As part of Ryan's deal with work, the kids and I get to travel to CA with him once a month. So, on September 22nd the four of us left for Santa Barbara. I won't go into all the details here because I really don't want to re-live the flights, but the trip out there was awful. So awful, I cried on our flight from Phoenix to Santa Barbara. The bottom line is the kids were over tired and they wouldn't give in and sleep on either flight there. Recipe for disaster.
On Monday, the kids and I oriented ourselves to Santa Barbara and tried to lay low. We picked up a few groceries and I took them to a park before heading back to the hotel for naps. When the kids awoke, I took them to the Alice Keck Memorial Garden just off State Street. It was a beautiful garden area with a pond with turtles and ducks. Both kids loved this place! They loved chasing the ducks and just enjoyed the sunshine. We also visited the most awesome park for kids. It was like a castle, but a little overwhelming as a parent trying to keep her eye on the kids.
Tuesday brought another morning at the Memorial Garden. Reagan continued to say he wanted to see the ducks! I was trying to balance free things to do with paid activities and since the kids loved the ducks so much, why not? After naps, we headed down to the wharf to visit the Ty Warner Sea Center. It was a small center, but the kids enjoyed it. Reagan especially liked walking through this small tunnel that allowed him to see the fish. I finally convinced Reagan to touch the sharks and after his initial apprehension, he really liked it. We also saw jellies - I thought those were great! After dinner, mom arrived at the hotel and the kids enjoyed seeing her, even though it was for a short time that evening.
On Wednesday, where else would we start our morning except at the Alice Keck Memorial Garden? Like I said the kids loved it. We also stopped by the Castle park for a few minutes before getting lunch. This was the hardest day for sleeping because both kids absolutely refused to take their naps. I finally gave in after an hour and 15 minutes. We got ready and headed to the SB Zoo. Oh what fun we had! This zoo actually has elephants - an animal I love. We probably spent at least 30 minutes just watching the two of them move about their habitat. We moved fairly quickly throughout the rest of the zoo. Reagan's highlight was riding on the blue train. He greatest disappointment, though, was that the giraffe car was broken. All in all, it was a great day even though the kids didn't sleep.
Thursday brought Jamie! I was so excited to see my best friend after a little more than a year. She arrived early Thursday morning and we just had a great time catching up. Instead of visiting the Gardens, we took the kids back to the wharf. We just enjoyed the ocean breeze and walked along the wharf before stopping at a candy shop for some treats. Luckily, the kids took their naps today and Jamie and I just got to talk some more. It was so refreshing! After the kids woke up, I really wanted to take them to the Goleta Train Depot. I thought Reagan would really enjoy seeing more trains. I took him on the red train while Jamie kept an eye on Kyleigh (she wasn't tall enough to ride). We had a little time before needing to pick up Ryan, so we headed to the Gardens! We couldn't miss a day at the Gardens. The day went quickly and we unfortunately had to say goodbye to Jamie.
And then Friday came. I packed us all up and we left for the airport at 9:30a. I had everyone praying for a better trip back home than our way out here. I couldn't believe it, but Kyleigh fell asleep in my arms on our short flight from SB to SF. I thought this could be bad and that she wouldn't sleep on the longer flight from SF to Chicago. Well, I was right :( We ate our lunch (from Klein's Deli, of course) on the plane and both kids again refused to sleep. Kyleigh had a breakdown only for about 30 minutes, but it was a loud 30 minutes. I finally got her to fall asleep for a short time, but at least she was okay for the rest of the flight. We arrived home and put the kids to bed about 10:30p. We went to sleep shortly after that.
I won't really talk about Saturday because we were home again, except to say the kids slept until 9:45a!!!!! I could not believe it - I was so thankful because both Ryan and I were so exhausted. We actually were awake before the kids and feeling refreshed. Praise the Lord!!
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