Beach Boys (and Other Long Overdue Adventures)

I was so excited to write about our vacation when we first got home last week month, but didn't take the time to do it. Now, I continue to "make" the time and am not in the mood to be on the computer. Isn't that the way they say it goes? But let's forget all that . . .

I'd been planning on taking the boys to Washington to visit family as we've done the past three summers, but got a bit derailed in the arrangements when our return date needed to be changed. Instead of having eight days to split between two sides of the state, we would have only had six . . . and three of those would be spent driving. As we were driving home a little over a week before the trip, I was grumbling (yes, I admit it) to Jordan about how it seemed like more stress than it was worth to drive that far and have so little actual visiting time and that it made me just want to go somewhere completely different. I tossed out the idea of wondering if Janci (former roommate) would want to drive out to California with me and Jordan promptly called to ask. Pretty soon we were plotting out our new itinerary.

Sunday, August 9
Jordan and I were scrambling to finish packing all our various items into the car before heading to Nana and Poppy's for the August birthday dinner. I had had the good sense of packing for the boys early in the week right after washing all their laundry, but still managed to be throwing everything else together at the last minute. After dinner we said goodbye to the daddy-man and the boys and I spent the night with the Lewis' in Murray (where I was almost convinced that it would be worth thinking about pretending to consider someday letting my kids have a dog before concluding that really they can just visit other people's dogs more) to avoid needing to leave our house at the crack of dawn. Aaron proved he was still capable of waking several times a night for no apparent reason, but I somehow managed to wake feeling rested.

Monday, August 10
I managed to get the kids up, dressed, and out the door by 8 and drove to Smith's to get some food for the trip. Janci met us there. We filled the van with gas and got going on the long and boring, and did I mention long and boring drive by 9. We drove to Elko and stopped for lunch at an awesome, awesome park. We drove to Sparks and took much longer than expected to get to a rather bland park and took even longer to find a gas station and get back on the freeway. While we were looking for the park (and I think, in fact, just after we had passed the turn to get there) Isaac informed us that he thought we were lost. Then as we pulled through the gate to the park from which the playground could not yet be seen he asked "is it a park or a parking lot?" Such faith.
Up until this point we had actually made pretty good traveling-with-kids time. Our last leg, which should have been the shortest by far, somehow managed to take just as long as each of the first two. I think we managed to take the longest possible route through Sparks back to the freeway. Later down the road, Isaac became overly insistent that he needed a drink from his cup which had been dropped out of reach of anyone in the car (this was a fairly consistent theme of our trip - Aaron's theme being to drop his toy say "oh-oh" and proceed to yell "Mmmm-ahm!" until Janci turned around to see what he wanted next . . . if it weren't so adorable, it certainly would have been irritating). I finally decided to pull off, get it, and get right back to driving. Seconds after leaving the acceleration ramp, Isaac informed me that he needed to "go potty" and so we were off again at the very next exit. We managed to roll in to the Lauritzen's in Lincoln, our first destination, 2 hours after our anticipated arrival.
After we'd had a minute to stretch, Bryce and Chareen (another former roommate) took us to dinner at Red Robin. The boys were told that this restaurant had balloons and they were asking for one (well, Isaac was asking while Aaron was mostly wanting to get the stuffed "fiss" that was near the balloons) as they clambered around the booth for the rest of the meal. Despite the wiggles, they were remarkably well-behaved and ate heartily. We went back to the apartment and dumped the boys in the bath before hurrying them off to bed, then took the chance to visit for a little while before turning in for the night.

