OUR FIRST FAMILY TRIP

California June, 2017

Last year looked a lot different come June. Summer held the biggest change we would experience yet. Ramona was only a handful of weeks away, and we were scrambling to find furnishings for the nursery. Not to mention, attending our last few birthing classes just in time to really practice "The Color's of Peace," track, I still use to help me relax and fall asleep at night. I was slowly beginning to clean and organize each space in the house because the nesting phase had it. Each night I would fall asleep wondering if tomorrow would be the day I would meet our baby.

This year come June, we were scrambling to finish a poorly planned itinerary before our first trip as a family to California. As well as attend those end of the year school meetings where everyone just day dreams about summer vacation, and wonders why we are still at school. But before we knew it, I was packing my favorite beach outfits, and almost every item from Ramona's wardrobe (I've been know to over pack...). Michael managed to make everything fit in the car, and off we went. Because although driving with an almost one year old for that long didn't seem like the best idea, it also didn't seem like the worst either. I only regretted our decision momentarily as she screamed from the back seat about 2 hours past her bed time. She finally fell asleep holding my hand, and only a short while later I was able to let go and regain feeling in my arm once again.

We made our first stop in St. George to visit cousins, sleep, eat sweet and savory crepes in the morning, wander through a couple thrift shops, and ultimately give Ramona a break from the car. In the evening we began the longer stretch to California. I played D.J./live audible, while Michael proved his manliness by staying awake the entire way there. I couldn't even keep one eye open the last hour (trust me, I tried). We arrived around 2 in the morning, and as you can imagine, our main priority was sleep. We rolled our luggage into my cousins guest room, and the first thing I noticed was a beautiful king bed, with an amazing quilt and half a dozen pillows to fall into. A pack n' play was in the corner just waiting for a sleeping babe. We laid Ramona down, quickly brushed our teeth, and proceeded to have some of the best sleep we'd had in a long time.

In the morning I woke happy, knowing the beach was only a 15 minute drive from our home for the week and, because I knew I would be spending the week with my cousin Ashley, her babies Clark and Penny, and her husband Timmy. Can I just mention their mega couch? It might have been the highlight of our entire vacation. This couch was MASSIVE, and it was like sitting on a cloud (we possibly might have ordered ourselves a mini mega couch when we got home). After catching up on everything when they got home from church (we were naughty and slept in) we ate crepes again at Timmy's parents, and conversed with some of the nicest people I've met. We made connections with their family, that always makes the world seem a bit smaller.

Close to sunset we headed for the beach. I told Michael he had to look extra nice, because I was going to try to convince Ashley to snag some family pictures of us. She is sweet, so of course she agreed. After the pictures, we just played and rock hounded. I was so happy to finally be back by the ocean, and right before we packed up our blankets and rocks, we saw a few dolphins. It felt like a birthday wish come true.

The rest of the week flew by, as it does when you are on vacation. We visited the zoo and a family farm. Scored some amazing deals at the outlets (see photos below for Ramona and Penny's matching swimsuits and swim caps). Tried new food, and had many more beach days. Ramona caught a cold that led to a few sleepless nights, and an urgent care visit to rule out any infections. So we also just took it easy for a day, ate PB&J's and watched Trolls for the first time.

By the end, we definitely were not ready to go. We said our goodbyes to everyone, including the mega couch and king size bed, we feared we might miss the most. We made one last stop for an Acai  bowl and Orange Julius, before braving another long drive back to St. George. This time went a little smoother, probably because Ramona was on Benadryl for that cold. By the time we reached St. George I had fallen asleep too, and Michael again managed to get us there safely no thanks to me. Michael was especially excited the next morning to see his nieces because he picked out gifts for them while we were in California. You can never go wrong with Elsa and Cinderella gear from the Disney store, and the looks on their faces said it all.  Another sad goodbye, and we were back on the road.

Ramona slept while we tried to figure out where we were going to eat lunch. The longer she slept, the farther away we got from real towns, with real food other than McDonald's and Wendy's. We managed to make it to Beaver, "home of the world's best water", when she finally woke up. We decided on Arshels Cafe, and happy that we did. It tasted like Grandma's home made cooking. We left empty plates with zero remnants of the hamburgers, fries, peach cobbler and chocolate peanut butter pie that once sat upon them. I won't lie, I've considered making the drive from Lehi, just to eat there again.

We walked through our front door that evening, happy to be home again, but sad we weren't still on vacation. An all too familiar feeling that seems to come at the close of any trip. All we have now are photos to remember all the memories we made as a family during that short week.