California Vacation!

While we were on our trip I tried to keep a "journal" in my phone, so I will use those notes and add pictures throughout.  No matter what or how I say it, we all had so much fun! We spent half the week with my aunt, and the other half in SD with great friends!!!  I wish we never had to leave, but then it wouldn't be a vacation, would it?  I think both Paul and I agree that the trip was jam packed with fun, but we were not too busy, and we didn't leave feeling like we missed anything or didn't get to do enough.  The boys went hard all day every day, slept in the car on the way to and from places, and CRASHED at night time.  It has never been so easy putting a newborn and 2 toddlers to bed before ;-)

*side note - you can click on each of the pictures to make them larger*

Enjoy!!! 

July 18 - This morning I loaded up the car, cleaned the house a bit (so I don't come home to a complete mess) and made sure everything was unplugged, turned off, and we hit the road after work!  Paul got home 3pm and we were on the road by 3:30.  We hit some rain going through Vail/Edwards, so we lost about 30 minutes, but we made up pretty good time once it cleared up. 

Great start to the drive

Chase wanted a turn at the wheel

Passed out - one of the main reasons we were able to make it so far

July 19 - We stopped in Vegas last night. We arrived in at about 2:30am. We drove around trying to find a hotel. We blew it, should have booked a room at 11pm when we decided to drive through to Vegas. The Stratosphere (which was $26 online while we were driving at 10pm) wanted to charge us $71 for a smoking room. No thanks. We were about to head back on the road when Braden threw up and we called in a last minute 'Hail Mary' to the Palace Station Hotel which was right next to the exit we were about to hop on. $40.30 for everything, sold. Although we didn't get much sleep. I didn't fall asleep until 4:20 (the last time I checked the clock). And Paul was up by 6am. At 6:30 we all woke up, boys took a quick shower, and we were on the road by 7am. We got to Aunt Tami the Great's at noon, walked to lunch, and then played on the beach. I was so tired, I couldn't stop spinning. The boys helped her cook a yummy fish dinner, then it was a quick game of dominoes then off to bed.

Pit stop at Costco in Victorville for gas and potty

...Back on the road

I'm awake...

...No, I'm sweepy

July 20 - We took it pretty easy this morning. Then after a bit of cleaning and feeding Tami's worms (she has a compost bin) we walked to town. We ate at this really yummy sandwich shop. It was 11:30, so people were still getting breakfast. While our sandwich was really yummy, I should have got brunch - it looked delicious. We walked back home and loaded into the car.  We met Kendall, Titan and Ramon in Malibu for a little beach time. We went to a really cute little lagoon cove. Ramon took B on the surf board, and the boys enjoyed splashing in the ocean and playing in the sand. Chase got his feet wet for the first time.  All the kids built sand castles. Traffic is terrible here. It takes an hour and a half to go 20 miles. The weather was really nice today though.  It was a bit over cast - but I'd rather that then dying hot and sunny. After we got back to Tami's we walked to a late night pizza dinner in downtown Manhattan Beach. 

Getting ready to go into the water

"Say Hi to Mommy"

There he goes!

July 21 - Tami was not feeling well, I think the boys may have given her the tummy bug they had last week. We tried to get out of the house as much as possible. We cut up some fruit for breakfast and hung around the house until lunch. We ended up just snacking most all of the morning and eating a small lunch at the house. We took the boys down to the beach to play around. And then cleaned up and got ready to go to the concert in the park with Charlie. Tami stayed home since she still was not feeling well. The concert was a lot of fun. It was good music, and the boys had fun playing on the playgrounds that were there. After the concert we went to dinner with Charlie and then got some ice cream on our walk back home.

Good Morning

All 4 boys on the pier

This guy is just too cute for words

Vacation!!!!!!

Trying to get a "cool" photo of everyone

Another one of the 4 boys

Someone put himself to nap on the floor

 

Concert in the Park

Clearly enjoying dancing with Braden

July 22 - Tami still was not feeling so well, so we took the boys out for a long walk this morning. We walked by houses and just around town some. We met them for lunch after we got a Jamba Juice in town and drank that on the pier.  After lunch we came home and went to the beach. Tami came down to lay with Chase while Paul and I took the big boys into the water.  B tried boogie boarding for the first time.  Zach didn't love the water, but he didn't hate it.  He just wanted to be held the whole time. We made sand castles, and I think Tami got some good pictures of us playing. After the beach we came back and watched Finding Nemo in bed and then started to make dinner.  The boys had Paleo pancakes and Tami made us a Frittata.  After dinner Tami went to lay down and we walked into town for ice cream again. 

