*Squee*

one of those high pitches squealing noises made by girls, and really excited women.

Why am I excited? Because early tomorrow morning I will be leaving for Vegas… Normally my reaction to Las Vegas is “Wow… hellish heat, obnoxious crowds and drunk tourists… a thrill a moment.”

Why am I so excited this time? Well, I have a couple of reasons..

• I get to meet DaisyMoon of Knit Wits & What Knots, she and I have been online friends for several years, but never actually met in person.
• I get to go alone. No Children. I won’t have any one pestering me to feed them, to clothe them, pestering me for a goodie, for a whole 36 hours at least.

Plus, the Hubster can spend some quality time with the kids, I think he’s planning to take them to see the new Harry Potter movie while I’m gone… (who know’s maybe I’ll go see a movie too!)

6 days at Disneyland

is exhausting. Six days of showing up with the park opened. Lugging around a backpack filled with water and sandwiches, riding all the rides we can manage, standing in line, herding 3 kids… My feet and ankles were ready to jump off my body and run away from home.

We hit every single ride in both parks at least once. There were only two rides which my 5yo didn’t go on, and only because he was too short. He didn’t ride the Indiana Jones ride in Disneyland, and California Screamin’ (big roller coaster) in California Adventure. His favorite was the Matterhorn, though we road Space Mountain and Big Thunder Mountain several times each.  He particularly loved Autotopia, where he got his drivers license (several of them in fact, one for each time we rode) and when he got in the car to start driving he would say “Boogady boogady, boogady, lets go racing boys!” And once we started moving he would whip the wheel back and forth and tell me “This is how you drive Drunk!” he was hilarious.

We told the kids at the very beginning that they would each get one souvenir, on the last day we were there, so no begging for things through out the trip. They did really well until day 4 when my little got to participate in the Jedi Training Academy show. After that all he wanted was a ‘light saver’. On our last day we took him to the shop and let him build his own. He is in love with it. He has impaled, and severed all the limbs of everyone in the house, and at 5 am this morning Hubster had to tell him to turn it off and go back to sleep. Yes, he is sleeping with it.

My middle daughter chose a Tangled doll, it has hair longer than the doll is tall, she is thrilled and loving it. My oldest is out growing the toy stage. (*sob*) She chose a Mickey necklace instead of a toy. And she won’t be 11 for another couple of weeks. (*cries*)

This is our third day home, the girls are back to school, and Hubster is back to work. I’m barely recovering.

mostly a driving day.

Started in Pacifica, hit a light house along the way, were planning on seeing Hearst Castle, but between the twisty windy road making baby carsick (yuck) and the Elephant Seals on the side of the road. Not to mention the 400 potty stops, and caffeine peddler (also known as Starbucks) stops along the way, we didn’t make it before the castle tour was closed for the day.. on the upside, the kids LOVED seeing the Elephant Seals… and we made it all the way down to Buelton, and the kids and hubby had Andersons’ Pea Soup for dinner, I detest the pea soup, so I had something else.

I think we are gonna  hit Solvang, Dutch village and the La Brea Tar pits tomorrow…

Another Day on my feet.

but not as miserable and painful.

We went to  Fisherman’s wharf, and walked and walked and walked, went and looked around Ghirardelli Square, then rode the trolley to Market Square, walked up and down the hills there, pushing a stroller with the baby in it of course. Ate in a cute little 50’s diner, got back on the trolley, road back, only it didn’t go to the Wharf this time, walked our way back to the wharf.

We went to the Bay Aquarium, the kids LOVED the underwater tunnels where you could see the fish all around you, and the girls made us go through that twice. We also went to the Wax Museum, and Ripley’s believe it or not. We ate on the Wharf… then walked back up to  Ghirardelli’s for chocolates and ice cream. Brought the chocolates home, ate the ice cream there, sounded like good idea at the time. Hiked our way back to our car and made our way to the hotel.

I am exhausted, and my feet and legs ache. I think I am gonna go take a warm bath. Not sure what tomorrow’s plans are… Hubby said something about some train ride…. personally, I would kinda like to make some progress down the coast towards home.  He says Friday night we will eat in Buelten, then head through L. A. before we stop for the night, then Sat. we will take the kids to the beach for a couple hours before coming all the way home… We will see how that goes.

A day on my feet.

We went to Muir Woods and took a several mile hike… main trail was a 2 mile loop…but we kept taking side trips on other trails. so it worked out to be more than 2. It really surprised me that the only child who gave out and started whining, and ended up being carried was Ian, but really, what can you expect from a 2 year old, he did great to go as far as he did… The up and down and uneven ground killed my legs and feet, I was so glad every time we hit a paved part of the path, or even better, a boardwalk.

By the time we were done there it was time for lunch, hubby drove around for an hour before he found a place to eat… we ate, then it the Golden Gate Bridge, walked halfway out, took some pictures, walked back… by the time we got back the 6 year old was whining about her legs hurting, and mine hurt too… then we took the road up the mountain right next to the bridge. Hubby said there was a lighthouse up there, we went all the way to the top, and parked, went through the tunnels and found where and old WWII gun turret was, did a little bit more hiking and found the look out and bunker above it, by then the fog was rolling in so we headed back to the hotel. We are gonna go to the microbrewery we went to last night, then call it an early evening, and bring the kids back to the room, I am gonna take a load of laundry, mostly the baby’s jeans, to wash them and let hubby deal with the kids for a bit. Ahh… peace!

The plan for tomorrow is Fisherman’s Wharf and Ghirardelli Square and I don’t know what else before we head further down the coast and find a motel down there.