Like I said in my last post, we painted almost everything upstairs. Mira and Cecily's bedrooms were done last fall. But we painted my bedroom (all the walls and ceiling), the front room walls and ceiling, the entryway walls, the living room walls, the kitchen walls, and the great room ceiling. I still need to do the entryway ceiling, the wall around the front door, the hallway, and the mud room and laundry room.
Painting the ceilings in the great room.
Before we got everything ripped out, but after we painted everything, we went on a 2-week-long road trip to Vegas and California. We went to Vegas, LA, Solvang, Pismo Beach, Monterey, and San Franscisco. We were supposed to go north to the Redwoods after that, but I couldn't take anymore packing up and unpacking and packing and unpacking and adding 8 more hours of driving on top of the 12 it was going to take to get home anyway. I'm really sad we didn't get to see the Redwoods together. But I'm also REALLY glad we didn't have to drive for 20 more hours after San Francisco. Blargh! That would have been awful.
We slept at Grandma and Grandpa Watts' house while we explored Vegas.
After spending Sunday, June 29th, going to church and hanging out with Grandma and Grandpa, Me, Mira, Cecily, and Emilia went to Vegas on Monday to take in OmegaMart and see the Bellagio fountains. Steve and the littles stayed in St. George and swam in the pool.
OmegaMart is an "immersive art experience." Which really doesn't tell you anything right? I had no idea what I was getting myself into going in.
When we first arrived, we just wandered around looking at all the weird stuff. We felt a little disappointed because it seemed like there was a story, but we didn't know how to follow it. And without knowing how to follow the story, it was like wandering around in a weird museum where you didn't recognize any of the artwork or understand what you were looking at.
I went and talked to a cashier and asked if there were any add-ons that would allow us to do more and she said they had a $3 card that would allow us to do a few things and a $50/person pass that would give us all the ability to do a big scavenger hunt. Well, it had cost us $65 a person to get in and even adding one extra $50 charge seemed like too much. I was trying to keep costs low because a 2 week road trip trying to feed and house 7 people isn't cheap and we were already stretching our budget with what we had planned. So I declined getting the scavenger hunt.
But then, as we went to explore a bit more, we happened to be in the same room as a group of young guys following around one of the "scientists" who worked there. They pulled us into their group and he started showing us how to decode the clues in different rooms throughout the building. We solved a couple of puzzles and then he had us all huddle together. He said, "Don't tell anyone else, but here is a card that you could buy downstairs for $3. Use it at the kiosks around the site and it will help you walk through the story of what happened here." And then he just gave us one.
I felt so blessed! The way the cashier had described the $3 cards, it didn't seem like they would do anything special. But we only needed one and we got one for free and it was exactly what we were hoping for! I truly felt that God was watching out for me and my kiddos and helping us to enjoy this experience. We spent another couple of hours following all the clues. Right before we were going to head out, they started an alien dance party that we were invited to join. How could one resist, right? If you want to watch a video I made while we were at the dance party, you can see it here.
After our OmegaMart adventure, we went out to dinner at Smashburger. Smashburger was located in a mall with a parking garage. And if you've ever been to Vegas, you know you have to pay a lot for parking in garages because they keep your car out of the heat. It was 103 that day and I was happy it wasn't hotter the first week of July. When we picked Smashburger, I didn't realize it was at a mall. So I was a little disappointed to find out I would have to pay for parking. But it took us forever to decide on one restaurant everyone would be happy with, so I sucked it up and didn't say anything. We went and had our meal and then headed out to go see the fountains. When we went to pay, the garage arm was wide open! Apparently the mall had closed while we were eating and after they close, they no longer charge for parking. Another little miracle that helped me feel watched out for. It was funny though because Cecily kept telling me I should go back and pay. Or that I'd cheated the system and someone was going to be mad. I think she was rather worried about us not having to pay for parking and I was over here feeling super blessed! Haha. Perspective.
We decided to park in the Bellagio parking garage because I didn't want the kids walking the main drag at 9pm and I wasn't exactly sure where I could park nearby that would be any cheaper. Plus, I already avoided two large extra costs (the scavenger hunt and parking at the mall), so I felt okay paying for parking here. When we got out of the car, we realized we were supposed to pay at a kiosk and put the ticket back in the car. But the kiosk WOULD NOT take my card. I tried four different times and it just kept giving me an error message. I didn't know what else to do, and we weren't planning to stay long, so (to Cecily's concern and dismay) I decided we would figure it out when we left. The fountains "dance" to a song every 15 minutes, so we all stood and waited for the first song. But we think Em has POTS, and it was still HOT despite the sun going down and standing makes all the blood drop to her feet and it makes her sick and light headed. So while I kept our spot at the railing, all three kids laid down on a strip of grass that was downhill. They laid so their heads were downhill, which is a little weird, but it was perfect to help Em get the blood back up to her head. It was so funny to me, though, because everyone walking by (and there were a lot of people walking by) gave them funny looks or did a double take. In a city with so much bling and show, it was so ironic that my kids were the weird thing to stare at. Haha. I had to chuckle about it.