Sunset view from Tami's house

July 23 - W were slow starting this morning. Tami was feeling better and made us breakfast while I laid around like a log. She got out instruments for the boys to play.  It was so loud.  After cleaning up and feeding the dogs we left to walk into town.  We went to the farmers market.  It puts ours to shame.  Lots if samples out, everything was soooo yummy!  We bought a couple items for dinner, and also got a few things of fruit and some juice stuff.  I'm not really sure what it was, but Tami liked that it was super healthy and Braden loved the taste, and it was green, so it has to be good right?  We got some lunch at the farmers market and then walked home. We sat around for a bit and the boys helped Tami make the sauce for the steak tonight. We went down to the beach and played in the sand. Zachary was not feeling going into the water today.  He cried, but I think it was because he was just so tired.  Braden went boogie boarding again.  We also tired to get a good family photo of the 5 of us, hopefully we got 1.  After the beach we came back up, washed off and made dinner. After dinner the boys played basketball outside, and then once it got dark we had a glow party on the beach.  Came back up, Paul and I packed up some to get ready for tomorrow, and the boys had some kettle corn from the farmers market.  We read a few stories in bed, then it was off to sleep.

Making breakfast

This guy is all smiles

All the time

Music Time

Dance Party

Shake it

Getting ready to ride the train at the farmers market

Vacation is rough

Trying to get a family photo

Baseball on the beach - life does not get much better

Silly Man Zachy

Silly man Braden

Ah - The good life :-)

Ready

Set

WIPE-OUT!

Getting back out there

Catching waves

Again

He had so much fun!

July 24 - This morning was bitter sweet, we were super sad to be leaving Tami's, but really excited to start part 2 of our vacation in San Diego.  After getting everything packed up and loaded we hit the road around 11.  Everyone was sad to leave :-( B and Tami shared a really special teary moment.  The boys all fell asleep in the car for the ride down (they all slept almost the whole 2 hours).  When we got to Dru and Margaret's the kids were all so excited to play!  Everyone got along great! Maya showed them all her toys, and after lunch they even got a quick pool time in.  We headed up to the zoo around 4:30.  It was an absolutely perfect night!  Most all the animals were awake and up an moving around.  And the zoo itself is so beautiful! We got to see Koalas and the Pandas.  The elephant exhibit was really nice too. I  kept finding myself saying "our zoo..." a lot, but it's all I could compare it too.  It was not too crowded at all, and the weather was really nice.  I am loving this cloudy, cooler weather that we've had on the trip.  Not to hot, not cold at all, Mongo and I have not really been sweaty hot messes.  It's just made everything much more enjoyable.  I want to say we saw about 60% of the zoo, which was the plan.  We are headed back tomorrow evening to walk around and see the rest.  Paul and I decided its not the animals that make the San Diego Zoo, it's the location and just the pure beauty of it.  The trees and plants are all so nice. Our zoo is a dessert compared to the plant life here.  Chase was awake almost the whole time looking around at everything.  I'm not sure he was able to really "see" the animals, but he knew there was something to look at and was looking around the whole time!  Zach and Braden were also having so much fun!  Looking at the animals and running along the walks/trails.  They also had a good time climbing the statues and playing at the little kid pit stops with Maya.  We got home pretty late and the daddy's went to pick up MXN for everyone for dinner - oh man!  It tasted just as good as I remember.

Best friends

Checking out the map at the Zoo

Welcome to the gun show

"Obama can't take these guns"

The 3 best friends anyone ever had!

Again with the map, too cute!

Koalas

I cannot get over it

4 of the 5 Kiddos at the Zoo

July 25 - Margaret made us french toast for breakfast, yum! We decided that we were going to go to the shores today to see the sea lions.  Traffic was so crazy down there, and parking was a nightmare, but we managed and were able to walk around and hang out for a few hours.  After, we went to Harry's for lunch, and then stopped by Paul's aunts house for a quick visit.  We went back to Dru and Margaret's for some quite time and then headed out to the zoo around 5.  I am glad we saw most of the zoo yesterday because the kids were all in a crazy happy/hyper mood and we were not moving very quickly.  They were all just having a really fun time looking at the animals and making animal noises etc.  Margaret and Karl (Paul's aunt and cousin) met us at the zoo, and they were able to walk around and chat with us some.  David made it just at the end to say hello.  They will hopefully be over on Saturday for the BBQ so we can visit more. We made a late night stop to MXN again for dinner, but everyone was so tired and our tummys were so past being hungry, that the boys went right to bed, and it was not long after that Paul and I joined them.  We have a busy day of sea world tomorrow!

