Friends...

Since we're only home for a few days before taking off again, we've been trying to pack in as much friend time as possible this week. It's been fun to play with Baylie, Sydney, Brooke and Sophia at various times. Yesterday Shannon had a few errands to do, so Sophia came over here to play, nap, and play. The girls didn't sleep very well, but they were probably too excited to be in the same house.
After nap we watched about 5 minutes of Lady and the Tramp to ease into being awake. I love the sweaty bed-heads.

After a sufficient amount of kissing and hugging, they moved on to the Goodnight Moon match game. I love watching them play this - such smart little girls. (You can tell that Grace was really in to it this time.) 

I am so glad Grace has so many good friends... and even at their naughtiest, they are still sweet babies. 

Changing diapers...

When we were in California, Gracie really enjoyed playing with her baby doll. She would mimic us as she was pretending to care for her little blue baby. The airplane was our favorite example... At 36,000 feet in the air, we had just pointed out the moon to Grace. She took her baby, smacked the plastic face against the window, and said "moon, see it."

Since we've been home Gracie has been mothering her other babies. She only has a handful, and every day she seems more attached to a different one. Yesterday it was Boo (from Monster's Inc). And evidently she had very messy diapers. I think Gracie changed her about 27 times.
It takes 8 wipes and 3 diapers for a single change.
You (of course) wipe the entire body head to toe.
Figuring out the diaper.
Another wipe- just for good measure.
And a sideways diaper - half covering the head, nothing covering the buns. This is the point when Grace gets a bit frustrated and starts asking for help. Funny girl.

Just another reason...

...that I am so thankful to be heading to Maui a week from today!
It is mostly gone now, but I was shocked to see white covering everything when I woke up this morning. This has been one crazy winter.

Two in a row...

On Monday night I headed out to Moonstruck to meet with the ladies from my Bible study. We try to get out once a year without the kids. It was a fun time to eat chocolate, drink chocolate, and catch up with these ladies that I haven't seen in weeks. We have such a fun, talkative group, but don't have lots of time to chat during our regular Bible study. We really should get out more often.

(This picture was taken back in January when - miraculously - we were all present. Not all of these ladies made it out on Monday, but the majority were there.)

On Tuesday I had another night out with the girls. Shannon, Kim, Marisa, Kristen and I met at On the Border for happy hour. We didn't realize that the restaurant closed at 10, so we were only there for an hour before heading back to Shannon's house. We didn't do much, but it was fun to chat with these girls with no interruptions from our kids. I think I drove into my garage at 1 am and fell straight into bed. Late night, but worth it! Thank goodness Gracie slept until 10:11 the next morning. I think we both needed it.

A chocolate-y day...

Sunday I hosted a shower for Melissa. This party was planned way before our trip to California was ever mentioned. I was so happy to have lots of help from Annie and Sarri. Thanks guys. I didn't take any pictures of the actual shower, but I know Annie took a couple. We had a great turn out - about 20 ladies - and it was fun to meet so many of Melissa's other friends. She got lots of great stuff, and hopefully is feeling ready to bring her daughter home in a few short weeks. 

As the party was winding down, the E8 hubbies and kiddos started showing up. It was so fun to spend the rest of the evening with them. They took a good bit of time huddled around the chocolate fountain, and then we piled in our cars and headed over to McMenamins for some fish & chips, pizza and corn dogs.
We always have a great time with those friends, and tonight wasn't an exception. The kids did great - even as bed time came and went. Thanks guys for coming all the way out for the evening. We had a great time!

Home...

It was good to wake up at home. Gracie slept pretty well, so it was nice to lay in bed before getting up to start our day. Our biggest problem of the morning was the complete and total lack of food in our house. Well, we did have some Cheerios left over from our trip, and a carton of soy milk, so we were able to figure out breakfast. Also, our car was at John and Carrie's house, so we needed to track them down to pick it up. After a slow morning here, we headed out for errands. We swung by Trader Joe's to get groceries, and then on to meet Carrie to get the car. Merrick then went to work, and Gracie and I headed to Whole Foods, Joann's, and WinCo. We needed groceries, and also was getting last minute things for the baby shower I was hosting on Sunday. 