We enjoyed four fountain shows and then we got in the elevator to head back to our car. A couple of well-dress guys got in with us carrying a pizza box and take out containers. They engaged us in conversation and asked if we wanted some of their pizza. We declined because we'd all eaten a lot of dinner. But we laughed because they said, "We lost so much money, they gave us a free pizza, but we don't need it." Haha.
Driving out of the parking garage, we got in the line behind the ticket taker machines. There were guys standing there helping people. SO when I pulled up next to the machine, I explained that that the kiosk wouldn't give me a ticket. He said, "Are you staying at the hotel?" I told him no. He asked, "Are you from Nevada?" I said, no. And he was like, "That's fine, just go through." And he opened the gate for us! Another small miracle. I didn't have to pay for parking once!
Next, we were off to Los Angeles. We stayed at a small airbnb in Alhambra. The downtown was cute and they had a park near the house with a turtle pond that the little ones loved.
We were supposed to go to the Griffith Observatory that night. That's the one thing Steve wanted to do in LA. And Cecily really wanted to see the Hollywood sign, which is located in the same park as the observatory, so we were going to do both that night. But since we had such a late night coming back from Vegas, we didn't leave St. George as early as we'd hoped and we were all tired and hungry when we arrived. We ended up getting dinner and going to bed early.
The airbnb was a little questionable. The listing said it would house up to 8 people, but when we got there, two of the mattresses had zero bedding, there were only 3 plates and like 4 forks. And there was no dishwasher. Also the shower was clogged. We ended up using the top sheets from the two beds that did have bedding as the bottom sheets for the two that didn't and used towels and a small blanket from the car to cover up for the night. The next day the owner brought us more bedding and unclogged the shower. We worked around the plate and forks problem. And the house was cheap enough to afford and had good air conditioning, so I'll call it mostly a win. :)
The next day was Wednesday, July 2. We decided to go to the beach for the day. We were expecting hot temperatures, but it was actually pretty cold. In the sixties on the beach. And the water was FREEZING. Steve brought a wetsuit, but Mira and Cecily wave surfed in just their swimsuits. Crazy pantses. Since my cousin Bill lives near there, we invited him to spend the day with us and he did! He took the day off, met us at the beach, and then fed all of us dinner. It was amazing to spend a day with him and catch up, see Carolina and Lucas, and play in the sand and waves. And he fed us ribs! It couldn't have been a better day. <3 If you want to watch the short video I made at the beach, you can watch it here.
The next day, we planned to go to Little Tokyo in the morning and The Broad museum around 2pm. We had to reserve our free tickets at the end of June, so we picked that time thinking we'd have plenty of time in the morning to explore Little Tokyo and we wanted to be back at the airbnb for dinner so we didn't have to eat out twice. Well, we are terrible at getting out of the house at a decent time. Especially since the airbnb had only one bathroom. So we barely made it to Little Tokyo in time to eat lunch and that took over an hour, so we only had about 20 minutes to look around at the stores before we had to leave for the museum. The sushi and ramen was amazing though and me and the kids decided we would just have to return to Little Tokyo after. Steve was not as enthused about that plan, so when we returned, he stayed in the car and parked on the street so we didn't have to pay another $20 to park in a third garage for the day.
Waiting to get into the restaurant for lunch:
There were giant fake balloon animals and other creations like these flowers at the museum.
The Broad was hosting an exhibition by a particular artist that played with light as their medium. I can't remember the name of the artist unfortunately. The pictures don't do it justice. It was so pretty! It freaked out Jules and Harrison a little bit but they made it through. We had to go into the small room in two different groups, so I don't have pictures of everyone.
Everyone picked out a souvenir or two back in Little Tokyo. Mira and Cecily were especially excited to find out there was a Sega pop-up store there because of a convention in town and they had a ton of Sonic the Hedgehog merch. Everyone left happy. It was a fun little place to visit!
