The Long Stretch Home

We headed out early Sunday morning in hopes to make it home by a decent hour. I think even Weston was ready to head home for some regular sleep time, along with his own bed. I couldn't pass up stopping off at the Cabazon Outlets which were right off the freeway. They aren't exactly as good as San Antonio. I have yet to find a fabulous outlet that included Pottery Barn like the one in Texas, but it did have a True Religion store.

I scored a great deal on some jeans. I have no idea why in the world their mascot is a budda man. Does anyone? Weird if you ask me. My boys got a pair of Sketchers and we were on our way home. Luke was the only one willing to pose. At this point of the trip, I'll take what I can get.

Our ride home took us past the lovely fans and across the desert along interstate 10. Knowing our kids wouldn't last an entire 4 hours without food we opted to stop in Blythe. Not my most favorite neck of the woods, but I will be forever grateful for that Carls Junior pitstop.

Cheese for cheeseburgers!

We quickly scarfed our food down, walked back to the car not only to find our van tire completely flat. It's actually interesting that we never even noticed it to be low. I was so thankful that we didn't have a blow out on the freeway. You always here about people getting killed trying to change a tire along the highway. Which, after surveying the rest of my tires could have TOTALLY happened. It appeared after inspecting them three were completely balled! Secondly, what a blessing that Doug was with us. I can only imagine how scary it would have been if this had happened to me driving out alone with the kids. Scary!

We pulled into an empty lot right next door and were on the road in about 30 minutes. As Doug was changing the tire I remembered this was one of the things Jared needed to pass off for cubscouts. What a perfect opportunity. You have to make the best of the situation eh?

Jared and Doug changed the tire. The only bummer part was we were still about 140 miles away from home and couldn't drive any faster than 60 miles per hour because of the spare tire on the car. As I was documenting the moment my boys yelled, hey take our picture. I couldn't resist. The best part is the background. It almost looks like we are in Mexico. Nothing like ending the trip with a bang!

my cute little boys

Pacific Coast Highway

Kids with Uncle Craig

We headed two hours north Thursday to visit my aunt and uncle who live in Westlake Village. They graciously let us crash at their place which was a HUGE sacrifice in my book. They were no way used to the noise that 3 boys bring into a house (they only have one 10 year old boy) My uncle Craig never fails to drive us and show us around. He knows LA in and out since he travels a lot for his job as a photographer (for Disney/ABC studios). We met up for lunch with him in Burbank on Friday before Doug's flight arrived at California Pizza Kitchen.

Surprisingly, we really didn't have a lot of fighting on the trip with my boys. It's always a joy to see them having fun and laughing together. Good times.

We picked Doug up around 1:30pm and it was nice to be as a family unit again. We didn't really have any big plans, but my kids were begging to go to the beach. So, the beach it was! We headed south on the 405 and over to Santa Monica. I haven't ever been to the pier so it was interesting to see it in person, after seeing it in several movies (Forrest Gump and Sleeping with the Enemy to name some).

It was a pretty sunny day, but once we hit the beach we had gloomy skies, but that didn't seem to stop my kids from wanting to swim. I cringed at the thought of it.

Towels in tow and eager to jump in my kids headed on down to the water. I on the other hand, was perfectly content in my jacket and jeans. It was FREEZING!

As you can see there were a few other people on the beach as well. I can only imagine during the summer how crowded it must get on the pier. This particular beach is where they hold several sand volleyball tournaments as well.

Doug and I sat enjoying the cool breeze on the sand as our crazy children submerged their ENTIRE bodies in the ocean.

Oh, to be a kid and carefree!

As for me, I could have sat and took photos all day. Oh, to have a long lens.......... I also learned a few facts. Did you know this is where Billy Blanks used to hold his classes?

I immediately recognized this chesspark from Forrest Gump. Remember when he ran all the way across the U.S. and stop to play this game?

After about an hour the coldness set in and my kids were ready to bundle up in their jackets and sit in a warm car. I thought it would be fun to take Hwy 1 on the way back through Malibu Canyon.

Pacific Coast Highway

It was gorgeous driving along the beach, unfortunately the road back up towards my aunt and uncles was a little to narrow and windy for my liking. It's a good thing I was driving, or I would have been so sick!

Being on vacation food is often the topic of discussion. I have decided if you take your kids on a trip their decision ALWAYS wins what you want. Doug and I broke down and took the kids to Chili's, not my most favorite place, but they were happy. And happy kids make happy parents. Right?

B b b b...... What Begins With B?