We were home by 2 and got Gracie down for a nap. I unloaded the car, put groceries away, and got things mostly set up for the shower. I then started calling a few friends and family that we hadn't talked to for weeks. (One sad fact is that we used up all of our cell phone minutes while we were in California. Weekends and other Verizon users are free, other than that, I can't talk to anyone until Thursday!) I was also able to get everything unpacked and laundry folded and put away.

Merrick got home from the office around 6:30. We had a yummy dinner and then spent the evening totally relaxing. We have quite a few shows to catch up on, so we have plenty to watch while vegging on the couch.

Flying south for the winter (day 13)...

After dropping Merrick off at work, and eating our last meal at the DoubleTree, Grace and I spent the morning packing. Well, she spent the morning playing in the tub while I packed... it was the only way I could keep her busy so she wouldn't unfold the clothes I was folding and packing. I was dragging my feet prior to checking out because I wasn't sure what I was going to do with myself all day. For 12 straight days I haven't spent extended time in our room, but now that I HAD to be out, I didn't want to go anywhere... figures. So, check out time was noon and I think we left at 11:53. We got our full money's worth. I made it down stairs with two rolling suitcases, a backpack, an over the shoulder bag, a diaper bag, my camera bag, my purse, and Grace. All in one trip! Be amazed. When we were unloading I think it took Merrick two trips from the car - and I had Grace in the room.

So, since we had to be out, we decided to make the most of it. I took Gracie to lunch at El Cholo - a great Mexican place that my dad and grandpa love. It was really good food, but since I'd eaten my normal big breakfast, Grace ate most of the lunch. We then followed signs to a park in Irvine where we walked around a duck pond and watched the birds and turtles. Gracie wanted to get in the water, so we didn't last long there. I recognized a street that we crossed on our way to the pond, so we took that back towards Costa Mesa and ended up at the outdoor mall in Tustin (where we'd eaten so many Whole Foods meals). We had some time to kill there, which wasn't too difficult. We ended our time by sharing a delicious Pinkberry frozen yogurt topped with mangoes and strawberries - delicious!

Once at Merrick's office we spent some time playing outside as we waited for him to finish up and pack up. I snapped a few pictures - mostly so we could later show Gracie and trigger any memories she might have of this trip. 
This is the Mindspeed building in Newport (the one on the right). 
The fountains outside the front doors are really nice. They have those stone slabs in the grass that look like they would be for sitting, but the grass is surrounded by signs that say "keep off." 
Gracie can't read those signs.
Pointing to daddy's office.
Waiting in the lobby... I must explain the crazy hair. She started the day with piggy tails, but as always, pulled out her rubber bands and ended up looking like a crazy penguin. I could only find one of the bands, but wanted to try to tame her mane, so it ended up in an exclamation mark pony... As the hairs came out, they stayed in the crazy feather form going just about every which way. It was crazy, and I was embarrassed, but people around us seemed entertained by it.

Once Merrick came down we took the short drive to the airport - about three blocks away. We returned our rental car, and headed to the ticket counter. I knew our luggage would be too heavy, but I wasn't sure how heavy until we weighed it... 56 pounds and 48.5 pounds. So, we did some unpacking and shuffling around and ended up with 49.5 pounds and 50.5 pounds. They didn't charge us, but labeled them both as HEAVY! I guess that's what happens when you pack home 16 bars of soap and 40 mini-bottles of shampoo/conditioner/lotion/etc... 

Once through security we realized that we were flying out of the little commuter terminal. We got to wait outside for our flight, and Gracie loved watching the planes coming and going. I was getting nervous as we were waiting. We were supposed to leave at 5:55, land in San Francisco at 7:24 and then our flight to Portland left SFO at 7:55. Since they close the doors to the aircraft 10 minutes before departure, it was as tight of a connection as it could get. We didn't board our flight out of Orange County until 5:45, so I knew we were going to be a little late getting in to San Francisco. 

