Month: July 2018

On Wednesday we drove back to Balboa Park and watched a puppet show at the Marie Hitchcock Puppet Theater.

Then we headed  over to Mission Beach to visit with my cousin, Jodi, and her son, Ty.

We had the most amazing time with Jodi and Ty. Ty taught Abe how to boogie board, and after an hour I started to fear Abe would never return to shore. He loved boogie boarding so much. In the meantime, Jodi and I had fun visiting while we watched the kids.

When Abe returned, he helped with Clarissa, who was getting fussy. He decided to try to get her to sleep in the stroller, which he pushed back and forth in the sand. In the meantime, the girls were playing in the shallow part of the waves. At one point, I turned my back on them to check to see if Clarissa had indeed fallen asleep.

When I turned back around, Lydia and Mary were gone. Instead of seeing my girls playing in shallow waves, I saw waves twice the size of the girls in the exact spot where they had been playing a minute earlier. Only I didn’t see my girls. At that very moment, a lifeguard on a jet ski was patrolling the spot where my girls had been because there was a riptide slightly further out. I ran into the water and waved him down and asked him if he had seen my two girls. People on the beach started looking worried, and Jodi came up to me and kept repeating that the girls were okay, that they probably had just gotten lost on the beach, and that we would find them soon.

I was seriously going out of my mind at that point. I was sure they were dead, and I was hyperventilating and starting to panic-cry. Abe began running down the beach looking for the girls while Ty looked after Ammon, and a minute later he came back…with two very frightened little girls.

Mary and Lydia had somehow gotten lost on the beach and wandered away from us, and when they saw how scared we all were, I think they learned right away to respect the ocean waves just a little more. For the rest of the trip Mary refused to get more than her feet wet in the waves.

I was so, so, so thankful that they were alive. I had to sit down and calm down after thinking they were dead. It was a horrible episode.

Thankfully there was no one better to be with than Jodi and Ty. They are so fun and cheerful that pretty soon I felt recovered. We spent a little more time playing–but this time I never took my eyes off of the kids, and neither did Abe. After we were done in the ocean, we walked to the car and got changed. Then we re-met Jodi and Ty at the boardwalk and walked to a restaurant right on the beach.

We had a great dinner there and enjoyed visiting so much. I was so happy to have that time with my cousin and her son!

After we parted with Jodi and Ty, we drove to a laundromat and threw all of our sandy things in the laundry, along with all of the dirty clothes from our trip. In the meantime, I was texting with my friend, Amelia, and trying to coordinate a meet-up.

We finally met up at 11:30pm at the aptly named Extraordinary Desserts. I haven’t seen Amelia since she visited me in Boston in 2008. It has been TEN years!!! I couldn’t believe it. It was one of the highlight of my trip to meet up with Amelia and reconnect. I just love and admire her so much. We got our extraordinary desserts (mine was a plum cheesecake crumble sort of thing) and ate outside. Abe parked right next to us, so we were ten feet from our sleeping children while we all visited. The late hour was completely and totally worth every minute with Amelia. Next time I hope to meet her partner, Belinda, too.

This is what the kids looked like when we woke up on Tuesday:

After we got all ready for the day, we went to the Crest Cafe in the morning for breakfast.

Sea World. I watched Blackfish a while back and have learned how horrible Sea World is, but the movie has faded in my memory and my conscience has dulled sufficiently to allow me to take my kids there with only the occasional, fleeting, and exceptionally faint feeling of guilt.

We started off by watching the dolphin show. Abe and the kids sat in the front row right in the wettest part of the “soak zone,” and Clarissa and I stood to the side. I have to admit, the minute the dolphins jumped out of the pool in unison, I almost started to cry at how magnificent those creatures are. They are beautiful. Mary declared them “her favorite sea creatures.” When she said that, I wistfully remembered that a year ago she earnestly declared that mermaids were her favorite sea creatures. I suspect now she knows that mermaids aren’t real. Sigh.

