Timo and Cameron's school has a two week break between the summer session and fall session so it's like we get two summer vacations. We began our "second summer vacation" the day after Six Flags by loading up and road-tripping down to San Diego! Young was tied up with a mountain of work and we knew he would be working the whole week and not able to spend much time with us, but I wanted to take the kids some place warm and enjoy what was left of summer. We had some friends that were going to be in SD that same week and one of by best friends, Mindy, who lives in SD had just had her new baby, so it seemed like the perfect time to take a little road time to get out of the city. It was literally a last minute trip but the kids and I loaded up and made it happen. And while the trip was so much fun, it might be the last time I road trip that far with out Daddy. I learned a lot and have so much respect for single moms that have to do it all.
Driving a long drive like that helped me remember how much I love road trips and seeing all that God has created for us.
One thing I realized on the trip is how much longer everything takes without Daddy around. Gas/pit stops, hotel check ins, "accidents" with drinks require pulling over, I just can't reach back and clean while Young is driving and help navigating unknown roads and traffic. But the biggest loss was just having another brain to help make decisions. Sometimes I didn't know the best thing to do and wanted someone to bounce options off. But we made it and the kids had no idea I was struggling to keep it all together!
We drove to LA the first day and spent the night, breaking the drive up. Riding for 7 hours (normally about 5 hours but bad traffic all the way down) watching movies and playing video games really wore the kids out. I didn't want to rush the vacation so I let the kids sleep in...but again, I couldn't really do anything until they got up. If Young were with us he would have gone out and got us coffee and a little breakfast to bring back and enjoy while they slept...but I tried to make the most of my quiet morning time looking at these little blessings...
I've wanted to take Cameron to the La Brea Tar Pits for a while now and this was the perfect opportunity. I prepped the kids ahead of time that there were no dinosaur bones at the museum but that didn't take away from the excitement level and how cool everything was!
One of the excavation sites outside and the kids trying to lift the poles out of tar. Makes you realize how all these animals got trapped and couldn't get out.
There were lots of educators walking around with hands on exhibits to see and touch and Cameron was enthralled in the paleontology laboratory. Oh, how she wanted to go inside and get her hands on all that equipment and bones!
We finished up out tour, realizing we went backwards through the whole thing, ops, but it was fun to finish up with the largest beasts and the walk outside to bring all the information together. We didn't stay by the pits long...it smelled so strong!
Before heading down to San Diego I wanted to have lunch at one my favorite spots, Mozza. So yummy! Cameron showing off her walrus skills with the bread sticks. One last stop at La Brea Bakery for some treats and bread and we were off on our next leg of the trip, San Diego!
We arrived at the Bryant's house and settled in for our visit. Can you believe I didn't take any pictures??!! We were so caught up in visiting and the kids playing, it didn't really cross my mind. It was so great to see Mindy and Daryl, Josiah (4) and new baby Titan. Josiah and the twins got along great while Mindy and I gabbed and gabbed for hours....literally. Daryl somehow managed to put all the kids to bed while we kept talking and talking. Oh how much I have missed them!!
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