Our flight was fine - Gracie was a little agitated and screamed twice which is a lot less fun on an airplane than normal. As we started our decent we asked the flight attendant if we would be able to make our connection. He said we should be fine, but would ask the passengers to let us off first. We touched down and immediately 1/2 the people on the plane jumped up and were in the aisle. So much for us getting off early. We eventually made it out, but the our gate checked stroller wasn't there yet. Merrick took off running toward the next plane, and Gracie and I waited (not-so-patiently) for our stroller and car seat to appear. The attendants knew we were running late, so they got our stuff up first, and we were off. SFO is a fairly big airport, but all of the United flights are in the same general area. I checked the board to see where we needed to be going, and then started running, pushing the stroller and carrying our huge Britax car seat over my shoulder. Fun! Merrick found us about half way there and told me we had a little less than 10 minutes to get on the plane. It ended up being okay, but I still felt strange being the last ones to walk on. We hadn't been on for more than 2 minutes when the plane pushed away from the gates. We had made it, barely. I called my dad to let him know that we were on the flight and would be in Portland at the pre-scheduled time. 

The plane felt huge after being on the tiny commuter plane. We didn't buy a seat for Gracie, but it wasn't a full flight, so she had her own seat by the window. It was nice to have the space because Grace was way more than wiggly on the flight. She wanted to be up, down, sitting, standing, jumping, climbing... I'm glad there wasn't anyone right in front of her either. She didn't take a nap all day, and didn't sleep on either flight. She was totally and completely wound up. Thank goodness it was a quick trip in the air - and another perfect flight. I didn't get sick at all, which makes everything that much easier. 

It was good to see my dad drive up. Gracie was thrilled. By the time I had her car seat in the car, Merrick was up with our bags. Even with our crazy connection, our bags had made it home. I am always amazed at how good the system is.

Gracie fell asleep about 10 minutes from home. We tried to keep her awake because we wanted to see her reaction to being home, but she just couldn't do it. She transferred to her bed easily, and was out until morning. Merrick and I got our stuff unpacked and a load of laundry in before resting. We had turned our heat and water heater way down before leaving, so we had to reset those things, but it was 10:30 and we hadn't eaten dinner yet, so that was first on the list. We ate and watched a few things we had on the DVR from being gone. Started another load of laundry and hit the sack. It was really nice to be in our own bead again.

I am so glad that we had this mini-adventure. Before leaving we didn't know what to expect, what I would do with all that time, and how Gracie would do. We had a blast - with friends, with each other, with Grace. It was a really fun trip. It is nice to be home, but I have no regrets about going. Now, we get a few days at home before packing again and getting on another plane... this time for a real vacation!

Flying south for the winter (day 12 continued)...

After our trip to the beach, and a nice long nap for Grace (the first of our trip thus far), we headed out to pick Merrick up from work and travel back up to Long Beach. The Butlers had dinner plans, so we met them after eating. It was fun to see them again, and especially to watch Ryan and Grace play again - since they had gotten acquainted a few days earlier. 

All night if one of them sat on this little chair, the other one would join. We only had a few incidents of Gracie trying to push Ryan off - for the most part they shared really well. I love this sequence of pictures. If these two ever get married, we have the first four pics for their slide show all ready...
I can't remember if we told Gracie to kiss him or not, but Ryan wasn't quite sure about her sudden move. He was a good sport though.
We probably stayed later than we should have - hopefully we didn't tire you guys out too much. Thanks for letting us crash twice this week. It was great to see you. Wish we could do it more often. 

Flying south for the winter (day 12)...

Today I might be able to be convinced that we could live here... It is about 75 degrees out with a light breeze and not a cloud in the sky. The snow-capped mountains to the southeast of us are glowing. It is truly a beautiful day.

Gracie and I spent this morning in Laguna Beach. We headed out after breakfast and drove to Newport - about 10 minutes from our hotel. I took highway 1 south and we wound our way down the coast before stopping in Laguna. 

On the boardwalk.
Thinking about it. She did walk into the ocean, holding my hand the entire time. The was was pretty cold, but it didn't seem to bother her. There were a lot of kids waist deep, so maybe it wasn't as bad as my toes were telling me it was. 