Anyway, after the dolphin show, we headed over to the sea lion show. I had Clarissa in the carrier all of this time, and the sea lion show was in the blazing hot sun. Even though we had covered everyone with sunscreen, Clarissa was starting to turn red in the carrier. I couldn’t tell if she was overheating or she was burning. It was a little worrisome, so I was slightly distracted during the show. As soon as it was over, we headed straight to some shade.

Then we trekked over to the killer whale show. Some clouds had come and hidden the sun, which was awesome because I don’t know if Clarissa could have handled another show in the blazing sun again. Honestly, I thought the orca show was a bit of a let down because the orcas didn’t do that many tricks. On the other hand, my faded memory of Blackfish helped me understand that this was probably a really good thing. While feeling nonplussed by the splashing orcas, I decided that when we got back to Utah I would re-watch Blackfish so I could remember exactly why it was a good thing the show has evolved to its current boring format.

After the Orca show we ate lunch at whatever restaurant is right by the river rapids ride. Clarissa finally had some time out of her carrier and we got everyone to go to the bathroom and get new diapers. Then Clarissa went back into her carrier and we napped together while Abe and the other kids rode the river rapids ride. After the river rapids, Ammon, Mary, Clarissa and I migrated over to some better seating while Abe and Lydia rode a roller coaster. Mary was not tall enough. Ammon fell asleep in the stroller, so that made life easy while we waited.

After Abe and Lydia returned, we almost went home but then decided to check out the little kid section of the park. We were so glad we did because this was a big hit with everyone. The kids all got to go on rides with very short lines and then they got to play, play, play on all sorts of kid-friendly structures. There was even a place for Clarissa to play–which she did, for over an hour.

After everyone was finished at the play place, we headed over to see the Beluga whales and walruses. The Beluga whales were my absolute favorite of all the sea animals. They were magical, regal, and so gorgeous. If I had to be an animal, I might pick being a Beluga whale.

Then Abe and Lydia went off to try to ride the biggest roller coaster in the park while I took everyone else through the penguin display. Mary had to pee frequently and so finding her a restroom was also a recurring crisis throughout the day. We finished up by finding her a final restroom, only to get to the car and have her announce she needed to pee again. At that point we put her in a diaper.

We drove through a different vegetarian fast food restaurant and were delighted once again with vegetarian fast food. It is amazing. I am half tempted to open a franchise in Utah.

On Monday we went to breakfast at Hash House a Go Go. They are famous for biscuits, and unfortunately Abe dislikes biscuits, so he bargained hard to get his swapped out for a pancake. No such luck. Instead they gave him toast. It was still delicious.

Then we drove to San Diego’s Old Town to catch the trolley tour. We did the Go City build your own pass, and we wanted to do the trolley tour first because it gave us a great overview of things we wanted to fit in the week. The trolley tour took two hours and covered Old Town, the Gaslamp district, the Embarcadero, Coronado Beach, Balboa Park, and a lot of other places that I can’t remember. Clarissa fell asleep on me in the carrier for most of the tour, and Ammon was pretty good and only tried to jump out of the trolley window a couple of times. Abe was great at catching him.

After the tour, we wandered around Old Town and discovered its connection to the Mormon Battalion. The Mormon Battalion was recruited by the U.S. government to fight in the war against Mexico, but by the time they reached San Diego the war was over. So instead they helped build up San Diego. We went to the courthouse they built, and we explored the original town square of San Diego–the “birthplace of California.”

Then we walked in the blazing heat to the model train museum down the road. Ammon LOVED it but immediately got in trouble with the host because he tried to touch stuff. As I was reaching out to pull him away, the host beat me to the punch and yanked him off of the display with a sharp reprimand. I spent the rest of our time there both enjoying the trains and trying not to feel upset at the host for touching Ammon so harshly. Of course, I completely understood her frustration, but I still felt upset about the interaction.

