{July 1st-5th}
We had SUCH a blast in California… We have been longing for “the lotion” (the ocean) since the day we had to peel our girls away.

{Independence Day}
The 4th was kind of a bust this year since most cities in California don’t have fireworks and the ones that do are by donation only. Oceanside didn’t, so we tried to go to Carlsbad but missed them. We did see them from the road for a split second (nothing compared to our firework show here in STG.. it lasted all of 2 minutes) Harlo did catch a glimpse and LOVED them, though. I was a little bit bummed to miss them, but I guess we’re lucky to have the 24th just around the corner! 🙂

we can’t wait to go back in just a few short weeks! Harlo has been asking to go the lotion every single day since we’ve been home. Doesn’t help that we couldn’t bring Auntie home with us.. 🙁 but more on that later.

Few quick notes from the trip:

• While we have mastered the sleeping/schedule arrangements with the girls which makes things a lot easier, it still comes with a bit of bickering on the adult end. I think I said or heard “sorry I got snappy with you earlier..” about a zillion times, but at least we can bounce back and forth pretty easily. 🙂 By the next trip I hope I can have fun with my girls and still have time to smooch that husband of mine from time to time.
• Have I mentioned Harlo doesn’t sleep AT ALL in the car? Not even the whole 8 hour drive to and fro, you ask? Nope. Not even then. Her baby sis is not much better, either. Given the circumstances, Harlo does MIRACULOUSLY in the car the whole way. She does complain a bit that she wants to get down, but a few stops solves that problem. Stella on the other hand would prefer we do not drive for longer than about 30 minutes in the car, and she’s not afraid to let you know how she feels. She slept for oh, I’d say an hour and a half (not all at once) the whole trip there and the rest of the time she was either squawking or crying at us to give her something else to entertain her. We basically feed her into oblivion, but even that doesn’t buy us the time that we’d like.
• We bought a portable DVD player for the trip this time. Stella didn’t care too much for it at all, but what was funny is that we got the one with the two screens so each kid has their own… well, Harlo watches Stella’s screen and Stella watches Harlo’s. We got a kick out of that.
• “Grandma Nancy” who is a good family friend came on the trip, too. She has a dog named “Isabo” which Harlo calls “Miserabo” which we giggled about the whole time.
• The first night there, we stayed at the Chateau Chiniquey (the Chiniquey residence) in Carlsbad which was great, and even more great that Cinjun, Saxon and Teo were there to entertain my ladies. Both girls had an absolute blast! Harlo and Saxon have had a little romance going since they were babies and they are just so freaking cute with eachother. When we got up in the morning, Saxon came downstairs and Harlo says to him, “Saxon! Come get your girls!” (meaning Stella and herself) then when we were leaving I said “say bye to Sax” and she goes “bye Sax.. come over here and give me lubbins!” Needless to say, I think I’ve got my hands full when the teen years start 😉
• Let it be documented that one night Stella fell asleep in the car and stayed asleep through getting her out, walking a block and eating in a restaurant all while on my shoulder. The real kicker, though, is when during the day, Harlo fell asleep in the car, STAYED ASLEEP through getting her out, walking two blocks up to Ali’s (parking was a little crazy on the 4th) walking up 4 flights of stairs and laying her down peacefully on the bed. Literally, that has never happened in her ENTIRE LIFE. I can’t even get her from the living room to the bedroom without her waking up. I guess if they get tired enough, they’ll konk out, and they’ll stay out!
• Let it also be documented that Harlo wanted MAMA on the beach the whole time. So unlike her. We ran around in the water and let the waves chase us the. entire. time. We both had so much fun. When I’d want to go sit for a minute and assumed she’d want to hang with Daddy (while he wasn’t floating in with the waves) she would immediately ask for me again. I took it, and I ran with it.
• Stella had a blast at the beach, but she didn’t like the sand, which actually worked out in our favor because she would sit on a beach mat and totally stay put for as long as we let her. She just looked around pointing at the birdies. Another favorite from the trip is her tan line from her headband. 🙂
• This was, hands down, our best family trip EVER. We had so much fun. Just so relaxed, totally did whatever we wanted to do every single day. Yummiest food, funnest city, nicest weather.. everything but the drive down and back was just awesome. Hopefully they just get better and easier from here on out. 🙂