Eli enjoyed his first s'more over the weekend and I thought, before it's officially summer around here again (although, who am I kidding - a few nice days and we're more or less in summer mode already!), how about I let you all in on what we did on our summer vacation...finally!
Kinda like we're feeling now, we kicked off our "summer" of travel in late spring with a day trip to the Monterey Bay Aquarium (still trying to plan a return visit when we'll hopefully stay overnight and check out that crazy playground), via a brief donut detour to San Jose's Psycho Donuts, where they hand out bubble wrap while you wait in line.
The donuts were a bigger hit, of course, but only slightly.
As I probably mentioned here and there last summer, we went on two road trips and hosted family for a week in the middle. First up was a somewhat last-minute trip to Bend, Oregon, to visit my Dad and Grandma and enjoy a small-town 4th of July celebration. It was the best 4th I've had in a long time (confirming my belief that 4th of July is one of those holidays best enjoyed in small towns).
The nice thing about road trips, of course, is the extra cargo space. We brought Eli's scoot bike on both of our road trips and it proved really useful for keeping him entertained and moving without necessarily going anywhere.
At this point, of course, I don't remember everything we did on that trip (or the two other trips/visits I'll write about, for that matter) - there was some hiking, a visit to the High Desert Museum, a little wading in the lake above (but absolutely no interest in renting a boat), and, of course, 4th of July shenanigans.
We went to Bend's downtown area to enjoy the parade (the highlight of which was this floating dog, a la Up), then walked to Drake Park for the carnival and tour of one of the city's firetrucks.
Ah, fire science - always a hit with Elias. The grand finale, of course, was letting him stay up until about 10 p.m. to view his first fireworks.
We got him ready for bed and let him watch most of Happy Feet to kill time and if this kid can do one thing well, it's stay awake. He crashed on the short drive home and, for possibly the first time in his life, transferred from car seat to bed without waking up. We'll never know how late he may have slept in (probably not very) since we got up at the crack of dawn the next morning to begin our return drive home.
Next up was a visit from my brother and his kids plus a weekend overlapping visit from my Dad. It was interesting trying to come up with things to do to keep three kids, ranging in age from 3 to 14, entertained.
We mostly kept it local and low-key, checking out favorite playgrounds, for example, and hitting the Oakland Zoo, of course (where Eli enjoyed his first trip on the Safari Sky Ride), but we did spend one day in Six Flags. There's definitely a lot to do and for all ages, but the areas Elias enjoyed were, not surprisingly, completely separate from those enjoyed by the older members of our group. So while I'm glad we went, I wouldn't necessarily recommend it for a mixed-age group unless, of course, you want some time apart!
For the kid who hasn't sat in a stroller in years, the amusement park creates a pretty good workout for Daddy.
Future babysitter?
I remember in writing about our trip a year before describing how Elias was instantly smitten with my niece Adriana, now 11. I think it may have gone from adorable to a little annoying on this trip but my niece was a great sport and tolerated her little shadow pretty well, even letting Elias help her pick out nail polish, above.
Our final trip/visit of the summer was also the break between daycare and preschool. Eli's daycare buddies Hazel and Jack, above, both went to different schools (and Hazel has since moved with her family out of state - something we're all pretty bummed about). But I digress...
For our final trip/visit, we drove south to Escondido, primarily to visit Neal's brother and his family, who had just added a baby boy to their brood. Grandma Joanne traveled with us and, being the larger group that we were, we opted to stay in a vacation rental in central Escondido. Other than an incredibly noisy air conditioner, the house was a huge hit all around. Everyone had their own room, there was a living room for morning TV and evening relaxing, a full kitchen and dining area for the miserly traveler's breakfast cereal eating and picnic lunch packing (and the most family-friendly Trader Joe's just a few minutes drive away - miniature shopping carts, coloring pages, extra samples), and a nice outdoor area for scoot bike riding, mentioned above.
Better yet, the house was just a few minutes drive to Peterson's Donut Corner, home of some of the best donuts I've ever had (we really don't eat that many donuts, I swear...okay, maybe we do).
On our first full day, we'd planned to get together as a group (Moms and Dads, a three year old, a two year old, a newborn, and Grandma) and have professional photos taken. Elias fell asleep during the half-hour drive, if that, there, and above is how he stayed for the first half of the photo shoot, even staying asleep through several transfers from Mommy to Daddy and back again. After he woke up, he was cranky and uncooperative. We did manage to get a few great pics, though, of various family groupings and individual, candid shots.
Other than visiting family, highlights included Balboa Park - checking out the model train museum, taking a train ride and carousel ride, and enjoying a picnic lunch in the courtyard of the art studio area - the San Diego Zoo Safari Park, and Legoland.
Navigating our way through the safari park, previously known as the Wild Animal Park.
Legoland photo op!
Legoland was a hit, as I figured it would be for a three year old, and cousin Maddie, who had just turned two, looking very glamorous here in her pink shades.
My only complaint is that the park is really geared toward families with an even number of family members, i.e. four seats to a ride or two plus two. There were several rides where one of us would have to ride solo, or with Grandma, and since Eli was on a total Daddy kick that week (that week - ha!), it was usually me.
In addition, we were able to rendez-vous with my Aunt Karen and Uncle Tom who were in El Centro at the time. We met them on Coronado island for some frolicking on the beach, lunch at a great BBQ place, and some overdue catching up. It was such a nice bonus to be able to see some of my family - anyone who's familiar with the area knows that El Centro is a solid, and probably very hot, two hour drive. I was really appreciative that my aunt and uncle met us down there and just love that last picture of Eli with my Uncle Tom.
Phew, busy week, busy summer! And a long post. I really need to do this blogging thing more often! Hopefully I can get completely caught up on holidays and other winter shenanigans before another busy summer begins!
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