Two Trips

We went to Santa Barbara. The plan was to stay for 7 days, but it was so beautiful and Arizona is so hot that we decided to extend our vacation to 10 days. Dan's mom had recently had knee surgery, so she didn't go out with us much. But we still did lots of fun things with Grandpa... as well as with my sister Lori and her kiddos. I also occasionally met with old friends on my own since Dan was still working during the daytime. (I hope he works "from home" forever. It is the best.)

Dan made a highlight video that was really cute. He posted it elsewhere, so I won't post it here. Plus, some of his video was when I wasn't there, and I was with another child or friend doing something else.

Things I did without Dan: went to Tucker's Grove with the kids and met with my old high school friend Daisy, went to a fun game night at church with my sister, went on a walk downtown with my friend Anna and her sweet little girl Georgiana (including playing at the Courthouse and eating at the Habit), hung out with my sister and our kids at a park, and went shopping and headed up some smoothie runs. There were probably a few more little things.

Things we did together: Ate at the Natural Cafe and saw a movie (Into Darkness) without the kids, went to the zoo with Grandpa and Lori and her kids, rode the carousel and played at Chase Palm Park, went on a date to the Palace Grill, went to church and celebrated Father's Day with some Simi Valley brothers and sisters-in-law who came up for Sunday, visited the Sea Center on the pier with Grandpa, had lunch at the "lighthouse" Rusty's pizza, went to Lori's house and also a home she was watching while the owners were away. That house had baby chicks and baby cows and an old dog that Asher loved. We visited an awesome house that Dan's brother Jeff and his wife Heather were looking after for his boss. We also watched a lot of Jeopardy and Wheel of Fortune with Dan's parents, and Lori and her kids came over to the Hixon's to play a few times. :)

We took things a little slower because I was still getting over the nauseating part of pregnancy. It was much better by the time we left to come back... maybe because I slept in every day. I felt bad that we didn't do more, but I needed a slow pace. And let me tell you it was HEAVEN to be away from responsibilities and insane heat! I loved the "June gloom"- I couldn't get enough fog.  

Going back home was sad, but we did have something else to look forward to. We booked a little two day trip to Vegas on July 1st and 2nd... with no children! It was amazing. I love my kids and everything, but it was nice to stay up late and sleep in and do whatever we wanted and not have to help anyone use the bathroom. We stayed at the Wynn, which was wonderful, and we saw the Cirque show there (Le Reve) and then Penn & Teller's magic show at the Rio the following night. We loved both shows... especially Penn & Teller. I think seeing them was on Dan's bucket list. We also went to an older casino and saw a movie during the day (Mud), and we went shopping and walked around and ate awesome food. We even went back to a place we ate the last time we were in Vegas at the Venetian because Dan remembered how much he liked the food there. It was still super good. P.S. The Stecks watched our kids, for which we are eternally grateful. They swam and played and had a great time there.

 **Also my sister Tracy came to visit in early June. I've missed a lot, but I want to note that it was so fun to see her, and I was glad she came. :)