Spring Break 2012: SoCal

Let's see...

Oregon's Spring Break 2012 (last week of March) weather: Rainy.

Washington's Spring Break 2012 (first week of April) weather: Rainy.

SoCal weather while we were down for WA Spring Break 2012: SUNNY, mid-70s all week!! It was heaven!! So warm and sunny and such a nice break from the gray skies and rain. Just the kind of weather you want for Spring Break.

And now, here's a little look at our trip...

Thursday (3/29) night, about 10pm in WA: "Ok. Let's do it. Let's go to CA for Spring Break!" {Yes, we are crazy.}

Friday (3/30): Packed bags for Ethan and I, packed snack box, packed toy bag for Ethan, cleaned house, did laundry, ran errands, worked out and had Explorer checked out {time for new rear brake pads!} while Sean worked and then taught two piano lessons and packed his own suitcase.

Ethan all ready to go in the car - about 1/2 hour before we drove away. He was just a little excited. :)

Sean and I just before we left - Sean said he was photo-bombing the picture but I don't think it's that bad.

Left at about 9pm, made a bathroom pit-stop at 11pm in Springfield at my parents' house to say goodbye and continued driving through the night.Sunrise... I was asleep.

Saturday (3/31): Drove almost the entire length of the state of California and made it to Sean's parents' house at about 1pm. The extra 2 hours on the drive since we moved up north are killer! Sean's brother, Todd, and his family were also visiting for the weekend so we got to hang out with them - their oldest, Spencer, is not quite a year younger than Ethan and they are good buddies! We got there right around the 2nd Saturday session of conference starting and I'll admit, I had a hard time sitting still and listening after being in the car all that time. The boys, Ethan and Spencer, went right to work on their cousin bonding - playing outside, playing with toys inside, watching cartoons/movies and sharing snacks. That evening the men (Sean, his dad and brother) went to the Priesthood session of conference and then we had a late dinner.

Sunday (4/1): General conference. Spent all morning in our PJs, played games in the afternoon while the boys played outside and had a pot roast family dinner in the evening. I still had trouble paying attention to conference, so I'm looking forward to reading all the talks in the Ensign.

Monday (4/2): Sean went to his old high school, met with his former drama teacher and was a guest in a couple of her theater classes. He also got to tour their new auditorium. Meanwhile, Ethan and I stayed at the house - Ethan played with Spencer, I got a work-out in and more games were played in the evening.

Tuesday (4/3): Disneyland!! Just the three of us. Separate post to come later.

Wednesday (4/4): Nana and grandsons date to the movies! Lynnie took Ethan and Spencer to see the chipmunk movie while Sean and I went out to lunch with Marcelle. Poor Marcelle, we always make her go to In-N-Out with us so we can get our In-N-Out burger fix. She puts up with us, though! Later in the afternoon, Lynnie took Ethan out to Target for a little birthday shopping and Ethan ended up with a cool Finn McMissile (Cars 2) toy with pop-out weapons action and also an Optimus Prime Transformer toy with semi trailer (like in the 3rd movie). While they were gone we decorated the dining room and then after dinner celebrated Lynnie's and Ethan's birthdays (April 7th and 9th, respectively). And, believe it or not, the #5 candle was completely accurate for both birthdays... I won't say just how, though! ;)
Thursday (4/5): Got some pictures of Ethan playing outside on the rope swing in the warm CA sun... Pretty sure it was meant to be sat on, but Ethan was just short enough to swing from the bottom, tuck his legs up and not let his bum slide across the ground!


And then we took our dear, sweet time packing up our stuff, hanging out some more, playing games and then loading the car, taking a few quick cousins picture and leaving. We didn't get very far, though, before we decided to have just one more trip to In-N-Out for burgers and shakes. Apparently we weren't the only one with that clever idea on a Thursday night. Not sure if you can see it, but there was quite the line-up at the drive-thru. So rude... All those Cali people can have it anytime they want while us WA folks only get it once a year or so!

It was worth the wait, though. It filled us up and kept us fueled throughout the night on our long drive home.
Friday (4/6): Drove through CA, OR and finally home to WA. Ethan slept almost the entire way home - which, of course, meant he was pretty awake when we got home. Luckily, since he slept and didn't need any entertaining (i.e. portable DVD player or Leapster) we put in a movie and got a little nap. And then had to run errands, start laundry and pick my sister up from the airport for her surprise Easter visit. Separate post to come later.

And here's a closer look at the Ethan-and-Spencer-cousin-bonding...

Outside, in the treehouse and on the rope swing.

Outside, jumping on the trampoline.

Here's a hint on how NOT to get a picture of your child in mid-air while jumping on a trampoline: Pretty much just click the shutter exactly when you think you shouldn't. I got some great pictures of Spencer mid-jump!


And when I finally got Ethan mid-jump, I cut off his head in the picture!Anyway...

Bonding inside while watching Blue's Clues and sharing goldfish.

Such cute kids!! And good friends. {Well, for most of the day... about 4pm or 4:30pm every day they got a little tired of each other and would have to take a break! But within an hour they were best buds again.}

We had a great trip! It was so nice to see some of Sean's family, watch conference together, celebrate birthdays and spend time together! Thanks for having us (in all our last-minute-decision-making-glory!), Loren and Lynnie - as always, you were great hosts!