California

This trip was dual-purpose. First of all, there was a new sweet little girl to meet. Baby cousin Kora was just ten days old when we got there to visit. Mindy drove Kora and Camille to our parents' house and was waiting there with her sweet girls when we arrived. Kora seemed content to let us pass her around and give her snuggles.

Camille seemed wide-eyed to see her "big cousins" play. She would try and attempt what they were doing, but mostly watched as they ran around doing "big people" things. Elsie and Eli loved that they got to be the "big ones." They had a fabulous time playing together.

The second purpose of this trip was to celebrate Grammy's 50th birthday. I love my mom for so many reasons. And this picture tells the story of another. We spent her 50th birthday celebration at John's Incredible Pizza. (For my Southern friends: think a much bigger Cici's/Chucky Cheese/Sparkleberry Fair) I just love this picture of her on the bumper cars. She's awesome. 

 And of course its hard to tell who had more fun: Papa or Eli.

 

A quick aside about Papa: This basically sums up my kids visit with their Papa. I have never figured out why they get so much joy from being hit with pillows. Every time we're there, they take my mom's throw pillows and beg for Papa to knock them down. They even retrieve the pillows so he can do it over and over again. Two things I appreciate: First, the kids giggling when they're hit. Second, my dad's sound effects. Yep. They love their Papa.

Other things that I love about our California trip:

 I have an awesome Brother in law. My kids love their Uncle James, and on this trip, Eli especially loved the checkers games they would play together every night.

 We loved the San Luis Obispo Thursday night farmers market. I've never been to another farmers market like it, and I love that I've gotten to go once the past two summers.

 Many morning started out on Avila Beach. Papa is known for being an early riser, so it was no surprise that we ended up at early breakfasts before walks on the beach or on the pier.

We also had a great time visiting old friends. I didn't get any pictures of me with Jenny, but we loved catching up while our kids played. We swam, and fed the cows. The kids had a great time! 

The only thing we didn't love about the California trip was that Scott stayed back to work on his writing. He got lots of things done while we were away but we missed him and he missed us. This meant that I traveled by myself with the three kids. Really, the kids were no issue, but the fear I had was more to do with the handling of suitcases, carry-ons, car seats, and such. But we managed just fine. Emily was amazing and I was so grateful for her help. I think the kids and I saw it as a grand adventure, and treated it as such. I'm thankful for my little traveling companions! And thankful that we get to go back to California in December, with Scott this time, to see our family at Christmas.