As a wave came it, I was picking up a rock for Gracie. She lost her balance and fell in face first. (I had a hold of her arm the whole time, but since I wasn't standing up, I couldn't keep her from getting soaked). And soaked she was, but happy that I had picked up the sparkly rock she was going for. We stripped her down to her tank top and diaper and she didn't complain about playing half clothed. 
After a we had soaked up a significant dosage of vitamin D for our Oregon bodies, we packed up and headed back to Merrick's office. I took a lightly different route and was amazed how close he is to the beach. The views along the way - ocean behind us, beautiful mountains ahead - was amazing. We enjoyed In-n-Out burgers together and Gracie and I are now back in our room for nap time.

Flying south for the winter (day 11)...

Yesterday as we were driving to pick Merrick up from work Gracie started saying "Kim, Kim." It was a little out of the blue, so I said "Kim? Baylie's mom?" She very clearly answered with, "Yeah. Pia (Sophia), hug. Shannon, home." I guess Gracie might be getting a little homesick. Since she was sick the week before we left, we haven't seen our friends for over two weeks. Tonight Merrick and I were talking to Grace about home. She was saying "trip, airplane, home." We asked what else was at home. Her answer... Sydney and basketball (aka pop-a-shot in our bonus room). We are getting to the point in our trip where it feels like it is time to go home. We are still having a lot of fun, and enjoying our time away, but I feel we are all craving a little normalcy in our routine. 

Toady was the same as the rest - starting with dropping Merrick off at his office, then heading back to the hotel for our breakfast. The ladies in the restaurant all know us and love paying attention to Grace. She draws quite the crowds - as any talkative toddler would. It seems they have now noticed that we've been around for a while, and today they asked about why we were away from home for so long. Extended business trip tends to be the easiest answer. Our breakfasts have been very good, but I think my body is revolting from eating eggs, bacon and waffles for the past 9 days in a row. Perhaps tomorrow will be strictly fruit and oatmeal... so much easier to say when I'm not down there smelling the bacon (and pastries). 

Back in our hotel room we had a pretty lazy morning. The sun was shinning, but I didn't have the energy to pack up and go anywhere.  

Gracie is finding new ways to play, ruin and entertain herself in our room. It was clear today, so she was able to spend a lot of time in front of this window watching plane after plane land at the nearby airport. 
Speaking of ruining... she climbed up and reached this apple on the top of our microwave. What a stinker. She wasn't hungry, so she didn't finish it, but by the time I saw her with it she had taken multiple tiny bites out of it. 
One of the many perks of hotel life... it will be weeks before we need to purchase any more shampoo or soap. Ever since I was little I loved collecting all the "freebies" from our rooms. Craig and I would take turns - one stop I'd get the pen and notepad and he'd get the shower cap and sewing kit. We'd trade depending on what goodies were offered. I don't feel bad taking these things because we do use them and they are part of what we are paying for - right? An extra bonus from the Marriott was a little cotton bag - labeled "shoe mit." It is the perfect baby blanket for Gracie's little blue baby. She loves it!

After a nice long lunch with Merrick, Gracie and I headed back up north to Kelsie's for the afternoon. We got up there around 4, and spent the afternoon doing laundry and chatting.
Gracie at the gate, watching me unload the car.
Kelsie's folks get into town tomorrow, so she was doing a bit of cleaning. She wouldn't let me help, but she did put Gracerella to work wiping the floors. Grace was glad to be a part of the action. 
Oh Daphne - the epitome of the word "scaredy cat." She is the sweetest girl, but just a bit timid - especially around noisy Grace. She loves this kitty though, and has not stopped talking about her since this weekend. Tonight she finally got to pet the kitty, and was thrilled!

A fun surprise was "Alice" (aka Alex) getting home from work/school earlier than expected. It gave us a chance to spend a little more time with him. Kels and Alex introduced Grace and I to Rizzo's sandwiches and bread sticks - yum! After dinner Kelsie and I folded laundry, and Gracie and Alex watched the kitty some more. 

