Tuesday, May 4, 2010

Travelogue

Ok- all you really need to know about Easter is that Asher was egg-cited to find eggs... until he spotted his easter basket with Woody and Buzz Lightyear inside. Those two are currently his favorite toys. He is sleeping with them right now. Maybe he will be more excited for hunting next year.

We went to Santa Barbara for a week. We came back on Sunday. It was crazy to see the city where I have lived the vast majority of my life in a different light. There were so many things that I didn't remember! I noticed how worn down things looked, how narrow the streets were, and how there are hills just about everywhere. I never realized any of that until I moved to a brand new, very flat part of Arizona.

We stayed with Dan's folks. They were wonderful hosts, and their guest bed is a dream to sleep on. Gwen slept in the closet and Asher slept in a port-a-crib in the sewing room. He didn't appear to mind his demotion in the bed department. Nor did he climb out and get into the needles, scissors, paper cutters, or other dangerous things that surrounded him on every side. Yay.

For those of you who hate long posts, sorry. I will give you bullet points and you can stop reading after that. Here goes:

Sunday: Church. Mills dinner.
Monday: Mountains. River. Birthday.
Tuesday: Zoo. Habit. Anna. Kahuna.
Wednesday: Shoreline. Forbidden sandwiches. Date. Party in my Stomach. Frostads.
Thursday: Train. D'Vine. Carousel. LATE Pizza.
Friday: Pacific Crepes. La Cumbre. Paseo Nuevo. Late Chinese.
Saturday: Simi. R&A Hixons. Prom Pictures. Murphys.
Sunday: Church. Homeward.

Sunday we went to church and saw a lot of people we haven't seen in about a year. It was great. After church we went to the Sunday feast at my parent's house. It did not disappoint. It was wonderful to be with family and the food was REALLY good.

Monday we went up the mountain to my sister's place in the wilderness. Lori is very pregnant, but she guided our little hike down to the river. Asher and William had some cousin time throwing rocks in the water. They got dirty. The Wren's abode is pretty awesome looking. My sister is really good at actively making her house look great on a budget. She should blog.
Mom Hixon made a delicious dinner for her husband's birthday and we got to partake.

Tuesday we went to the zoo with Dan's dad. We met Lori and William there. The kids LOVED it and Asher has not stopped talking about the animals. After our zoo outing we went to the Habit and had some delicious food. I didn't know I missed that tri-tip sandwich til I was eating it. We parted ways and I was pleased to find Moma H's book club just ending at the homestead. My friend Anna was there and I was SO happy I got to talk with her. She is awesome.
We finished our day with Ceasar salad at the Kahuna grill. We split a coconut shake and Asher stared at the fish.

Wednesday I went to the park play group with Lori & William. It was sunny but windy. Luckily Shoreline park is encircled by thick wooden posts which stopped a lot of the wind. It was fun to see some of the moms I used to see every week. Then Lori came over to the Hixon's where we fixed some forbidden sandwiches-- "forbidden" because the Swiss cheese and rye bread were only supposed to be used for Rubens and Mama H was pretty upset that we would use any of those components without making a Ruben, but we didn't want Rubens, could we please have some cheese? She finally caved and let us have the kind of sandwiches we wanted.
That night Dan and I went out on a date -without children- to the Palace Grill. We knew we wanted to eat there while we were back in SB. We split popcorn crawfish, etoufee, and a chocolate soufflé. Pure heaven. (Did I mention we went on a date without kids?!) Later we got together with our friends Jon and Karen Frostad. They brought homemade nutella ice cream. It was pretty dang good.

Thursday we went to the train station so that Asher could see a real live train come in. There is also an old train car on the lot, which he liked a lot. I think he also enjoyed the modern train, but he was just quietly taking it all in. That is his way sometimes. We then went to the carousel and Asher "rode a horse" against his will. His dad was standing right next to him, but he cried until the ride slowed down. (He was better behaved at Disneyland.) However, he still talks about it so he might not cry next time. We (my mom, Dan, Dan's folks, the kids and I) met one of Dan's ex co-workers and Jeff at D'Vine, a lovely yummy sandwich shop on De la Vina Street. When we went home we played the Wii and ordered pizza that took FOREVER to get there. Asher was soooo hungry and confused. He kept going from person to person and just looking at them sadly or resting his sad head on them- and when I say "them" I mean mostly me. I don't think he knew what the problem was. He might be like his dad that way... not recognizing hunger for what it is.

Friday we went to Pacific Crepes for lunch. The woman who runs it and takes your order speaks French. She is not too great with English, so I felt slightly useful. Of course my limited French is pretty rusty, but I got my pregnant sister to a bathroom. The dessert crepes were delish! Dan went off to his old work while I went with my sister and mom (and the kids) to La Cumbre Mall. We didn't really do a lot there, currently there are a lot of empty stalls where there used to be stores. But I did go in to Max Azria and look at the clothes while Gwen and William slept and Asher played in the fountain.
Later I went to the other mall downtown and got my eyebrows done with Dan's mother. We walked around a bit more than we should have and we were late coming home to start dinner. We made a ton of chinese food and my parents brought a coconut cake over. We had a fun time hanging out.

Saturday we went down to Simi Valley and hung out with Roger and Alison. My niece Clara was pretty impressed that I could do back handsprings on her trampoline. To be honest, so was I. We then went to the Murphy's where we would be staying the night. We dressed up a little bit to go to a "modest prom" and take pictures. Well, Dan took the pictures, I took the money. Someone else took our kids. For almost 4 hours! Yowza, it was a lot of work. We were busy the whole time, and that was fun. Hopefully the kids like their photos.

Well, that is it. Probably a little too much info, but this blog is mostly for me. I'm selfish.
I'll post some pictures later.

4 comments:

rachel v. said...

wow that sounds like SUCH a fun trip, so great that you could see both of your families :) I can't help but laugh about the Rueben sandwiches, classic

Tracy said...

Sounds like a blast. I want to go home now. Well... I already did. I'm glad Asher didn't injure himself either... and I like the "party in my stomach". hehe. You are so funny sister. I love it.

thisamericantourist said...

Sounds like you had a great time! (And don't worry about typing too much - your stories aren't just for us to enjoy reading, they're also for you to enjoy telling! Say as much as you want!)

Lost. said...

what do you think is the biggest difference between Arizona and Cali? I've heard so much about the West Coast but never been. I've traveled most of the East coast, but they tell me that people on the other side are completely different? Do you think there's any truth to that?

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