Because we were headed out the next day, and we still hadn't seen the Griffith Observatory or the Hollywood sign, we decided it had to be done that same day. So despite everyone being tired, we ate a quick dinner and headed back out to Griffith Park. We didn't realize that the Griffith Observatory was THE PLACE to be on 4th of July eve. It was packed. We were in stop and go traffic all the way to the top of the hill and then THEY CLOSED PARKING, so we just had to drive back down again. No suggestions where to park instead. Nothing. We realized at the bottom that we could park there and hike to the top, but after a full day of walking the city, we were in no mood to hike.
We decided to try to find the Hollywood sign before it got too dark to see it. It was supposed to be nearby, but as we followed Google maps, we realized it was at the top of an exclusive neighborhood. The streets there were so narrow, only one car could fit through. And they were winding, steep roads. The people who lived there obviously did not want tourists cramming the place with cars. We made it nearly to the observation point to find out the last bit of road was blocked off. Luckily, we did have a decent view on the way there and on the way down, with the van at a 45 degree angle, we were close enough to get an awesome view. Mira and Cecily braved climbing out of the car and getting a shot with it. :) I love my crazy kids.
Then, in one last attempt to see the observatory, we headed back over there. It was a little less crowded this time and they let us into the parking lot at least, but there were zero parking spots. I finally spotted a car pulling out just as we were headed back down the mountain/hill and yelled, "Stop, stop, stop!" at Steve to get him to maneuver into the spot. Once we'd parked, we realized there was a sign there that said it was for taxis or ubers only. SMH. I was like, NO WAY are we driving this loop again. I WILL SIT IN THIS CAR AND PRETEND I'M WAITING FOR SOMEONE. The rest of you go in and see the sights. I was only a tiny smidgen disappointed to not see through the telescope until everyone came back and I found out that they would only let you look at the moon and the line was like 1/2 an hour long. Nobody actually looked through the telescope. Plus the building itself was a madhouse and it was only about 45 degrees out there with the wind chill. Em and Harrison and Jules came back almost immediately, and the others looked around for a few minutes and left. We decided we needed treats as we drove back to the airbnb, but we couldn't agree on what kind, so we drove to the grocery store and picked up several options and ate them at "home."
The view from the observatory road the first time through the loop:
The next day was the 4th and we had decided we were going to watch fireworks from the beach at Pismo Beach. They lit fireworks from a barge in the bay and that sounded like a lot of fun. Steve had mentioned Solvang though and we wanted to see the Danish town, so we stopped there on the way. It was such a cute town. It reminded me of Poulsbo, in Washington, but on steroids. So many cute shops, so much Danish architecture. So much yummy Danish food. We decided to eat leftovers for lunch once we got there so we could splurge on ice cream and baked goods to our hearts content. They even had 10+ gluten free options! I didn't like most of them, but it was so fun to try all the new things I'd never heard of before I didn't even care. I did long for a Danish danish though. *sighs wistfully*
After our treats, we headed up to our hotel and deli dinner in Pismo. Unfortunately once we arrived, Steve was researching the parking situation and found out that the beachside fireworks was not actually a super safe, family-friendly activity. We ended up driving back to Solvang and watching the display from the side of the road there. In previous years, most of the kids DID NOT like the big fireworks. The noise was too much for them. But something about being on vacation and having an adventure made everyone brave. They LOVED them and are excited to see more next year.
The next day, we planned on spending another day at the beach. Some of us did go to the beach, but it was so stinking cold! I had goosebumps all day long. I didn't want to wade in the water or stay on the windy, windy beach too long, despite it having a decent amount of seashells.
You can see a video of the littles playing with hermit crabs in the tide pools here.
We only stayed out for a few hours and then everyone was ready to go home and warm up. It seemed like such a waste of a day, and Jules and Harrison were so bored at the hotel room. We didn't even get good enough internet for them to watch Netflix on the Ipad. So I ended up driving them back up to Pismo to a little "kids exploratorium" of sorts. They had tons of different interactive toys and activities for them to do, like a stuffy vet, a kitchen and grocery store, a lego, lincoln log, and magnet tile area, a marble run, a fish tank, a big electric train, a place to launch paper rockets, musical instruments, and more. That day they were celebrating a milestone and had ice cream and cupcakes and were giving away stuffies to every kid that came. Jules and Harrison had so much fun. It was a perfect afternoon activity. Another little miracle that made me feel loved. When we got back, we went out to dinner and had another early night.
Next, we were off to Monterey. Steve had fond memories of going to the Monterey Bay Aquarium and he wanted to share that with the kids. Once again, it was so much colder than I expected it to be in July in California. I always think of California as a summer state with warm, temperate weather all year long. Nope. I was wrong. It is actually just cold. All. The. Time. Want to visit? Wear your flannels and long pants no matter what time of year it is.