Fun times with Auntie Kels.
Giving hugs and kisses to baby Wiggles. 
A good-bye photo of us FOUR girls. I can't believe that when I see Kels again in two short months, her daughter will be with her. Saying goodbye tonight was sad... perhaps ever harder than other times. These past few days have been priceless. Thanks for making so much time for us. We love you, Alice & Car seat, and we will miss you very much. 

Flying south for the winter (day 10)...

Today ended up being a much need (mostly) day of rest. It rained all morning, which made it easy to stay inside. Merrick was at work (of course) and Grace and I had a lazy morning at our hotel. Bill picked Merrick up for lunch, so Gracie and I went out to meet them at, you guessed it, Whole Foods. Call us crazy, but their food really is good, and it is a totally safe place for my allergic family to eat. 

By the time we were done eating, the skies were blue (finally!). Grace and I walked around the little mall area for a while, and then headed "home." She was begging for a nap, so that's what we did. For the first time in nearly a week, she had a real nap in her "own" bed. She slept really well.

Around 3:30 I pulled that sleepy baby out of bed and headed to the car. We drove up to Disneyland to meet the Koch family for a bit. I had never been to Downtown Disney, so it was a fun experience. Warren, Pauline and Doug met Grace and I and we walked all around - stopping in a few stores here and there. Grace loved the big Lego store, and was very excited to see tables full of legos for her to play with. They had a huge giraffe made out of duplos (the big legos for babies). It was two stories tall - life size if you will. She loved it. I didn't have my camera out, but I think Pauline snapped a few pics.

We walked through the World of Disney store where Grace found this huge Mickey. What a treat! She did a great job of posing - silly girl. 

The five of us ended up sitting down at a great little Italian pizza restaurant. Our pizza was huge - and one of the best authentic pizzas I've ever had. It was nice to sit and chat with them and just catch up on life. I've seen Pauline a few times in the past few years, but it has been ages (6 or 7 years) since I'd seen Warren and Douglas. I've known this family for almost my entire life - and now it is fun for Gracie to know them too. She was hesitant at first, but by the end of the evening was totally attached to Warren - even calling him "papa."

After saying goodbye to our friends, we headed back to Mindspeed to pick up Merrick. I know my way around here now, but my mind was empty last night as I drove, so I took the wrong exit and ended up in the airport (not hard to do at this airport, but still...) It added a few minutes to my trip, but we got Merrick with no problems. He was a little more optimistic after his long day perhaps my Bible study ladies were praying for his progress... 

We were back to our hotel before 8 - a first on this trip - so we took advantage of the very warm outdoor pool and hot tub just down the hall. Gracie had a blast swimming, and I enjoyed reading in the warm water. After a nice warm bath and a snack with daddy, Gracie slept really well. I laid in bed and finished my book (now what will I do for the next three day - and on the trip home?). 

*I know Pauline took more pictures than I did... not sure what my deal was yesterday. Anyway, if I get any from her, I'll be sure to add them to the blog. 

Flying south for the winter (day 9)...

President's Day... the office is closed, people are relaxing, Merrick is working away in the lab - taking advantage of the quiet day to himself. Since it was a holiday, the traffic in the area was light. It made getting around easy. I dropped Merrick off at the office and then headed toward Anaheim to meet Kelsie. We went to "The Block at Orange." A nice outdoor mall - with a lot of stores that we don't have close by Portland. The only bummer was that it was absolutely pouring down rain, so the open-air mall might not have been the best choice. Don't get me wrong, I am a true non-umbrella owning Oregonian, but it's the standing water in the middle of the poorly drained sidewalks that was soaking us the most. 

We walked around the mall, stopping in a few stores to check out baby clothes, and then headed for the warmth of a dry restaurant for lunch. It was nice to sit and talk (and talk and talk). The problem with Kelsie living so far away is that we are used to spending a few hours together once or twice a year. We use the entire time to catch up on the past year of life and a brief overview of what next year has in store. This trip we have been able to enjoy more relaxed conversations through our many consecutive days of being together. We sat in Corner Bakery for a few hours talking about kids, life, work, family, husbands, goals, plans... it was great. Grace sat patiently in her stroller - enjoy lunch - and eventually just falling asleep on the spot. Have I mentioned how good she has been on this trip?