Ammon broke into tears upon our announcement that it was finally time to leave the model train museum, and the only thing that consoled him was when we used Clarissa’s carrier to let him ride piggy-back on my back. He loved that, and even though it was swelteringly hot, I did too. We hiked up the hill to the Church’s site dedicated to the Mormon Battalion and they took our photo there.

Then we headed back to the car, gave everyone snacks and water, and drove to Balboa Park. At Balboa Park we got really lucky with the parking and found a spot in the lot right across from the Museum of Man, which was on our pass. We headed to the museum and enjoyed the exhibit on monsters with the kids. They loved learning all about monster myths.

Then we headed upstairs to an excellent exhibit on race. I tried religiously to read all of the most important sections to the kids, and then I tried to ask them questions to see if they understood what the exhibit was about. They were very distracted by a coloring station they had spotted en route to the race exhibit, so finally I gave up and just let them go color while I read the rest of the exhibit to myself.

After the exhibit, we headed to a dinosaur sculpture where the kids played. Abe was a hero and ran a mile to a vegetarian fast food restaurant called Evolution. He picked up the most delicious fast food we have ever eaten and literally ran it back to us. In the meantime, while we were waiting, Ammon pooped again and Mary had an enormous temper tantrum. After dealing with that, I packed up the kids and walked them around the square until Mary calmed down. While we were walking, the kindest balloon man came up to us and just gave us three amazing balloons: a spiderman, an octopus, and some other shape which I couldn’t quite figure out.

With the balloons in hand and a calmer Mary, we walked back to the dinosaur exhibit and Abe showed up shortly after. He was so fast! I couldn’t believe he had actually run a mile, fetched our food, and run back so quickly. We ate while the kids played some more and then wandered over to the Spreckles outdoor Organ. Abe took Ammon to grab the best seats in the outdoor seating–right in front of the organ. I stayed by the fountain at the theater entrance holding Clarissa in the carrier while the girls fished pennies out of the fountain, made wishes, and threw the pennies back in again.

Then we headed in to join Abe for the organ concert. By that point, Clarissa was done so I had to immediately retreat to the side of the theater to a walkway with bushes. It was out of the way so I felt free to dance around with Clarissa to the music. We were just in the middle of twirling to Beethoven’s 6th symphony–performed on the organ for the first time ever–when Abe wandered over with Ammon. Ammon was apparently incapable of sitting through the concert, so I loaded him and Clarissa up on the stroller and took them for a walk until Abe and the girls joined up with us.

Walking with Ammon and Clarissa through the Moorish gardens by the Museum of Man was one of my favorite parts of the day. The sun was setting so the heat had subsided, and the gardens were so peaceful. The kids were subdued and it was just a delightful experience.

Then Abe and the girls wanted to show us a tree by the parking lot that had the most incredible roots we had ever seen. The roots looked just like a waterfall. They were massive and tumbled downward from the tree just like streams of falling water.

Again, after this day of adventure, the kids fell asleep in the car on the way home and we transitioned them successfully to the tent. It felt like a full, happy ending to a full, happy day.

On Sunday Abe got up at around 6am so he could go help Vince wake up so Vince could be ready in time for church. It was rather important that Vince be not more than an hour late for church because he was supposed to get the gift of the Holy Ghost during sacrament meeting, and we weren’t sure what the bishop would do if Vince were late. Thankfully, Vince made it and everything turned out perfectly.

I missed this part of church because the kids slept in quite late. As soon as they got up, I fed them breakfast in bed and got them all ready for church. Then we watched Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them until Abe came and picked us up for church.

We fell in love with Vince’s Long Beach ward. Everyone was so friendly and welcoming. In Relief Society the teacher made the original move of showing a Saturday Night Live skit about Michael Jordan saying affirmations. The lesson was on being a child of God, and the skit was quite funny and surprisingly relevant.

