CA or bust

Husband had a work trip to CA and since he was driving, we tagged along to keep him company in his free time.

We left Saturday late afternoon, giving ourselves a few days to play before Husband would have to work.  We stopped halfway to for some dinner and found a park for our kids to run off some energy.  The park was a great find and we played for over an hour, trying to wear the kids out before piling them back into the car.  We stopped in Vegas for the night and carried our sleeping babies into the hotel where they promptly woke up and hit a second wind of energy as they explored and bounced around the room. (bytheway, highly recommend the Tropicana Hampton Inn).  The huge bed was flanked by the "cot" (I would have just called it a portable twin bed) and a couch which the girls quickly claimed and laid out their new sleeping bags.  We settled Lovely into the crib they had provided and then listened to her play for two hours!  Even with the room dark and quiet, she stood standing in her crib, cheerfully calling "hi!", encouraging us to come play with her.  I assume she fell asleep at some point but can't say for sure because I beat her to it.

The next morning, the girls happily flipped on the tv for some Disney Junior.  This might be their favorite part of staying in a hotel.  They beg for Mickey, Jake the Pirate and Doc McStuffins.  But soon we herded them downstairs to help ourselves to the breakfast buffet and eventually made our way to the Strip.  We had decided that playing tourist on the Strip would be a little safer and less full of naked drunkenness in the morning, rather than at night.  So made our way over to Excalibur and wandered around the castle, posing with knights in shining armor and marveling over the turrets.  We walked to the M&M store and were dismayed to learn that the highly recommended 3D movie wouldn't start showing for another two hours.  (Apparently Vegas likes to sleep in.  But they forgot to tell my children.)  But we wandered around the merchandise, picked out some M&Ms and got to meet Yellow   before wandered back to Excalibur   (Lovely has a serious sweet tooth and is particularly fond of M&Ms.  She didn't seem overly impressed by the store itself but happily devoured her share of chocolate candies.)  At Excalibur, we entered the Dungeon (which had been closed until 10 am).  It was a huge arcade and our girls were thrilled with all the lights and sounds and activities.  $5 of token bought us an hour of fun (plus two plastic rings that they each earned with their tickets) before we headed upstairs for lunch.

We hurried back to our hotel before check out time but managed to get an hour extension so we could go swimming before we left.  Butterfly showed off her "under water" bravery, Ladybug fearlessly jumped in from the side over and over and Lovely played on the steps, climbing in and out of the water.  But soon we were back on the road and headed for California.  I was especially happy we had taken the time to go swimming as it turned out to be too cold for the beach or for our hotel's unheated pool.

We arrived at our hotel in Anaheim  one of the three Ramadas lining the road, blocks away from Disneyland and the Anaheim Convention Center.  But we had decided to skip Disneyland in favor of saving for a trip to DisneyWorld this fall instead (to see my kid sister!)  But it was fun to be close to so much excitement and chat with other families coming and going from their adventures.  Sunday night was simple: we arrived, checked into the hotel, unpacked, got some dinner at Captain Kidd's buffet (it was good for the kids but not particularly impressive) and hung out in our hotel until bedtime.

Monday morning started off with more Disney Junior and the best hotel waffles ever (the batter might have been half waffle/half cake batter, it was so light and soft and sweet).  Then we set out for Knott's Berry Farm.  This was a favorite place of my childhood memories and the day did not disappoint.  Not as large as Disneyland, it's much more manageable in one day, feeling less rushed and pressured to "do it all".  When we first entered the main gate, we were greeted by Snoopy himself and the girls ran for hugs and pictures.  I had started showing the Snoopy and Charlie Brown cartoons on YouTube a few weeks prior so they would know him and they were ecstatic.  Then we quickly headed onto the rides.  Our first ride was a rollar coaster.  Daddy took the two big girls while Lovely and I waited for them.  Butterfly loved it, but Ladybug was immediately sick and thus began the pattern for the day.  She would be excited, happily echoing her sister's pleas for a ride.  She would bounce around through the short line (the longest we we ever waited was 15 minutes) but as soon as the motion began, her face would pale and she would immediately cry that her tummy hurt.  Maybe it was just a bad day but perhaps her body disagrees with the movement.  We will try again in the future.  For now, we filled our day with adventures.  We rode the train and found many attractions that were specifically geared towards children as young as ours.  We watched the fantastic (and hilarious  cowboy stunt show, wandered the ghost town, met the blacksmith and the schoolteacher, watched the Lucy and Friends character show and more.  Lovely took it all in with big eyes.  She was mostly content to sit in the stroller and watch but begged to escape and run occasionally.  The girls favorite was the carousel.  The least favorite was the mine ride (probably because the dark caves and jerking movement).  We skipped over all the big roller coasters and water rides, planning to do those when we return several years from now when the girls are older.  We managed two more run-ins with Snoopy and did a little souvenir shopping on our way out.  The girls picked giant suckers and Daddy and I picked out a magnet for our growing collection.