We left The Block around 3 - hoping to get ahead of any possible traffic on our return trips home. I went back to our hotel room thinking Gracie might take a short nap before leaving again... no such luck. Around 4:30 Merrick called, so we headed out to pick him up and then on to Long Beach to finally connect with the Butlers. 

Bill and Merrick go way back - perhaps kindergarten? We really enjoy the snippets of time we get to spend with Bill, Andrea and their boys, and we really wish that we were closer to them so we could spend more time with them than just our once a year trips to Orange County. It was fun to get to see the house they are living in - what a great neighborhood! Gracie loved playing with Ryan (almost 4). I think she was grateful to be back in a home with toys. We have some toys with us, but not really what she is used to. Ryan was so gracious to share everything and make her feel right at home.

We went out for a quick Baja Fresh dinner and a Trader Joe's run. The cashier gave us three balloons, and those provided quite the entertainment for these two. 
Gracie's favorite toy was the Black-n-Decker tool bench - with a table saw and drill. How could you not love it. We had to talk much louder than normal to hear each other over the constant hum of Grace's important construction in the corner. 
The more these two were together, the funnier they became. I wanted to take a picture, so Ryan was trying to get Grace to sit down right by him (so he could put his arm around her). It was cute to see him being such a good big brother to her.
A mango snack at the table. They are both on one chair - probably a little unsafe, but there were no injuries. 

We had such a great night - reconnecting, catching up on life, meeting baby Blake. Hopefully we will get to see these friends again before leaving town. 

Flying south for the winter (day 8)...

After much deliberation we decided to head to Knott's Berry Farm today. During the course of our conversation I found out that Merrick had never been. That solidified the decision. We were a little worried that it wouldn't be good for Gracie, but I think she really loved it.
At Knott's you pay depending on your height - mainly because if you are under 48 inches you can't go on any of the big roller coasters. Well, Gracie isn't close, but she is free anyway because she is under 3. Merrick and I got in for a great deal because the month of February is buy one get one free! I thought that deal, combined with the fact that it was a three day weekend would bring lots of crowd, but really it wasn't too bad. 
Right inside the entrance was this bobsled - a real USA Olympic bobsled. Grace climbed right in and sat down. You can barely see her. The sled was bigger than I thought, but I can't imagine an entire team of grown men sitting in it. 
We headed straight into Camp Snoopy (the smaller kid area) with Grace leading the way. The first ride she found was the hot air balloons. She was a little confused, but never scared. 
We then found these cars... probably her favorite ride of the day. We went three times. It doesn't look like much, but it really whipped you around the curves.
Later she rode with Merrick, and he convinced her to put her arms up like she was on a roller coaster. By the last time she rode, she was saying "weeeee" as she went around the corners. 
Merrick riding the "Jaguar." He is in the fourth car from the left. In green. Waving. It wasn't completely ideal because we had to take turns on the big rides, but it was still  a lot of fun.
Waiting for daddy to ride Montezooma's Revenge. 
Merrick - on Montezooma's - he's in the front car (again waving at us).
Merrick took Grace on Lucy's tugboat. Ironically, I had no problem riding every one of the big, loopy, scary roller coasters, but the little ones in Camp Snoopy, with nice subtle motions, made me really sick. Good thing Merrick was up to riding them over and over again with Grace. 
She came off the boat ride and around the corner with this look of "man, I'm a really big girl."
Mama's shades.
Me getting ready to be pulled up on the Boomerang. I remember riding this ride over and over when we were here with my family. It pulls you up, and then drops you into three loops, and then you do the whole thing backwards - upside down 6 times in less than a minute.
This might have been the hardest for me... and my fear of heights. You go straight up, and then free fall straight down. There was air between my buns and my seat the entire way down! So fun!
Looking up at the Supreme Scream.
Other highlights of the day were the log ride - which had a big drop, but Grace loved it. We would get off and she would say "again!" We also liked the trains, the Camp Snoopy bus, the Wild West Stunt show... and how can I not mention my amazing fried chicken lunch! We had such a great day - the lines were never bad, the rain stayed away all day, and it truly felt like a free day for Merrick away from the office.