The Aquarium was cool. Not worth the admission price for one visit with 7 people in my opinion, but still cool. There was one area that they had water wash over a windowed area, so it felt like you were under a waterfall that all of us enjoyed. You can see it here.
After the aquarium, Steve realized that a pizza place he had eaten at as a kid was still in business, so we had to go, of course. Pizza places are hard when you're gluten free and really shouldn't be eating a lot of dairy. The gluten free pizza was some of the best I've ever had though. And the regular pizza was oozing with toppings and cheese. It looked delicious. Unfortunately, it wasn't a favorite of the kids who aren't huge fans of tons of toppings or cheese. They said they would have enjoyed a Costco or Little Caesars more. They did like the breadsticks though. We ended up ordering like 15 of them (they were like a foot long each) so everyone got enough to eat. Lesson learned. Don't buy expensive pizza for picky eaters. 😂
After one night in a hotel room with 3 queen beds and an air mattress (one was in a separate room for Steve), we packed up again and headed to a whale watching tour. We were all excited for this. Steve loves whales and all of the kids have watched Octonauts enough to be excited to have our own ocean adventure aboard a boat. They guaranteed whale sightings and google said the chances of seeing whales at any time of year in the Monterey Bay area are almost 100%.
Sadly, it was highly disappointing. We did see whales. But the boat we were on was so big that they had to stay quite a ways away from the whales so not to hurt them. And it was even colder on a boat than it was on the beach. I thought I might never feel my feet again at one point. Half way through the tour, the driver of the boat decided to leave the place where there were 15 or so whales to go find dolphins. They never did find any and we just ended up driving around the cold ocean for 40 minutes and then going back to the dock. If you want to see what we did see, you can watch the video here.
On our way to San Francisco from there, we stopped in Coopertino, the city Steve grew up in. We found the house his parents built themselves and the house his grandfather built. We ate lunch at the park next to his elementary school.
The airbnb in San Francisco was great. On a big hill, but that's kind of expected when you're in San Francisco. We relaxed our first night there and then the next day, we went to the Exploratorium on Pier 15. This place was so cool! We could have spent 8 hours there probably. Three hours was definitely not enough. We made it through maybe half of the exhibits and activities.
Making giant bubbles:
That night, Steve and Mira and Cecily went to a Giants game. I really wanted to go, but Em really didn't want to, and we didn't think Jules and Harrison would make it through a whole game. Steve grew up with them being his team, so I thought it was fitting that he take Mira and Ces. It ended up being an AMAZING game. The Giants won by one point in the last inning with the CATCHER hitting an inside-the-park walk-off home run. First one since 1926! They were so pumped when I picked them up from the stadium, they were glowing. I may have been highly jealous. :D You can see the game recap reel here, so you can feel jealous that you weren't at the game, too.
The next day, even though Steve and I both tried our best to talk them out of it, the kids insisted they needed to get ice cream at Ghiradelli Square. Each of them got a "Sunday" that cost three times more than tub of ice cream from the grocery store. And all but one of them were disappointed with it. Basically vanilla ice cream with hot fudge that tasted weird to some of us. Two of them didn't even finish. *sigh* Harrison did find a keepsake trolley train that works on his wooden train tracks so that was a win. Since Ghirardelli Square was a disappointment, we decided to explore. We walked along the beach, took in a little maritime museum with some history of the city and the pier and a scavenger hunt for the littles, climbed a hill to an overgrown city garden with a view, and bought a couple souvenirs and some fish and chips along the wharf. It sounds more fun than it was. ALL of it was cold. But the adventure of it and being together was the best part.
Jules found a bug friend:
Also, Mira bought a mascot for the road trip home--Werehog Sonic. He's so ugly, he's cute:
After being cold for literally a week, and all the moving people around, and all the walking and not great sleep, we decided to head home. We stopped at the bridge, but it was too early in the day for the fog to have burned off, so this is all we could see (and all we were really expecting to see). :)
We stopped outside of Sacramento at a farm stand and found out that all the kids like tamales. Who would have guessed? We also got Pomegranate Honey, which is SO mouthwateringly good. I didn't know honey could taste that different. But it does. And it's amazing. There was road work in Sacramento and we unknowingly took a detour onto highway 50. Not wanting to drive through Lake Tahoe, Steve decided to take another back road back to I-80. It was not much faster. Haha. It added like another hour to our road trip at least. We finally made it into Springville around 11pm, I think? Unloaded as fast as we could and collapsed into bed.
This post was a marathon and I need to go to sleep. Goodnight everyone!