They love each other

Best Friends

Photo taken by Braden

There were not too many seals out this day

Still trying to get that good family photo

Passed out on the way back

Welcome to the Gun Show

Walking around the Zoo on Daddy's shoulders

So alert!

"Don't feed the animals"

July 26 - Ah what a fun day!  We woke up and made breakfast while Margaret took Jr to the Drs to check out his congestion.  After that, it was off to Sea World!!!  My favorite place.  We went to the new Madagascar live show first.  Zach had so much fun!  He was clapping and dancing along to the music.  Chase was also soooo alert during the show.  He was staring at the stage the whole time.  I think he really like all the flashing lights.  He has been so alert this whole trip.  Then we booked it over to the Shamu show.  The sun decided to come out, so it was pretty hot waiting out there.  Chase fell asleep on my lap, and the boys ate some fires while we waited.  Zach was getting a little fussy because it was pretty hot, but I think in the end they both enjoyed the show.  We then went to play over in the Elmo area.  The boys and Maya played with the daddy's while Margaret and I fed the babies.  Jr and Maya were getting tired and fussy, so they decided to call it a day and headed home to rest up.  We stayed and went the see the turtles, sharks, sea lion show (super funny), dolphin show, and the arctic exhibits.  The boys were so tired by the end of the day, but I really do think all 3 enjoyed themselves.  I hope we got a good picture of all of us!  After sea world we went to Stone for dinner - what a mess!  I didn't look at it (or know what it was) and apparently you need a reservation! Anyways, we ended up going to a diner right next door, it was a long wait, but the kids got to run around and play before.  We got done at 9, and as much as we wanted to go back to Sea World for fireworks, we were just too tired.  We were going to miss the night time Shamu show too, so it was not really worth it.  I am sad, but it was the right decision.  The boys all fell asleep before we even got back onto the highway and went right to bed when we got home.  The adults all stayed up and talked and had a few drinks before bed.  It was a really great day.  Makes me wish we lived here :-(

Waiting for the show to start

Being goofy

They were loving it!

"Mom, it's so hot out here"

He did not want to be on my shoulders, he wanted Daddy

He so cute!

I will be spending a lot of time on Photoshop the next few days

 

Sitting in a big boy highchair at dinner!

The guys getting ready to do the YMCA

July 27 - Today we took it pretty easy.  B and I slept in a bit (and by slept in I mean our normal 8:30am wake up time).  After we woke up and ate pancakes for breakfast (and of course had our coffee) we made grocery lists for the store and Costco.  Paul and I took the boys to Costco, while Dru went to the market.  We picked up hamburgers and hot dogs etc.  Bobby was at the house when we got back.  Everyone else came over around 3.  Pete and Masako came, Dru's grandparents, Zach, and Margaret and David.  I think Bobby had a great time playing with the boys.  He really gets his "uncle time" in when he can, and spends as much time as possible with the boys.  They were swimming and playing in the hot tub all afternoon.  Peter and Masako were loving on Chase the whole afternoon too. Masako said there was something about the 3rd baby (and probably being able to face time the kids) that was actually making her feel like a grandma. When we finally kicked the boys out of the pool they played baseball and in the sandbox with Maya and Uncle Bobby.  We cleaned up and it was movie time, and off to bed early (8:30pm) tonight.  I also finally accepted that the "nub" in chases mouth is a tooth.  I seriously cannot believe he got his first tooth!  It's in the back right, I'm thinking maybe a molar or bone spur off one of his back teeth? I am getting really sad that we are packing up tomorrow to leave.  I feel like even though we did so much fun stuff, that there is still more to do (which there always is)  I'm worried we didn't get enough use out of our passes and that we should maybe go do 1 more thing in the morning before we pack up and leave.  I really hope the boys had fun.  I know they did, I think.  They have been go go go the whole time.  I hope the drive goes okay tomorrow too.  The plan is to drive to Vegas and stay with Paul's friend.  Braden and Zach have both been behaving fairly well.  B has had a few moments here and there, but for the most part he is being a such a big helper big brother.  Zach has had a few potty accidents from playing too hard and forgetting to take breaks, but that's partly our fault as well.  I can't imagine what it would be like if he was still in diapers for this vacation, YUCK!  Tomorrow I will have to ask B what his favorite part of the the trip has been!  Zach has also been talking so much more since we've been in SD - a lot more!  I think Maya is motivating him :-).  He's pointing things out to us, and was super excited and using lots of words and vocabulary at the Zoo and Sea World (fish, down, turn, this, jump, whoa, animal names and sounds etc).  He's voicing his opinions to us, as well as explaining and telling us things - I want, please, common, help me, look, no, yeah (so cute when he says that...very soft spoken and quite/shy "yeahhhhh", etc).