Brother Richardson joined us at the end of church, and it is always a great treat to see him. He came to lunch at the hotel with us afterward. Vince talked about his spiritual journey, and Brother Richardson listened and also occasionally chipped in with his usual wise counsel.

After lunch, we checked out and drove to San Juan Capistrano, where Brother Richardson joined us again–much to our great delight. We wandered the old mission and Brother Richardson helped us keep track of Ammon, whom we lost at least once. I love San Juan Capistrano and have great memories of attending an Easter Sunday mass there when I was a kid. I would have liked to attend mass that day too, but our kids were churched out and we were limited on time. After the tour, though, Brother Richardson did take us all out to his favorite local gelato place.

Then we said goodbye to Brother Richardson and drove down to the KOA in Chula Vista where we set up camp on site 3501. We decided to camp in San Diego because it saved us a TON of money and also because we actually enjoy it. Abe positively prefers it, and I enjoy it too. The kids seem to do really well in the tent and love their sleeping bags. The KOA was insanely kid friendly, too. There were more things for the kids to do than we possibly had time for.

After we set up camp, we drove to an Italian restaurant that was open late. Thankfully, all of our kids fell asleep on the way home and we peacefully transitioned them to their sleeping bags. Abe and I had not pumped up our air mattress very well, so that night it kind of collapsed while we were sleeping…but that just added to the sense of adventure!

On Saturday we drove to Los Angeles and arrived an hour before Vince’s baptism, so we went to a nearby strip mall and grabbed some lunch from Charro Chicken. Since Vince has only been meeting with the missionaries for a month, we did not expect many people to know him or be at the baptism.

To our surprise and delight, when we got to the church there was an entire room full of good members who came out to show love and support for Vince. The baptism ended up getting started almost an hour late and took quite a long time for a baptism service, and I was so impressed at how kind and patient everyone was with all of the waiting.

Before he was baptized, Vince sang, “I can only imagine.” Vince has a great voice! Abe then baptized Vince, and then Vince shared his testimony. Mostly he talked about my mom, her faith, and the trials she went through with my dad. Then the bishop stood up and shared what it meant for Vince to be baptized. It was a really sweet ceremony.

During most of the ceremony I was watching the kids go crazy in the gym. They had been cooped up in the car for the long drives from Orem to Las Vegas and Las Vegas to Los Angeles, and they were a little bonkers. Ammon also pooped in the middle of the baptism, which was problematic because all of our diapers and wipes were in the car, Abe had the car keys, and Abe was performing the baptism. We had a smelly time together.

We also got to meet Kamiyah for the first time. She is a beautiful little girl, inside and out.

Afterward, we all met up at my Auntie Geri’s house and then went out to eat at the Filipino Restaurant, Goldilocks. I ordered fresh lumpia and adobo, but then I saw my Auntie Geri’s palabok and ordered that too. We only eat Filipino food once a year in L.A., so we had to make the most of it. After dinner, Abe and I split a halo halo ice cream while the kids ate coconut, mango, and ube ice cream.

Then we went to our hotel in Long Beach, the Courtyard Long Beach Downtown Marriott. It was really nice and the kids were so wonderful and slept through the night!

Today during Clarissa’s nap Lydia announced she was going to sew Mary a stuffed animal. I was busy reading My Cousin Rachel and absentmindedly gave her the go ahead. An hour later I was shocked when Lydia came back with a stuffed cat head she had sewn for Mary.

I was really proud.

And then the girls had a puppet show with a ton of paper bag puppets they made. It’s amazing what happens when I completely check out for the day. Apparently the girls are completely capable of creating their own wholesome entertainment. I am used to toddlers who get into mischief the second they are separated from a screen. It’s so great to have older kids!

Ammon, on the other hand, did spend a lot of his day in front of the television while I read my book. That felt like a parenting fail.

But both girls had great musical practices, which I managed to supervise in spite of my addicting book. And Clarissa is alive, which is really about as much as I can hope for for her. I’m not exactly expecting her to sew or practice an instrument anytime soon!