler, he doesn't understand what is happening and there's really no way to explain to him why we are doing all of this traveling.

On the flip side, Jayda has exceeded all hoped of good behavior on this trip. I almost feel like in this last four days, she has grown up SO much. She has barely complained, she sits quietly in the car, colors and watches her Dora. She is even an angel when we stop to eat and leaves causing a scene to Skyler. I'm so proud of her.

We have seen some beautiful sights on the way, including some wonderful parks with so much GREEN! But I will say that despite the relatively easy move, I am SO HAPPY that we are so close and that we are going home tomorrow. Staying in a small hotel room has been a little rough on us, I miss my bed, and I really can't wait to eat real food, instead of fast food.

I do have a few pictures from the first day of travel, but unfortunately the camera died on the first day. Rachel has taken a few pictures since then, so I will post what I can when I get the chance. I also need to catch up on San Diego and other things of that nature. For now, I just can't wait to be home!

First Touchdown

It's weird that I'm blogging during our move, you'd think that blogging would be the last thing on my mind during something as hectic as a move. But, it's late, and everyone is finally snoozing in our tiny motel room in Laramie WY, and quite honestly, the internet is a symbol of normalcy that I've been craving all day, and so I blog.

Considering how amazingly LONG the day has been, it hasn't been too bad. We started off a little slow, having to pick up the rest of Glenn's teeth (Glenn has been instructed by Temple University to collect teeth from dentists, like a few jars worth of teeth, gross huh!), and getting the tires rotated at the last minute. But the hardest part was yet to come when I had to say goodbye to my mom, which was the toughest goodbye of the trip. Fortunately Skyler slept a good two hours allowing me time to myself and my rampant tears!

There was not a lot of time to mope since our main objective at that time was to pick up Rachel, Glenn's sister in SLC. She was oh, so wonderful and kind enough to offer to come along with us as a third set of hands, and some good company on our move. We had lunch at a gorgeous park where Jayda was able to feed the geese and run around. Our next stop was at Little America, which was a great stop because it had a small playground for the kids. Skyler is even able to climb and play, with constant supervision. We had dinner and continued onward to a tiny town in Wyoming. We stopped to fuel and to give our poor boy some hope, he was not enjoying the car seat, or the move in general. Jayda is breaking all of her own stereotypes by taking the move like a champ. She's been really good considering the stress that has gone into the day.

We finally got to Laramie around ten. I immediately put Jayda in the tub, but the bathtub experience just ended up traumatizing her because when I went to turn off the water, the hot water would not shut off, in fact, the more I tried, the more water came! Glenn was still collecting our bags, Skyler was screaming like crazy, and even though I unplugged the tub, water was rising at a speedy rate. I accomplished nothing by freaking out, doing a crazy dance around the room while the two kids screamed bloody murder. Finally, Glenn rescued me from myself by notifying the front desk and getting someone to fix the tub. We finally got the kids to sleep, Glenn is sleeping peacefully, and I think it's time that I join that club.

Four more days!

Day 3 in San Diego

The next morning Glenn and I drove the kids to La Jolla beach. Everyone else rode their bikes. We opted not to since Jayda's bike riding track record is not so great and the ride is about seven miles. The beach was cool, we saw tons of snorklers and people swimming from one side of the cove to the other, probably about a half mile swim. I was a little surprised because it was pretty chilly that day. We spent the rest of our time walking around

After La Jolla, my parents took us to this great little Mexican Restaurant where my mom has been raving about their fish tacos ever since they discovered it. Come to find out, the fish tacoes were pretty incredible. Most of the food we had while we were there was incredible, which is probably why it's a good thing the vacation only lasted a week!

We went back to the carnival that afternoon so Glenn could see what it was all about. He also rode the boats with Jayda, which was super cool for her! I had the privilege afterwards of riding the Merry-Go-Round with her this time, and I was pretty relieved when it ended. Rides have made me a lot more sick since I had kids!

This is a shot of Glenn, Jackie, Deanna and I on the rickety-rack rollercoaster they had there. It was actually a lot of fun!

Day 2 in San Diego

The next morning Glenn stayed at the condo with Skyler who desperately needed to continue sleeping off the previous day's travels (he tends to sleep a lot when dealing with big changes, I'm noticing that now with the move). So the rest of us headed out on the boardwalk in the opposite direction as yesterday. We would have gone straight to the beach, but the weather wasn't quite cooperating with us yet. Anyway, we came across a cool little carnival a few miles from our place. Jayda loved it because she got to ride the Merry-Go-Round for the first time with her Aunt Jackie. It was pretty fun to watch her. The morning wore her out enough that she actually slept for quite a while in her stroller, which rarely happens.

After our walk we went back to the condo for some lunch and time to relax while the kids slept. Fortunately the weather cleared up for some fun at the beach! Just to warn you now, I am probably going to be posting LOTS of beach pictures!

Of then of course, more lounging at home after a long and fun day at the beach!

Day 1 in San Diego!

Well, we're completely done packing and out of the house. In the meantime we've been hanging out with my parents at their house until Monday when we head out! Since I have a little extra time, I thought I'd blog as much of our California trip as we can so that I'm not too overwhelmed next time I get a chance to blog. For my Poky friends, there's going to be a little get-together at my empty house Friday night to say goodbye. Feel free to stop by if you'd like, I'd love to see you! Anyway, here's the first day of our trip.

Traveling with kids, especially flying, is an adventure in and of itself. We actually didn't do too bad, which I can say now that it's long over! We had to drive three hours to the SLC airport, picking Jackie up on the way, and the flight was an hour and a half. The hardest part of the whole thing is all the stuff you have to do in between, ie shuttles, security, waiting. Needless to say, it was great to finally get to our destination. These are pics of us at the airport, on the plane and on the shuttle.






Once we got to San Diego, we rented our van, reunited with Deanna and Baby Haven (yay!), and searched desperately for a place to eat. My parents took us to a great restaurant called the Rotisserie that had great wraps, chicken, etc. It was just nice not to be on a plane anymore! As a sidenote, we got there the weekend of the fourth, so the city was completely overtaken by shirtless and bikini clad coeds who were nursing the effects of their previous activities! It wasn't bad and luckily we were never kept up at night, but they did make me feel a little old!




We got to our condo to find it a little unusual. The downstairs was completely seperated from the top, which worked, even though it would have been nice to have everyone together. But, the condo was still great and so close to the ocean.





So after we got settled, we decided to do a little exploring. Most of it involved walking up and down the boardwalk that ran along the beach. It was really crowded with others walking, biking and jogging, but I really loved walking the boardwalk. It was so pretty, with tons of shops and things to look at. If I lived there, walking the boardwalk would be something I'd do everyday.








Then of course we had to go to the beach. I LOVE the beach, there is something so calming about the whole environment. The kids loved it too, although it did take them a few days to get used to the water. Jayda would run out to the waves, until they would chase her back to the shore. Everyday she would let herself get a little deeper in the water, so it was nice to see her make some progress. Skyler never got too interested in the water, mostly because he didn't like the force of the waves, but he LOVED playing in the sand with all the toys provided for him.






Best picture of Jayda and Grandpa!



The rest of the day was spent relaxing in the condo and watching movies. It was a very fun and EXHAUSTING first day, with a lot to look forward to!