I was VERY nervous to fly to California by myself without Tommy with the two boys. But, of course, they did fine. I have learned again and again how important having low expectations is. Sure, if you worry about how bad things are going to go, you end up being stressed unnecessarily beforehand, but then things can never actually be as bad as you imagine them--and more importantly, no matter how bad it gets, you always get through it eventually. I always imagine that my boys are going to scream nonstop the whole time I'm flying, and always get super nervous about it, so then when they only cry a little bit and end up requiring just a normal amount of work and supervision, I'm always pleasantly surprised by how it went.
It was worth the hassle to get there by myself though! We did SO much stuff while we were there. I felt bad because I kept forgetting to call and Skype with Tommy, because we were on the go the whole time. We did almost all of the important California things--Disneyland, beach, Yogurtland, had lunch with Papa by his work, the sand park (as Dane calls the park near my parents' house, which has sand and which he LOVES). Dane also got to go to the kids' museum near my parents' house, which he's talked about since he went last summer (but I don't have any pictures since my dad took him).
And on top of all that, I helped my mom clean out a bunch of closets and get rid of a whole carload of stuff for DI (to help get ready for moving), and cut out/laid out all of the squares for Bethany's quilt she's taking to college with her. It was all so fun--even the organizing, because I LOVE getting rid of junk! Dane and Graham were so happy to be there. The only problem with going there is that they wake up at 4:30 for about five days before they adjust to the time zone, by which point we're about to go home. I came prepared for that though, and brought the jogging stroller so I could take them running when we were all awake two hours before anyone else. It worked out fine (even though by day 5 I was super grumpy with them after being woken up at 4:45 again). And then by the time they were adjusted it was time to go home again!
Graham wore his airplane shirt for the airplane flight.
For some reason nobody wanted to sit with us on our row. We got our own row both ways. I'm starting to really like Southwest because of that. Graham liked being able to crawl wherever he wanted with an extra seat.
My parents' next-door-neighbor started this super loud backyard project with crazy jackhammering for the whole time we were there. I was so grateful for the sound machines, once again. Dane was enthralled watching the workers, though.
We went to meet my dad for lunch, and Dane insisted he wanted Chick-Fil-A. So we drove over to Fashion Island and got to walk around the mall and eat lunch there. It was really pretty and fun.
So happy to have Chick-Fil-A.
We even got some fancy cookies, and Dane's had an animal cookie on top of it!
Looking at the koi pond at Fashion Island.
Dane has become totally brand-conscious. He will always tell me wherever he sees a swoosh on people's clothes. It's so funny.
CUTE baby boy. Just walking around Fashion Island with a big smile on his face.
Bethany came with us to the sand park a few times. She's an awesome aunt.
Graham and I were matching with our black shirts and gray jeans.
Dane and I went and met Kiley and Jaxon and Kaison at the beach. Since we won't be coming to California for the next few years, we're not sure when we will overlap with them in Utah and when we will see them next! I was hoping Dane would have fun playing with his two cousins while we were there... But the three boys all completely ignored each other, haha. They all had a lot of fun on their own, though. And Kiley and I had a good time talking, so it was worth it anyways!
Dane loved running in the water.
There was a big hole that Dane called his "home" and liked crawling in and out of.
Sad that we won't be coming back to the beach for a while after this summer!
Gotta get Yogurtland when you're in Irvine!
Graham was a big fan.
And so was Dane.
I got to be there to see Cole performing in the talent show at NHS. He played a song from Phantom of the Opera and his friend Joy sang. It was awesome that I got to hear him!
And the next day was Cole's 15th birthday!
Dane picked out some really awesome presents for him at Big Lots.
I was happy we could be there over Cole's birthday. He is the best youngest brother anyone could ask for. And he is such a good sport with everything going on in his life right now.
Graham LOVED LOVED LOVED Murphy. He started saying "dog" while we were there. HIS FIRST WORD! I feel like I'm making it up, but everyone agreed--every time he saw the dog he would say, "Da, da, da, da." It seemed different from his normal dadada chattering. And if I would ask him, "Where's the doggie?" he would look around for Murphy and smile. He would be super upset or crying about something and then he'd see the dog and smile and be totally happy again. It's almost enough to make me want to get a dog. Almost. But definitely not enough.
Bethany and Dane matched for church.
I should have taken some before pictures of the closets I did, but let me just say they were overflowing and look WAY better now. Almost everything was put into bins in the garage or tossed out.
Bethany's quilt. I wish I could have done more with it, but we at least got it started.
Saying good-bye to Papa at 5:40 in the morning before our flight.
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