Tuesday, August 11
Waking at their usual Utah time, the boys eagerly accepted the excitement of watching 101 Dalmations (the first of many movies on this trip, I will admit) while all the grown-ups rolled out of bed and prepared for the day. Late in the morning, we piled into the car and headed to Sacramento to visit the zoo. Both boys fell asleep on the way there. Aaron took it all in stride as a wonderful power nap and was ready to go as soon as we arrived. Isaac was rather sluggish and just wanted to sit in the stroller (which he will very rarely do anymore) for most of the visit. After making our rounds of the small, but pretty kid oriented, zoo we ate lunch in the park among the fearless squirrels and ducks. The break gave Isaac a marginal boost of energy and readied the rest of us for our hop across the street to Fairytale Town. The park is full of fairytale and nursery rhyme, for lack of a better word, stations. There is a castle with King Arthur's round table. Old McDonald's farm has animals to pet. Kids can water the vegetables in McGregor's garden. I almost wish we had skipped the zoo and spent more time here. The boys were both enthralled with the water pump at the top of Jack & Jill Hill and had to be repeatedly reminded to share with all the other kids.


Despite our enjoyment, we hurried out the gates before closing in order to come through on the promise to Isaac of a ride on the merry-go-round. The zoo's carousel had already closed, but we were able to get some ride tickets at Funderland, a little amusement park aimed at kids 2-12, for the boys to enjoy not just the merry-go-round, but other rides to boot. I bought a handful of extra tickets so the whole party could finish off the day on the train and got there only to find that they had just completed the last run of the day. By the time I thought to see if I could return the freshly purchased tickets, the booth was closed. Alas and oh well.

In order to avoid rush hour traffic, we took the scenic route back to Chareen's and found her dear husband with dinner nearly waiting for us and the ice cream maker raring to go. A most pleasant surprise after a long, hot day out and about.

After loading everything and everybody into the car to head further south, I took the time to realize what a massive headache I was nursing. Soon I was wishing that all the other cars would turn off their headlights and perhaps stop moving . . . I think we made it a vast 7 miles out of town before I pulled off to relieve my queasy stomach, and another 2 before we decided we were quite ridiculous to try making the multi-hour trip with my head in a beach bucket. Bryce and Chareen kindly let us spend another night.

[Unrelated Side Note: I, for reasons unfathomable, just linked to an informative slide show about black widow and brown recluse spiders and can now barely stand to be sitting in our basement.]

Wednesday August 12
After a full night's sleep, interrupted only by Aaron's abominable desire to sleep in my bed several times throughout the night, I felt fully recovered from the previous day's exhaustion and adequately prepared to continue on our journey. Originally, our plan was to visit the beach on Wednesday; however, we wisely chose instead to spend the remainder of our post-long-drive afternoon in more casual pursuits. Upon our arrival we were graciously welcomed into the home of my former roommate and kindred spirit, Melody Fairchild. After settling our things for our stay, we took the boys to a nearby park where we three girls spent the remainder of the afternoon in relaxed conversation.

Melody had a dinner engagement that evening and Janci was off to fulfill two nights as the dutiful daughter visiting her hometown. I settled the boys to watch Peter Pan before starting on dinner for my little family, Nancy, and Luke (Melody's mother and brother). Despite nearly hovering over them while still in the midst of cooking, Aaron managed to pull a prized snow globe (depicting the very movie he was off a side table in the living room. While the globe itself remained intact, poor Wendy lay in pieces on the floor. The sadness and guilt I felt were overwhelming.

Thursday, August 13
While making breakfast for the boys, I realized that I don't know how to make pancakes from a box mix nor how to cook them in a pan. I choked the result of my follies down while the boys ate cereal and skipped away to watch Peter Pan a dozen more times.

When all were fed and dressed and such, we headed out the door for a day at the San Jose Children's Museum. It was pretty awesome. Right near the entrance is a real firetruck that caught Isaac's attention. He played there for a bit while Aaron put balls into a blowing box that would have kept them floating in mid air had all the little hands been absent. Aaron found it pretty entertaining regardless. There's a little section on generating electricity with different tasks (using a pulley system to lift a bowling ball, coordinating with a group to keep a giant treadle in motion) to be done in order to power a doll's house. We spent a great deal of time in the Water Works exhibit. Lots of balls and running water . . . what isn't to love? Another chunk of our time was spent in the Wonder Cabinet, which is an area devoted to just the littlest world explorers. Aaron really loved the giant building blocks and Isaac was fascinated with the sand table. We finished off the afternoon playing with a "quick" run through the bubble station and traveling Curious George exhibit. It's hard to describe the all around fun of the place, so I'll let our pictures do some of the explaining. Which just reminded me of one of the other cool things . . . they had one of those "drop a coin and watch it roll down the funnel" tables. However, this one had the bottom open and the table was stocked with a bunch of metal washers so kids could retrieve them and use them again. Brilliant!


