California adventures

During our trip last week to the Compound, I was ordered asked to give a more upbeat update on mamacita. So…

Mom is great.
Mom is good.
And we thank her for our food…

There, that should do it. No, seriously. Mom looks great and is feeling even better as she starts her new chemo regime that requires less time in the doctors office and more time livin it up.

We had a funtastic trip to California this past week for a little R & R. We spent a few days poolside at the parental Compound, where Rob and Colin were fighting to take turns going down the slide. Then we hit the road to points west. First stop was Six Flags Discovery Kingdom. We got there as the park opened, hoping to beat any last-chance summer crowds because I hate crowds. Really. It’s nearing a phobia. Not of the crowds themselves, but the fear that I’m going to bash some idiots head in for giving in to herd mentality. Case in point – the park characters come out for a big whoo-ha opening dance. We ended up right up front because no one was there yet. Did that stop a couple and their ginormous stroller from shoving their way in front of us – even though we were CLEARLY there first? No. Did Rob stop me from ramming our stroller into their hamstrings? Yes.

Anyway, the park has quite a lot to offer the toddler-set. And we had no problems getting Colin on all the rides he could go on. One of us usually had to go on with him. And by one of us, I mean Rob. I did take my turn, but Rob actually really loves rides and roller coasters so who am I to stop him from squeezing his six-foot plus frame into an itty bitty jeep or submarine to go round and round with the Boy? They did look awfully cute together.

Rob had to go solo on the big mamma-jamma coasters. Me and my innards preferred to stay with Colin and watch daddy go loop the loop. Turns out that loop the loops make Rob’s back go “spaz the spaz” on the morning after. Poor fella. Them vertebrae aren’t as young as they used to be!

As we happily shelled out ten bucks for Colin to get his face painted like a blue kitty cat manly tiger, I realized that my parents never said no to us when we were on vacation and really had to have that chintzy life-will-be-over-without-it souvenir or snack. Considering we were pretty much a herd ourselves, that impressed me in hindsight. Thanks mom and dad! Tangent much? Anyway, we loaded Colin up with frozen lemonade and “don’t tell me what’s in it” park treats and called it day when the grouchies started to kick in.

We continued on to the Happy Hideout (our family cabin in Bodega Bay – or as the savvy tourism marketers call it “the Sonoma Coast,” or as we call it, The Place Where Time Stands Still and Root Beer Colored Carpet Reigns Supreme) for the rest of the weekend. On Saturday, we decided to head up to Fort Ross to kill some time while the sun hid behind the fog. The road is twisty and windy and unfortunately for The Boy, urppy as well. He was a trooper on the way up, but the road home proved to be a bit too much for even his iron tummy. Good thing we had a rental! I can’t blame him, I was feeling a bit woozy myself. So we headed home, cleaned him up and hit the beach for a little while.

Colin actually slept in a big bed by himself for the first time. We created a nest of pillows so he wouldn’t roll off (had a close call the first night) and he loved his “cuddly ness.” He's still in a crib at home, he likes it and doens't climb out, so I'm not going to rock that boat until I have to. But it's nice to know he wasn't up roaming the house in the middle of the night.

We came back to the Compound for a BBQ with my brothers’ families (sis and crew were off in AZ) and then off to the airport for home. As we touched down in the cold, rainy Portland airport we decided we had a good time overall and were glad to get out of dodge for a few days.

This week I’m off to Eastern Oregon for work and we get to have Oma and Opa fun this weekend. Then, I think, summer will be safely put to bed for another year. We’ll be happy for a bit slower pace this fall and winter. Although with the big 3 only a few months off, I think that vision is going to have a hard time coming to fruition.

PS – Happy Anniversary Rob! And Happy Anniversary to Mom and Dad tomorrow!