We decided to do you family vacation in September this year, we wanted to be gone the same time that Travis's new office was closed for the finishing touches of remodel. It worked out really well. The weather was really nice, not too hot and not too cold. We left of Sunday the 23rd after stopping at the Fresno airport to pick up Travis and our cousin TAYLOR!! We love that Taylor saves her money and comes to visit us EVERY YEAR! She is so much fun to have around. After picking up Dad and Tay, we drove to the Cheese Factory.... may not sound to fun, but the kids LOVE it there! There is a little petting zoo, big tree house and a sand box with lots of fun little areas for the kids to play. After that, we started our drive to Carlsbad for our first destination, Lego Land. Poor Olivia threw up a few times all over the car and all over Taylor, too!! She was not feeling well, and we had to stop a few times to clean her (and Taylor) up!! We also stopped on the way to Lego Land as we saw a FIRE on the side of the freeway and there were several planes and helicopters diving down to a nearby lake to scoop up water and dump it on the fire. We pulled over at the lake and the kids got a real kick out of seeing the planes swoop down and then as they came out of the lake they were so close to us. After that stop, we then made it to Carlsbad. We stayed at a really fun hotel right by the ocean. It was a really nice area. Monday morning we woke up and headed to Lego Land. Our only day of no one being sick!! It was nice, but VERY difficult to handle with a baby, a toddler and 4 big kids. Max was NOT allowed on any rides (not even ones that we could hold him) all kids had to be atleast walking for the youngest ride!! What?!! Not even Disney Land was that strict. PLUS, because Olivia was a TODDLER she could not go on the baby rides alone (again, Lagoon will let the little ones ride on the little rides alone... but NOT at Lego Land!!). And the big kids still included Cami (who is 6) and we did not feel comfortable just letting the kids run free to all the big kid rides! So, it was really difficult. If we ever go there again (which we probably never will as it is mostly geared toward 12 and under) we will need another adult or wait until we don't have a baby and a toddler. So, we had to take all the kids to all the rides... the little ones and I sat out and waited while the big kids went on rides, the big kids participated in the baby rides (even though they would have preferred not too, they were helping Olivia to have a good time) so Olivia could go on some rides too. The lego's were cool. Everything was made of Lego's. Not big lego's or oversized Lego's or custom made Legos.... they were the regular tiny little Lego's that we have in our home (yes, the ones that are a choking hazard!!). They had cities and Starwars scenes's all made from Lego's. They even had life sized people and animals all made from Lego's. It was a neat thing to see.
That night we drove from Carlsbad to Knott's berry Farm. That was FUN!! We went to check into the hotel and Snoopy was in the foyer... Travis came out and asked the kids if they wanted to come in and meet Snoopy... they all asked "who's Snoopy?"! But they all ran in to meet Snoopy, by the end of our 2 day stay at Knottsberry, Olivia was in love with Snoopy and was constantly on the lookout for him. We stayed at the Knotts berry farm hotel.... NOT IMPRESSED. It was fun to see Snoopy all the time, and be close, and they had a nice pool, but otherwise.... not our favorite. The next morning we woke up and went to Knotts Berry. Well, we woke up and I was super sick (I hate to admit it but my first thought was "Oh Crap!! This better not be MORNING SICKNESS!!"- that was how awful I felt. I can't remember ever feeling that sick except when I was pregnant)- I tried to be brave and go to breakfast with Snoopy and the kids. I couldn't eat and was having trouble keeping my juice in my tummy. I decided that I would be brave and go to Knotts Berry anyway- I mean, we don't go on vacation every day. That was a mistake.... I was walking and all of a sudden I knew I couldn't walk another step... I leaned over to the closest bush and began... well, you know.... I was so embarassed!! I could not walk 20 feet without barfing (a little graphic, I know). I told Travis I had to go back (which he already knew without me telling him) and I was thankful that we were at a close hotel I could walk to. I literally walked along the bushes and avery 10-20 feet I would stop, puke, and continue walking trying hard to go as far as possible without puking. It was BAD. Really bad. My 5 minute walk to the hotel took about 20 minutes. I stayed in the hotel room with Max the rest of the day. We both slept a lot (he was making up for lost sleep the previous two days). That night when everyone got home, Gloria was feeling sick. She then started the whole process I was going through! Travis took the other kids to dinner while Max, Gloria and I stayed in the room puking and sleeping. When they got home, Taylor started feeling sick! She then started the whole yucky process! The next morning Taylor, Gloria and I were still sick, so I kept Max and the sick girls at the hotel while Travis took Gray, Cami and Olivia to the amusement park. They had a good day and spent time swimming and going on rides while we slept and puked. Did I mention we puked, a lot?!! All night, all day! That night we had to pack up and head to Carlsbad. I was starting to feel better, which was good, because Travis, Gray and Cami all started the process..... it was a yucky car ride to carlsbad!!! I checked us into our hotel, we got everyone settled with puke buckets and towels and turned out the lights and slept... hard!! Except for Travis and I who had to keep waking up to empty puke buckets and change yucky towels for clean ones (when the kids missed their buckets). They next morning we were supposed to head to Lego Land again, but with everyone feeling pretty yucky (Olivia, Tay, Gloria and I were all starting to feel a little better, but we were still peeling pretty weak and our stomach's were not up to par) we decided to stay home, and do laundry. Lots of Laundry. 3 commercial loads full. But everything was disgusting and it needed to be done. In the afternoon, everyone started feeling better except Cami (those boys recovered really fast and Max never got it, interesting). So, Travis took the healthy kids to the beach (which was so close to our hotel) and they had a BLAST!! They came back that evening and Cami was starting to feel better, so we all went back to the beach that evening. It was so much fun!! The next day Travis had a flight out of San Diego to go to Georgia for a conference. So we spent the morning at the beach, then Travis took a cab to the airport and we started our trip home. We stopped for lunch, we stopped for ice cream, we took our time and everyone did great. I was so glad to be home!! It was exhausting, but memorable trip. I will try to put more details into my next blog. There were a lot of cool things on this trip. We had a great time. We loved having Taylor come. We loved being together, even if we were sick!!
