I love summer

(Cousins!)

Especially when the humidity is low in D.C.! I love the feeling of freedom summer brings. I guess that comes from being out of school as a child. It makes me want to pack up my bags for a couple of hours, a couple of days, even a couple of weeks and head outside, or to someplace new or different and just enjoy the fact that there is time to explore outside of our routinized life from September - May. I love the freedom I have as a stay-at-home mom to take Daniel to the aquarium on the day he wakes up and says, "Can we go see some turtles somewhere?" or to plan an 11 day trip that turns into 12 days without the stress of having to get back on the planned return day when the airport is so crowded we can't get our bags checked and through security in time for our flight.

Our trip out west was so great. We had lots of Denney time with Johanna, Darrel, Ty, Kim and Baby James. (Although, not as much time with Ty & Kim, but at least we got to see them!) I think California is so beautiful, and by the time we left Daniel would even point out and observe remarkable moutains, blue skies, and the ocean. We even had some excited "ooohs" from Elizabeth, too!

We began the trip getting over our jet lag. We had a nonstop flight from Baltimore that arrived in CA at 1 a.m. eastern time. Daniel slept for the last two hours of the flight, but E was WIRED. She fell asleep on final descent and stirred little at baggage claim and the rental car pickup. We went to the beach and the La Jolla aquarium on Sat and Sun and headed up to Disneyland on Monday. We had so much fun! I had low expectation of D-land, but really liked it! The kids did, too. We rode rides and watched the Star Wars Jedi training show which Daniel will be talking about for years to come. Darth Vadar in person. It was better than Christmas morning!

(We finally go him a light saber. It was the perfect time right before the show.)

On Tuesday, we drove down to San Diego to the zoo, which is just amazing. They have all of the best animals, and unlike our zoo, they are RIGHT in front of you. National Zoo is great, but the pandas are often about 100 feet away. At San Diego Zoo, they are so clearly visible - all of them!

Wed. we headed down to Coronado for lunch & a bit of strolling around before driving up to Ty's desert oasis on Thursday. We had a fun time jumping around at this indoor moonbounce palace, and the kids had their first snowcone! Daniel wasn't crazy about it; Elizabeth drank the syrup from the cup! We loved on Baby James and now know what it means when people describe 115 degrees as a "dry heat." We celebrated the 4th in the pool and fun backyard of some of their friends before heading back to San Diego on Sunday so Scott could fly out for work. On Monday, we found a great playground in Carlsbad and scored some major deals at Baby Gap there. After turning in the rental car and standing in line for just over an hour, we were rebooked on a flight the next day, so the kids, Aunt Jo, and I headed to Sea World for Tuesday afternoon and evening. We had the nicest ticket sales rep I have ever met, who scored us a discount and two free tickets! Daniel was brave and went to the Shamu show, even though it was "woud" and LOVED it. The expression on Elizabeth's face was priceless because you could tell she did not understand what the hoopla was all about and then she noticed the huge orca whale launching out of the water. When it was over Daniel told me to check the schedule to see when the next show would be! So, we stayed on and saw the sea lion and walrus show before heading back to J & D's. We could not have asked for better weather during the trip.

(Mmmmmm, first ice cream sandwich!)

I earned my mom scout badge in travel by only breaking a sweat twice (and raising my voice once) on the five hour, three-of-us-in-two-seats, flight back to the east coast. It was long, but really okay. I give Daniel and Elizabeth a lot of credit for being patient and making it through without a single meltdown, just some occasional snarling at each other and whining.