Becky's Day to Day Stuff: Vacation!

We got back last week from one of the best vacations! We went to San Jose for our 4th anniversary. It was so much fun. Nathan has family there so we got to hang out with them too. It was really nice to get to know them better. We really had a great time... overall. As we were descending into San Jose, Josh started complaining that his stomach hurt. Just as we landed he had a major explosion. Poor little guy. It went all the way down to his brand new spider man socks!
We made it over to his grandma's house that night after checking into the hotel and a quick bath for "Stinky Bumb Boy". It was great to finally see where she lived and the hill that Nathan and his friend (in all their wisdom) attempted to skateboard down- nearly killing themselves.
The next day we went to San Francisco. I love that place! We drove the boys over the Golden Gate Bridge. Had lunch at Fisherman's Wharf (a fresh crab, clam chowder in a bread bowl, fries, and sourdough bread). And did some souvenir shopping at Pier 39. On the way back we stopped at a Turkish restaurant- the only one we've been able to find since we've been back from Germany. It was sooooo tasty!
Sunday we met up with Nathan's family and drove to Capitola where we had lunch at a Mexican restaurant owned by Nathan's aunt (I think). We met more family there and then hung out at the beach. The food was great! I had a prawn enchilada that was amazing. And the boys LOVED playing on the beach. I didn't get to chat with his family as much as I would have liked but they all seemed very nice and I really enjoyed meeting them. After all of that we continued our drive south to Monterey where we spent the night. Our hotel was great. The boys really liked it too. There was lots of room for them to run around.
The next morning we met Nathan's uncle at the Aquarium. Nicholas LOVED the sea otters. Josh loved the "splash zone". They were both a little cranky so we didn't stay too long. And we took a break to go get lunch. I guess one of Monterey's little things is deep fried artichoke hearts. Wow!!! I think I could possibly live off those. Although the garlic and the calories- no one would want to spend a lot of time around me and I probably wouldn't live a very long life. But, they were so yummy.
We drove back up to San Jose that night and checked into our hotel and then went out to dinner. The next day we spent the majority of our time at Grandma's house. Josh had some great lightsaber battles with cousin Joe and Uncle Brent. Grandma June also made him a birthday cake. It was great!
The next morning Aunt Sharon took me and the boys to the airport and we headed home. The kids were pretty well behaved. We had the whole row to ourselves which was great. SO GREAT! As we were descending into Salt Lake, Josh started complaining that his tummy hurt. YIKES! Not again! I told him whatever he did... don't poop.
As we were getting off the plane I was telling Josh how proud I was of him that he was such a good boy. He didn't cry. He didn't talk rude. He was a good helper. And then in a not-so-quiet voice he said, "Yeah Mom. And I didn't poop!" The lady in front of us stopped, and while laughing turned around and said, "Yeah. And he didn't even poop." Which in my opinion, is always a good thing.
The only real downside to the trip (other than Josh's bumb problems) was trying to get the kids to sleep at night. That was more than a little difficult. Sleep was not something that we got alot of on this trip. Any of us.
Nathan had to stay in San Jose for a few more days for work so that wasn't fun. We really missed him. And he probably thought he would get to come home and relax. Nope. We instead went over to my parents house and got our 55 gallon tank (that they gave us) that has been sitting there with nasty water in it for longer than I know. We got it cleaned up and turned it into a salt water tank (with my brothers help). We now have 101 gallons of salt water in our house. It was a two day job and our backs may never be the same.
Who knows. Maybe someday I'll know sleep again. Either way, our trip to San Jose will definitely need to be repeated annually. It was a blast!

All of us at the Golden Gate Bridge: