Spontaneous January Weekend

I doubt that "spontaneous" is a word anyone would use to describe me.  But Brandon had a 3-day weekend in January, and on Thursday on his way home from work he called and asked if I wanted to pack up and take the kids to California the next day.  I always get on his case that we never do fun things on 3-day weekends, so I was happy to jump at the opportunity.  I called my Uncle, who lives in San Diego and asked if we could stay at his house.  He was out of town, but said that we could stay there anyway - so awesome!

That Thursday night before leaving, I had to go to a baby shower and work a few hours before I even started packing or putting our stuff together (laundry, huge messes, yikes!).  Then Friday morning, I had to finish up work (so I wouldn't have to do any over the weekend), and volunteer in Rachel's class.  Work made it nearly impossible for me to get out the door with such short notice, but Brandon came home after working a half day on Friday and helped me get things packed up.

I am not going to lie, it was so hard to get away with less than a day's notice.  I am too high-strung and a total control freak.  I was stressed that we didn't have the whole thing planned out with a schedule, coupons/discounts, etc.  But once we got there, I cooled off a bit and really enjoyed myself.

On Saturday we took the kids to Legoland and had a fun-filled day.  Andrew met most of the height requirements, but most of the big rides required an adult to ride with the child, and we had Kendall with us, so it was a bit tricky.  Andrew didn't mind going on the kiddie rides with Kendall and I because he hates roller coasters.  But he still reminds me about when we went to Legoland and "Mom, where is Legoland? Let's go again!"  Rachel loved riding the big rides with daddy and meeting new friends in the lines. We met one little 6 year old boy while waiting for a 3D movie.  The kids wanted to sit by each other, so we all sat in the same area.  Not 3 minutes into the show and Rachel and her new friend were holding hands.  We are working on high fives instead of holding hands.  Our outgoing, friendly & affectionate Rachel is going to keep us on our toes that is for sure!

On Sunday, we visited the San Diego Temple / Castle and headed over to the Mormon Battalion Historic Site - which was outstanding and super fun for the kids.  Then we went to Moonlight Beach in Encinitas and VG's donuts (both fantastic recommendations from Lorraine), and it was seriously the.best.day.ever.  We are a beach family.  I played with my camera, and could have taken a bajillion more pictures, and enjoyed just sitting and watched the kids play.  Kendall was enjoying eating the sand and just being left alone to play.  Andrew was rolling around in the sand (seriously covered) and chasing birds.  Rachel was finding all sorts of collections, and she was the only one brave enough to play in the water with dad.

Real Life Moments

1.  Facebook status from Brandon this last weekend:
"As I was driving down the freeway today with the kids, Rachel calmly says "Dad, there's a cat in the car." As I turn my head around to see what she is talking about (because there couldn't possibly be a real cat in our car) an adult black cat jumps on the front seat. I nearly pooped my pants. Rachel begged me to keep it, but, fortunately it ran away when we opened the door. I am still a little spooked and will be checking for cats for the next several weeks."  Funny, and also true.  The cat must have snuck in our garage and then found a comfy spot in the car since we often leave the side doors open.  Brandon continued to Home Depot, snuck the kids out of the car leaving the cat inside the car and quickly got what he needed, then snuck all 3 kids back in the car and returned home before letting the cat out.  

2.  I may be the last person to get a smartphone, but I just upgraded and got my very first smartphone - iPhone 5c.  I was always too cheap to pay for the data, but they gave me a deal that I couldn't refuse!

3.  Gilbert temple open house - we got the "picture" to prove we were there, but the behind the scenes was a complete disaster.  Brandon and I were meeting there after work and I got my panties in a twist about a number of things, so I was grumpy.  Then feeding the three kids took longer than I wanted and so we were late (which I know drives Brandon crazy).  When we finally arrived after just eating dinner, Andrew kept complaining how hungry he was while we were standing in line.  When it was time to tour the temple, Andrew threw the largest fit about having to wearing the booties on his shoes and outright refused to wear them, so Brandon carried him (all 43 pounds of him up 3 large flights of stairs have you).  I certainly couldn't complain about carrying Kendall, although my back was killing so I can only imagine Brandon's was too.  The temple was GORGEOUS - breathtakingly beautiful, but the tour couldn't end fast enough in my mind.  It was not the picture perfect moment for our family, but that's ok!

4.  Took Rachel and Andrew to the dentist, and out of the blue, Andrew threw the largest fit and made quite a scene.  Last time, he didn't make a peep (he's in this horrible tantrum throwing phase right now).  Then I found out that Rachel needs a lot of work done on her baby teeth and unfortunately, I did not add her to our dental insurance this year.  Ouch!  I had a good cry because it was my mistake (perhaps it's that time of the month too), and shortly thereafter (still blotchy, red faced and red-eyed), the door knocked and Rachel ran to answer letting whoever was on the other side know that we were indeed home.  I looked through the peep hole and it was the missionaries, so I reluctantly answered thinking they might need something.  Apparently, they felt inspired to stop at our home and bear their testimonies.  I haven't ever spoken to this set of missionaries and they haven't been to our home before, so I can't know if they knew who's door they were knocking on.  Nothing they said stood out in particular, but I think it was Heavenly Father's way to extend an assurance to me that it would be ok and that He was aware of me.  Thanks to the Elders for stopping by and for asking me if I was experiencing allergies.  Why, yes, I guess I am.  

5.  Hard to explain this one, but basically there's one older lady in my ward who approached me about a local matter when we first moved in and we had differing opinions on the matter.  She made me feel terrible for having the opinion I did and was belittling me, so I let her know how she was making me feel - she immediately backed off, we both apologized, and it was the beginning of a very awkward relationship.  :(  I hated to start that way, but I was careful to not say anything negative about her to anyone and hoped that she would do the same and we could just move forward.  I did however say to Brandon when I got my Visiting Teaching assignments that I was grateful that this lady wasn't on my route.  When will I learn to never say these types of things out loud?  I just got reassigned to be her visiting teacher starting this month - I sincerely hope it goes ok!

Gilbert Temple - about 25 minutes away from us