California

We had the chance to go to California at the end of July for a family reunion/vacation. We left Sunday after church and drove to Escondido to stay with N's parents in their trailer. Also visiting (in their own trailer) were N's brother and his family. The kids traveled well, except for K. He talked/screamed the entire way, and not because he had a good reason. He was basically just trying to keep himself awake. It was quite the drive.

When we got to Escondido we opened the van doors and we all did a happy dance because the weather was beautiful. It was actually cool! Probably mid-70's and breezy. We took the kids up to a park to let them run around for a little bit (they really needed to stretch after being in the van for so long). N commented that he almost needed his jacket!

That night the fun began. H woke up in the middle of the night complaining that her ear hurt and that she needed her hair brushed because she couldn't get her fingers through it. She had been sick the week before and was still getting over it when we left. I gave her some motrin and noticed that her hair was all stringy and ratty. I realized then that her ear was draining-alot. I woke N up thinking we might need to take her to the ER and we decided that I would call the pediatrician in the morning and see what they thought.

In the morning, we all got ready for our trip to Sea World (the part of the trip H was looking forward to the most). I called the ped and they said we needed to get her to urgent care because she may have ruptured her eardrum. I talked to N and H about it and H wanted nothing to do with it. She wanted to go to Sea World. End of story. So, she toughed it out with her ear draining all day and everything.
The kids LOVED Sea World. We saw almost everything. We saw the dolphin show, the flamingos, the rays and eels, the sharks, the seal lion and otter show (which H loved. She laughed the whole way through), the Sesame Street 4-D movie, the Cirque de la Mer show, the penquins, we rode the rides at the Sesame Street Bay of Play, and of course, we saw Shamu.

We discovered that K is not a very good waiter. He just wouldn't sit still. Then, once a show started he would ask if it was over and he would continue to ask throughout the show. (I don't think we'll be taking him to Disney any time soon. I can only imagine how he'd do waiting in lines.) Despite H's ear she had a great time. She was so excited to see Shamu (it was all we heard about for the week before we left). M did great, as well. N carried him most of the time in the carrier and he slept a lot of the day. He was awake to see Shamu, and wasn't the least bit happy when he got splashed in the face by Shamu. Twice. (Side note: K hid under the bench when Shamu started splashing.) Sea World was a long day and the kids crashed on the drive back to the trailer. We couldn't even get them to wake up to eat dinner.

The next morning H and I went to urgent care to get her ear checked out because it was still draining. After an hour wait we got in to see the doctor who said he didn't see a hole in her eardrum, but it was bulging and swollen. He said the pressure from coming over the mountains probably released the pressure behind her eardrum and caused it to drain. He prescribed an antibiotic, gave us a bottle of motrin and some mucinex samples, and sent us on our way.

So, it was on to Oceanside to the family reunion. We arrived at the camp ground and got all situated. We visited with everyone that day and had a great time being outside. We also found out there had been an earthquake in LA, but we didn't feel it.

Wednesday, which H declared was the greatest day of her life, we went to Balboa Park. We rode the carousel and then walked around a little. H saw a dinosaur on the side of a building and just had to go inside. It was the San Diego Natural History Museum. The kids loved seeing the dino skeletons. There was a water exhibit which was fun to see. There were also snakes, lizards and other animals all over inside. There was a huge shark hanging from the ceiling and K was terrified of it. It was all we could do to get him to stand for a picture with it.

Thursday we all went to Oceanside Beach. Let me just say, H is a beach baby. She LOVED the ocean. K liked the ocean, too. It was the sea weed that scared him. Seriously. He shrieked anytime any sea weed came near him and made whoever was standing by him pick him up. Even the sea weed on the beach scared him. M wasn't too fond of the water, but that could have been because it was cold. We attempted sand castles. K declared mine to be a volcano. In my defense, I was just getting a pile of sand and hadn't even started my actual castle.

Friday we came home. The ride was much quieter as K fell asleep and stayed asleep until Blythe. Even though our vacation was fun I think we were all happy to be home. M was thrilled to be able to stretch out on the floor and wiggle around.