Despite being gone for 5 nights we really didn’t take all that many photos during our trip, so I’ve got a jumble of photos from both of our phones and cameras and pictures were taken by both Josh and I and a couple of other random people.  Off we go!

The trip got off to an interesting start.  We left the house surprisingly on time and were all happily on our way when about halfway there Enzo started making whimpering sounds, so I turned around and asked if he was okay only to have him say that his tummy hurt.  Just as I was about to ask him something else, he vomited. Quite a bit.  Of course I had just cleaned out the car and had absolutely nothing on hand to help him out and we now had to find a gas station as fast as possible to clean him up.  I had a few wipes, but that wasn’t going to do it.  I also only had a short sleeve shirt as backup for him because we were headed to California and usually I don’t have to worry about backup clothes for him.  Did I also mention that he had thrown up on the only hoodie/jacket we had brought with us? Also, the gas station we stopped at?  No paper towels in the bathroom.  We finally got him cleaned up as much as possible and changed (I gave him my hoodie) and did our best to clean up his car seat with Subway napkins.  He seemed okay, so off we went.

About 5-10 minutes later, he started crying again.  I turned around and in a panic looked for anything that he could throw up in… I grabbed his winter hat.  It might have worked had he not tried to block his mouth with his hand and had he not projectile vomited everywhere.  I really started to panic now.  Was he sick?  Were we going to miss our flight? If he was sick were we going to be awful parents and make him get on a plane?  We stopped again and this time I had to get into the luggage in the trunk.  We did the best we could to yet again clean everything up and continued on our way once Enzo happily got back in the car. He no longer looked pasty and seemed to be in good spirits. We got to the airport, got to cut in line at security, made it in time to use the bathroom and then hopped on our flight. (This may be my wordiest post yet!)

The kids really did great on the flight.  Enzo looked out the window now and then, but really just though it was awesome to watch a movie on his little DVD player with his own headphones.  Also, they thought the beverage service and pretzels and cookies were kind of fabulous. I brought plenty of snacks and activities to keep them busy, but even though Phoebe was bored she wasn’t fussy – just squirmy, and then about halfway through the flight she settled down for a nap.

My mom and step-dad met us at the airport and then it was a matter of getting our rental minivan, getting the kids (and adults food) and then getting settled in our rental condo, which was within walking distance of the grandparents’ condo. 😉  We stayed close to home the day we arrived and the next day as well.  Did some driving/exploring and picked up some necessities for the kiddos.  The weather was amazing!  Beyond amazing!

Enzo really wanted to be adventurous and keep walking, but was still pretty nervous about how high up we were and felt more comfortable being held. I was a tad nervous as well… heights are not my favorite. Ha ha.

Phoebe was asleep in the car, so our family portrait is incomplete. You know what they say, though… never wake a sleeping baby.

She did wake up in time to go see some sea lions, and more importantly (to her) lots of pelicans and seagulls.

Short sleeves in February?  Yeah, that might be enough to make me move. Part 2 next week!  We went whale watching and we pretty much confirmed that Enzo is a Highly Sensitive Child. That is a whole different post, though.