Wednesday, September 23, 2009

California Trip

Still catching up on life. Sorry for the delay in summer story-telling. Okay, so, California. Brice has been bound and determined to get the kids to the beach this summer. It took some serious finagling, but we made it. Unfortunately, Raelin came down with a nasty flu bug the day before we were to leave. She was throwing up and had a fever. Here she is asleep in the doorway of the bathroom. Poor thing was tired of going back and forth, I guess.We kept an eye on her and prayed that she would stop puking because no one wants to spend 8 hours in the car when they are puking and no one wants to spend 8 hours in the car worried about puke getting on the car--it's a disaster to try to clean. Been there, done that. We also checked with family to be sure that they weren't opposed to hosting us despite the illness. Alternatively, we were willing to camp until Raelin was better (we love camping, so that wouldn't have been a big deal). Anyway, she slowed down with the throwing up just in time for us to decide to go. We had hoped to go for the whole 2 weeks Brice was out of school, but then we found out that Raelin's school started in the middle of Brice's break. So it was a much shorter trip than we'd hoped, but we went anyway. When we got there, Raelin was still sick and she started burning super high fevers. When I say high I mean 104.5 and 105 degrees! She had several cold baths to get that temp down fast. We took her to the doctor who said she had a virus and that it just had to run its course. Fortunately, when her fever was down, Raelin was happy and playful. She only felt yucky when she was burning up. We went through more medicine in that week with this one child than we have with all three of our kids combined over the course of their lives. I don't give medicine easily because I think it helps people to have a stronger immune system to let our bodies fight illnesses on their own, but with a fever that high, I wasn't willing to just let it burn or even to give a half dose to bring it down a little without killing it like I normally do. We were on her ever 6 hours with the Motrin whether the fever was back or not. Just keep it away.

Ryker was also still crawling from his see-saw injury the day we got there. I think he started walking (tentatively) the next day. So we were pretty much laid up at Brice's parents' house for the first 3 or 4 days. Brice's sisters both came up with their kids so we could all play and have fun together. It was great to see everyone and I love watching all the cousins play together. They have a ball!

We spent another fun-filled afternoon with Jack and Sue. They are some friends of ours that we just love! Brice helped frame their amazing house and Jack has been working on the finish work himself for a long time. It's the most intricate, ornate work I've ever seen and it's beautiful! SO we love to visit and see the progress they've made on the house. This time they took us to the pool for a swim and a BBQ. We had a blast! Thank you Jack and Sue!!!

At the end of the week we finally made it to the beach. Both kids were well and could play and run and we had a great time. We stayed at my grandma's house in Agoura, so we were close to the beach I went to when I was a kid. I love Zuma beach (that's why I named my puppy Zuma).
It was kind of a chilly day. I chickened out about really getting in the water, but I taught Raelin how to catch sand crabs and she LOVED it.
Raelin didn't like the cold water much either.
Ryker and I build some cool sand castles.
Ah, here's Raelin catching crabs.
We dug a really deep hole. I think it's the deepest one I've ever helped dig. The kids are standing up in it and it's as deep as Raelin is tall.
Then we buried Brice, Raelin, and Ryker in it. Raelin was getting a bit smashed and was not happy, but I had to get some pictures before I let her out! She was pitifully sad, but it had to be done.
And Alaina was a little sand monster! I gave up after about five minutes of trying to keep her from eating the sand. There was just no hope. Unfortunately, I didn't do a very good job of catching her poops in the days that followed so it was awful to wipe off her little tushie. Sand poop is a pain in the rear. (hardy har har. Yes, I can hear you moaning at my awful pun.)

I love the sand goatee.
Eating sand.
Eating more sand.

And seaweed.
We took the playpen because she doesn't sleep so well in my arms. It's a pain to lug, but she got a good nap so it was worth it. Here, she is just waking up, ready to...You guessed it! Eat more sand.
A couple of artsy pictures.



And last but not least, my wonderful husband. I just love him! He's the best.

My grandma and grandpa were headed for a cruise in Alaska right when we were heading out to California. It was quite a bummer to miss them, but they let us stay at their house and it was wonderful! We had such a great time there. They have worked on the yard a ton and it beautiful! Complete with a fountain and a little... what do you call that thing? A pergola? There were walking paths all through the garden and orchard and the kids had a blast running and playing and riding scooters.

I went to get things ready to go at the end of our stay and I left Alaina downstairs playing with some toys. When I went to check on her, this is what I found:
What!? Climbing stairs at 7 months!? No way.

So, that was our Cali trip. Thanks to all you who hosted us and put up with us and our sick kids. Sorry to those of you we couldn't visit due to Raelin's cold and the small window of time we had to stay out there. We miss you!

Epilogue
Incidentally, Alaina came down with a different cold when we got home (runny nose and cough) from the one Raelin had and then, right as she was getting over that, she came down with Raelin's high fever throwing up cold. Ugh! What a mess! There have been more sicknesses going around our family in the last few months (Hellloo! It's SUMMER! Not fair!) than ever before. What's the deal?

P.S. I'm not in the mood for proofreading today. Sorry for the typos. Maybe I'll come back and fix them another day if they bother me too much, which they probably will. I'm such a nerd.

1 comments:

Cummins Family said...

Wow, cute pics, especially of the little sand monster! She reminds me of Riley, not so much in looks but in the smile that just lights up the universe, just how happy they are doing whatever they're doing!