That evening we had dinner with Melody's dad and his wife at their house across town. Aaron ate heartily while Isaac mostly ran around the kitchen. Thus far they had fooled everyone into thinking they were splendidly behaved and well-mannered children and that I was a truly patient mother. Perhaps we maintained the illusion, but the fascination of being on vacation was certainly starting to dull. Melody's dad had to run out for a meeting, but Vickie (his wife) broke out her suitcase full of preschool assessment toys and let the boys go. Isaac used the pegs to make a sword (of course) and Aaron entertained the Child Psychologist with his interest in learning how to string beads. We spent a little while running around outside before heading home to get boys ready for bed.

While Melody dozed on her mom's bed that night, Nancy and I ate birthday cake and had a great chat about the joys and frustrations of parenting, in general, and home schooling, in particular. It was so fun to be visiting her home as an actual adult, complete with adult worries and responsibilities, rather than the carefree college single who had stayed there so many years prior.

Friday, August 14
In true vacation fashion, the boys woke at the crack of dawn and compelled me to do likewise. Cue Peter Pan, yet again.

Once again joined by Janci, we loaded the car with sundry items for our outing and set off for a day enjoying nature's beauty. Our first stop was at Henry Cowell Redwoods State Park, where we walked their Redwood Grove trail. It was a flat and easy walk with markers along the way for a self-guided tour. While the loop was less than a mile in length, it probably took us the better part of an hour to complete. Not to be without a sword, Isaac quickly found a stick and took to pointing out the markers for our tour. Aaron tried to pick up every stick in the forest and climb over the fence into the underbrush. To top it all off, there was a naturalist with a snake at the visitor's center. The scenery and company were truly beautiful.


We continued our nature day by heading to Seabright beach in Santa Cruz where the boys got their first taste of the ocean in all its glory. In planning for this outing, I had anticipated Isaac being terrified and Aaron trying to throw himself out to sea. Both boys surprised me. Both boys were full of pure joy. Aaron was fairly content to stay with Melody near the outer edge of the water's reach and not notice his feet being sucked into the sand. Isaac was in heaven chasing the waves up and down the shore hand in hand with his mom. This left Janci free to rest and rejuvenate as she pleased. All in all, I think we each got just what we needed from the ocean air.

When the time came to go, I carried various items to the car while Janci and Melody took the boys to a small museum across the street. There were only a few minutes before it closed for the day, but a few minutes was long enough for the boys to get a look at the "tide pool" display complete with starfish and anemone. We loaded into the van for our return to Santa Clara and the boys were hard asleep in no time. This sheer exhaustion led to the one true break down of our trip when I made both of them wake up to eat dinner (the injustice of it all!) before we packed out for good. Janci and I then said our goodbyes to Melody and her family and set off with the boys for one last night at the Lauritzen's to shave a few hours off the bulk of our return drive.

Saturday, August 15
Our return drive passed much the same as did our trip out. Instead of stopping in Elko and Sparks, we rested in Winnemucca and Wendover. The bathrooms were not quite as nice and spirits were not quite as high. We conversed a bit less and played music a bit more. Aaron continued to crave the stacking cups and Isaac began to really study the pictures in The Seven Silly Eaters (really, I've never seen him look at a book so intently). I don't remember quite when we made it to Salt Lake to reunite Janci with her husband and send them on to Provo. Nor do I remember when I pulled into our driveway to be greeted by the open arms of my own dear husband. However, I do remember how glad I was to have made the trip and how overjoyed I was to be back home.