We left Knott's around 5 and drove further into LA, to El Segundo, where Husband had a business dinner to attend.  But since that's also where I went to high school, I had invited a friend to meet us for dinner.  We met at a restaurant next door to Husband's dinner, called Island's.  It was a favorite hangout in high school and we often went their after dances, concert, football games or whatever other events. (But having my three kids there was certainly new!)  The girls were actually rather well behaved and eager to charm our guest.  It was SO good to see her and we had a great time talking.  Eventually the kids grew too noisy and restless and we had to leave to meet Husband but I'm so glad I got to see her again.  We picked up Daddy and drove to the airport where Grandma was flying in for a few days to play with us.  (more accurately, to help me with the kids while Husband would be at work all day.)  The girls crashed rather quickly that night and I have to admit I did too.  In fact, I fell asleep on the floor cuddling Lovely on her makeshift bed.

Tuesday morning (after more cartoons and waffles) was spent in Long Beach.  Originally Husband was planning to attend a conference at the Anaheim Convention center but ended up finding the Long Beach one to be a better use of his time.  So we drove in, dropped him off and then spent the morning at the Long Beach Aquarium   I was especially grateful Grandma could come because the girls were excited, running in every direction and could have easily gotten lost in the sea of field trip attending children.  We saw animals of all kinds, managed to catch a few of the shows and the kids particularly loved the Storyteller's Theater, where they could to help act out the stories with their fish puppets.  I think the favorite sights of the day were the penguins and jellyfish.  The only real disappointment was the 4D Turtle Vision movie that we saw at the end of our excursion.  I thought it was rather stupid and unimpressive but I think the girls liked it.

So next we headed across the street to Bubba Gump's Shrimp for lunch.  Butterfly is especially fond of shrimp so she was particularly excited about our little feast.  From there, we drove back to El Segundo to do some shopping at the Mattel Factory Store (I had hoped we could go in for toy testing as I did as a child but they were only doing boys toys that week).  We wandered around the great toy store for some shopping and then continued on for a few general errands, things for an upcoming birthday party and a stop at Ross (always a favorite).  Soon we were hurrying back to pick up Husband and plan our evening.  Hungry and getting tired, we ended up going to the Long Beach Pier (which I actually hadn't previously known existed).  We had dinner at a little pizza shop and then stopped in at the ice cream parlor for dessert.  Our last stop was the arcade.  It was a little run down but again, $5 bought the girls an hour of fun and we got to ride a carousel once again (always a favorite).

Wednesday was an unexpected surprise.  Husband had been invited to meet with a company in San Diego.  So we packed up for the day, drove down there and Husband dropped us off at the San Diego Zoo.  It's HUGE.  The vast area is filled with animals of every kind, housed in beautifully design habitats and full of fun adventures and experiences for kinds.  We had a blast!  but quickly got worn out.  In fact, we had seen less than half the zoo when we stopped for lunch.  This revived us (we get cranky when we're hungry) and we continued onto the pandas (always a favorite) and more.  But soon, the girls had lost all interest in the exhibits and were deeply involved in a pretend tea party instead.  Rather than continuing to drag on, we headed for the playground at the front of the park and let them run.  I was grateful for this children's area because as large and impressive as the San Diego Zoo is, I ended up concluded it is better suited for teenagers and adults, simply because of it's large size.  The kids played and soon Daddy arrived to join us.  We wandered through the petting zoo (Lovely befriended a little black goat) and then continued onto the reptiles (Butterfly wanted to see alligators).  The girls also particularly loved the flamingos and elephants, my favorite was the Big Cats Trail with the panthers and tigers.  We wandered through the rest of the part, catching the main sights and moving on with our tired brood.  Soon we piled into the car, drove home, stopping at a Chili's Restaurant for dinner.

Husband dropped Grandma off at the airport for an early flight home and then headed back to Long Beach for another meeting (after getting a flat tire repaired).  So it was just me and the girls for a few hours Thursday morning.  We slept in, ate doughnuts in our hotel room and watched cartoons while I packed our things.  Having had our fill of cartoons, we left the hotel and walked a few blocks to McDonalds where we ate lunch in the newly arrived sunshine (we had gray skies since Vegas).  We were hoping for a playplace but instead found a small grass lawn that was completely fenced in.  So the girls ran and played and danced.  It felt so good to be outside so we simply stayed there, playing until Daddy arrived to pick us up.

We checked out of our hotel and began the long trek home.  Again we stopped halfway to play briefly. The girls ran to get their wiggled out but other than that, we drove, pacifying them with books and toys and movies.  We arrived home around 2:30 am, tucked our sleeping girls into their beds, happy and content to be home again.