We had a great Christmas with our family back in California. I can't describe how excited I was to go back to CA and get a break from everyday life here. However, that part of the vacation wasn't what I expected (more on that later).
We flew out on Thursday, 12/20. On our way back west, we flew Alaska Air and had a layover in Seattle before moving on to San Francisco. Our travel day was tough...very tough. Reagan, despite having his own seat, was more than a challenge. I won't go into all of the details because who wants to read about it, but I'll just say this: he screamed and cried for more than 50% of the 6 1/2 hour journey to San Francisco :)
Bless their hearts, Michelle and Cooper came to pick us up and we met up with Brandon at a cafe in Marin for dinner. Coop was hilarious! Kyleigh decided it was time to exercise her voice on our hour long car ride and Coop wasn't a fan. He was sitting next to her and almost the whole way, he had both hands in his ears trying to block out the noise!!!
We spent Friday up in Santa Rosa with Brandon, Michelle, and Cooper. This was a really fun part of our trip because it was so relaxing. Michelle made a FANTASTIC breakfast (bacon, eggs, and white chocolate pumpkin pancakes) and we just chilled at their house for a few hours before visiting Santa at the mall and then going to a local burger joint. The ONLY drawback to our visit with B&M is that we didn't get to see Jacob very much. We saw him for a few hours Thursday night and then just for an hour Friday morning before he left for school. I wish we could have spent more time with him, but scheduling just didn't work out :(
Friday afternoon we made the 2 hour drive over to Lodi. Brandon was gracious enough to lend us his car for the whole week we were in CA. The drive over was uneventful; Reagan did not nap like we had hoped, but he did suck his thumb most of the drive over!
We spent the first three nights at the Kelsey house and this was fairly relaxing as well. We didn't really have any set plans, which was really nice! We had King Tsin Chinese food on Friday night. Ryan and I got away Saturday afternoon to have lunch at Butcher Shoppe with Ginny and her boyfriend, Ed. The Hust family came over Saturday evening for lasagna and games. I ate my beloved In-N-Out Burger Sunday after church and then we had a little playdate with Darrell, Jorden, and their daughter Bradlee. After they left, we had dinner at Strings, one of my favorite Italian restaurants! Between eating and seeing a few friends, the rest of the time at the Kelsey house was very low key!
Monday (Christmas Eve) afternoon, we headed over to the Hust house for a four night stay. Our time here was also low key with minimal plans. Ryan made us a gourmet chicken dinner before attending Christmas Eve service. It was a different service than I would have preferred, but the message of Christmas was clear. Christmas day was different than any other I've had in the past. Since Jeffrey was working and B&M didn't come to Lodi until 12/27, we did not celebrate Christmas on Christmas day. So, that whole day didn't really feel like Christmas to us. It was kind of strange. The Husts invited friends over, including my parents, for a soup dinner. People started to show up after 12p and we just relaxed all afternoon. I was appreciative that my parents came so that they were not alone on Christmas day. Jeffrey came to town the next day in the late morning. We didn't expect him until 11:30, so Ryan and I spent the morning visiting Grandma/Grandpa Hust and Grandma Jones at their houses. It amazing how quickly time passes. We left at 9 and didn't get back until after 12!! It was a nice break from the kiddos, though. It was also nice to see the grandparents in their element.
Our last two days of the trip brought intense craziness! Thursday we celebrated Christmas at the Hust house. We opened gifts without the grandparents in the morning (best decision), ate a wonderful breakfast and relaxed a little before the grandparents all arrived around 2ish. We then had a second round of gifts with the grandparents, ate an awesome steak dinner, and then put the kids to bed. Doesn't sound too crazy, but throw Reagan's temper tantrums into the mix and the stress level went through the roof ;) After the grandparents left, we played a game with Jeffrey, Megan, Ron, and Darcy and just had a great time!
Friday morning we packed up all of our stuff and headed back over to the Kelsey house to celebrate Christmas. As soon as we arrived (about 8:30 or so), we ate a delicious breakfast before opening our presents. Kyleigh slept through this part of the morning, but that was okay - she needed her sleep! Cousin Mike, Laurel, and Mark came around 3 that afternoon, so we had another round of present opening before mom's big dinner. One absolutely precious moment from this day was finding Reagan asleep in Brandon's arms while Brandon read to him. It melted my heart. Brandon then went to put Reagan down and he immediately woke up. We left Reagan in the room for a little while, only to then find out he crawled out of the Pack-n-play and put 11 of my dad's books in the bed. That little stinker ;) After dinner, we put the kids down and then played a few games with the family. All in all, another great day.
Saturday morning brought much sadness for many people, including us. We packed up our stuff early and Brandon drove us back to SF for our flight back home to Chicago. A few days before, we decided to purchase another seat for Reagan instead of having him as a lap child. Right decision for sure, but the pocketbook won't agree ;) This travel day was just as bad as the first, but at least we didn't have a layover; it was a direct flight. We all made it back to Chicago in one piece and it felt good to be home.
So....why was this not the vacation I thought it would be? I was thinking that I would get a break from work, just like Ryan was vacationing from work. However, that was not the case. I DID get A TON OF HELP from the family which I so very much appreciated. But when the meltdowns started and the discipline needed to be done, I was still there to enforce (Ryan was too, don't get me wrong). Then it hit me, there isn't a break from parenting. Parenting is a full time job that never ends. Even when family is around to help with feeding or distracting, my job as a parent and mother doesn't go away. I'm not saying this is a bad thing, but this thought process hadn't really hit me until this trip back to CA.
Til next year...
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