Vacation: All I Ever Wanted

We've just returned from a week-long roadtrip through California and boy, do we need a vacation. Sadly, with this trip, great though it was at times, we've come to realize that the term "vacation" will not apply to the trips we take for many years - at least until we're done travelling with the little hobos who tag along with us and call us Mama and Dada.



The first leg of our "working vacation" was a trip to Somis, on the So. Cal. coast, where my mom and stepdad live. We arrived at 10:30 p.m. after a 7 hour drive, crashed out at 11. We were rudely awakened the next morning by Hazel, who realized where we were, and demanded to be led to her grandparents, then be taken out for a swim in the pool. At 6:30 a.m. After a big family breakfast, we hit the road for leg two of our journey - a two hour drive to Redlands for a family reunion with my dad's side of the family. Hazel swam and played with her big girl cousins, Violet sweat profusely, then threw a huge tantrum, and it was 99 degrees in the shade, but there was a lot of laughing and everyone was really happy to be there. We crashed out early again that night, and Hazel had us up and running at 7 the next morning. We had a greasy breakfast, then struck out for San Diego, to visit Mike's mom and brother. An hour and a half later we were there and for the next two and a half days, we actually relaxed. As much as we could anyway, with a baby who was beginning to resent spending so much time in the carseat she loathes, and a toddler who was jacked up beyond belief on DVDs and lollipops (anything to keep the tantrums to a minimum in the car). We lolled on the beach everyday. We wrote our names in the sand, watched them get washed away, and started over. We took long walks and naps. We ate fan-freaking-tastic sea food that Uncle Tim grilled. We drank gin and tonics on the deck. It was lovely, and Mike and I vowed that the next time we move, we are moving to the beach - everything else is just a waste of time. We headed back to Somis for a day and a half (more swimming, more good food), then back home on Friday. The drive home was one of the hairiest ever - Hazel and Violet were setting each other off with the crying and the screaming, we were all exhausted and anxious to get home already, and by the time we got to San Jose (so close to home, yet so far away), Mike and I swore to each other that we wouldn't put ourselves through this again for a long, long time. We love visiting our families, but when the shit hits the fan, ain't no Subaru in the world big enough for the four of us. Next time, we're flying.