Good morning Handsome

3 babies in the Costco cart

The "Schleifer" men

July 28 - So sad that we had to leave today.  The boys were super cute saying by to Maya.  It makes me so sad when Braden gets so sad/upset and cries.  Makes me want to cry too.  We thought about going to Sea World again this morning, but decided with the weekend crowds it was probably not worth it.  The boys had just as much fun having a little pool time anyways.  Driving to Vegas we are talking about breakfast for tomorrow morning and Paul said, "we can just tell Cameron we want to go somewhere cheap" and Braden chimes in and says, "or we can just stay in bed and Cameron can serve us" haha!  This may be TMI, but it's just too funny not to share.  I had a little tummy ache and kept tooting, and everyone was talking about it and Braden says, "mom, you're going to make me throw up in Vegas again"  We all cracked up laughing.  We got into Vegas around 10pm.  Paul's friend, Cameron, showed us around his building and we all stayed up and chatted a bit.  It's so awesome!  He lives on the 30th floor of a tower right of the Las Vegas Strip in the Center Center.  The boys and I hopped into bed, and Cameron took Paul to check in on his clubs for the night. 

Not ready to leave :(

"C-Dub"

All the boys and Maya

Chillin in Jrs Roo

The best of friends (minus Jr)

The kiddos!!!! :-) The only picture of all 5 of them

These 2 will be best friends one day too!

So cute saying bye

They fell asleep less then 10 minutes out

Sunday night traffic driving back from Vegas - INSANE

July 29 - This morning when we woke up around 7, Cameron was still doing some work from the night before (life of a club promoter).  We were able to say bye to him before he went to bed for the morning and he suggested a few places for us to go to breakfast.  We ended up walking into the Aria (the casino right next door to his place).  We followed signs to "The Buffet".  It was pretty early when we got there and really dead, there were only a few people eating.  So I was a bit nervous to spend $40 on a buffet breakfast that no one was at.  In the end we decided to just "go for it, why not" and ate there.  And man oh man what a good choice that was!  The food was amazing, there was so much to choose from.  We all got juices and coffees to drink and LOADED up on food.  Seriously, so good.  Chicken and Waffles, stuffed french toast, a yogurt bar, breakfast burritos, a whole pasty bar full of breakfast coffee cakes and muffins.  I wanted to eat everything, but after 4 plates, I had to throw in the towel.  I think if the boys were not so worked up and hyperactive we could have relaxed a bit at our table and go back for more.  By the time we left (around 9am) there was a line around the corner of the hallway to get it and the place was packed!  It was probably a good thing we got there early then.  We had every intention of walking around the strip and showing the boys around, but it was hot and Paul and I decided that there was not enough time to do everything, so why really do anything.  B and Z enjoyed seeing the lights of Vegas at night, and we drove by the Castle and Pirate Ship, and decided that was enough.  After getting some gas it was on the road by 10:30!  We were almost to vail and Paul says, "I don't know what's worse, driving 2500 miles in 10 days, or having Paige as a co pilot for 2500 miles".  We made it home by 11pm MST, so I feel like we made good time.  We stopped quite a few more times than we did on the way out (mainly because it was during the day and the boys were awake and needed breaks).

Rough night in Vegas

It was a bit sunny out

"Excuse me, my car broke down"

Oh, happy 4 month birthday Lil Guy!

This went on for about 15 minutes before he finally calmed down

And we're happy now

Mickey Mouse and Twizzlers, the key to a successful car ride

All in all, this trip was seriously so fun!  I wish we could do it every year.  It was such a great time, and I really think the big 2 boys really enjoyed themselves (which is the whole point).  We would do anything and sacrifice anything to make our boys happy, and I know they loved every minute of our vacation!  ....Now, Back to reality! Zachary starts school next month - AH!