Just a little sleepy.....
Jenny, Chanel and Melissa

Biking Bombshells

Chanel has been talking about how much she now enjoys bike riding I decided that I too must try it out. Her friend Melissa was kind enough to let me borrow her hubby's bike. We headed out at 5:30am for what I would call pretty tough ride. Unlike Arizona, California is filled with hills. Biking is a whole other ball of wax when it comes to being in shape. My 4 times a week running didn't even compared to the cardio a bike gives you. They took me on a shorter version of their ride up by the Redlands temple.

We decided to brave downtown with the kids and headed out to LA's fashion district. I had heard several things about it, but never comprehended how large it was until driving through it. You could literally spend a week down there, walking through a section each day. Thank goodness Chanel knew where she was going because I would have been lost for sure. I was on the hunt for designer jeans, so we stuck with the fashion district.

Taylor found several bracelets and earring for .99 and some lovely bug, I mean fake glasses. It wasn't long after a few places that my boys had to use the restroom. I have been in some really disgusting places, but I am afraid this surpassed even the French Quarter as far as smell and nastiness goes.

Bathrooms

Luckily the bathrooms happened to be upstairs from a store we were in. Notice how clean the stairwell was? (Be thankful I can't add in the smell for the full effect) Yuck. It was also challenging trying to deter my boys away from touching everything in site.

We arrived to the top to find out that we had to pay to use the facilities. I honestly thought it was a joke, but after the non-speaking lady asked me for my money I knew it was for real. You would also think that having to pay to use a bathroom it would be clean and fresh. Um, no. The best part was the woman running it (probably was not very clean) used her bare hands to hand you a wad of toliet paper and a seat cover.

Boys

Needless to say, my children got quite the experience in downtown LA. Chanel and I would have ventured around more if my kids weren't in tow. After a while, it just got to stressful getting my boys to stay close to me and well, not to touch EVERYTHING.

Notice Weston touching.....

But, hey they did learn how to jump in nasty stale water and pole dance. Not to mention experience a little taste of Mexico. It doesn't get better then that.

Boys swinging around that ever so clean pole

It was relieving to get back into the car after walking around in seriously hot weather. I couldn't believe how warm it was. The kids were hungry so we opted to stop and get lunch.

Burritos

My kids have turned into anti-Mexican eaters. It seems everytime I suggest somewhere they protest against Mexican. There happened to be a Subway next door to Chipotles, which made everyone happy.

The wild gang

Babes (seven to be exact)

Jared, Ruby, Luke, Haley, Taylor, Lucy and Weston

I was pretty impressed that Chanel had a dinner plan each night we stayed. (I'm not sure I would have been that good of a host). I will say it was so nice to have the kids eat a decent meal rather than eating junk our entire trip.

Along with dinner there was always a plan for dessert. Chanel is a much, much more fun mom than I am, not to mention incredibly creative. Never in my wildest dreams would I have thought to have roasted marshmallows in a garage. My kids absolutely loved it!

Buddies

Haley and Taylor getting their vitamin C

It's so weird to think little Haley was just 12 months old when we met her. These two little girls used to pal around together and definitely had a love/hate relationship. I still remember Haley informing me when Taylor would break a rule. The best part about visiting old friends is things always pick up where they left off. Much thanks Eric and Chanel for letting us crash at your pad! It was fun to see you guys and we hope to see you at Thanksgiving!!

No Plans, Just Drive!

My kids started their fall break on Friday which had me itching to leave the heat in Arizona. Originally we had no plans to go anywhere, until I decided on a whim to pack the car and kids and head over to California. How could you pass up a 4 hour drive to visit friends and family??

Knowing that Doug had to work I decided to head over and visit our long lost neighbors, the Palmers. She was a saint to taking us in since I only gave her a 24 hour notice that we would be crashing at their house. The trip is pretty UGLY, much like West Texas, but once you get close to Palm Springs, the mountains are so pretty! This area of the drive marks that we are only about 30 minutes from Redlands. I am always amazed at all of the power fans on teh hillside.

I haven't seen Chanel in a few years, so it's fun to be able to physically have a conversation in person rather than over the phone or the internet. We pulled in right as her girls got home from school. Due to the odd warm temperatures they were able to pull off going swimming. It may have been hot outside, but the pool was freezing in my book.

It was comical to me to see how much stuff we had for such a small pool. I think with my kids and Chanel's combined we pretty much filled it up.

It didn't take the kids long to settling in and playing just like old times. Weston was a little timid at first and then he met, Opal. He discovered that they had a dog just his size. He lugged that poor little dog around like a rag doll. He was seriously in dog heaven.

Weston and Opal