California Dreamin'

We had a fantastic, last-trip-before-the-baby-comes, trip to California! We didn't know how the kids, both born and unborn, would handle an eleven hour drive to the coastland, so we broke the drive down over two days. The first day we stopped in Mesquite after a five hour drive. The 110 degree furnace that enveloped us as we opened our car doors did not phase us at all since the reason we chose this hotel was the wonderful pool amenities it offered. As we unloaded our one-night bags and trekked to the hotel lobby, someone noticed a sign: pool closed for cleaning. Since it looked perfectly pristine, we asked the attendant if the sign were posted in error. Apparently chemical imbalances had forced them to close the pool until the next morning. 

With 110 degree weather facing an 8 months pregnant wife and six children, Justin duly looked for the nearest public pool, despite hotel staff assuring us there were none. Au contraire! The Mesquite Rec Center had a pool and was not far away. Back into the van we trooped, this time in swimsuits. As we unloaded at the rec center around 5:26, the woman behind the desk informed us the pool would be closing in 34 minutes, though the rec center itself did indeed, as the posted hours on the website said, close at 8 pm. Could we at least get half price entry? No, siree. 

No inconveniences were going to stop us from having the vacation of our lives, by golly. We paid the full price, we marched into that pool without towels, and we took over the place. Elisabeth and Gabriel commandeered the splash pad playground; Abdiel and Gwyn headed for diving board; Katharine and Elinor alternated between the deep end with a puddle jumper and the shallow end without; Justin and Lia didn't stop shooting hoops off the water basketball court until those lifeguards had pulled all the plugs and closed all the drains. We worked that Mesquite Rec Center pool for every last cent of our $24.

Fun for the day secured, dinner was the next obstacle. From the Restaurants Near Me map function, it looked like it was going to be another struggle, and at least one of our intrepid travelers had second thoughts as to whether this really was going to be the vacation of our lives or just the headache of our lives. However, Peggy Sue's 50's Diner saved the day. Generous kid plates for only $4.99, an adorable old-school atmosphere, and a delicious vegan burger for Justin set all the world aright. We especially loved meeting up with Nin and Opa, who, as much more experienced world travelers than we, were moving on to California that very night to spend the week with us, Beau, and the Davy and Taylor Suttner family as well. A great time was had by all.

 I think some of the pictures posted twice, but I'm not going to fix it. Tuesday we impressed ourselves by getting up early to exercise--though not in the hotel gym, which was filled to the second floor windows with boxes for a renovation of that--eating a hotel breakfast and getting on the road before 8 am. Even with a great big switcheroo so the pregnant mama could have a bench in the Super Van to herself and put her legs up, we arrived at Davy and Taylor's AMAZING beach rental home in time for everyone to head to the beach and do some boogie boarding while Mom took her doctor's-orders daily nap, then convene back at the Suttners for a generously hosted grilled chicken with watermelon and corn-on-the-cob dinner and a fireside around the fire pit with Opa. 

Wednesday we were delighted by Legoland. Trey emerged from one of the playgrounds, firing foam bullets over his shoulder, with three eight-year-olds after him but was completely undaunted. Gabriel maintained his composure on the 30" and under only dragon ride. Elinor relished having a six-year-old cousin all to herself. Elisabeth found companionship with a Lego Llama, Katharine with a Lego monkey. Abdiel and Gwyn were probably best situated to enjoy the rides, movies, and displays than anyone. Once again, Lia went home with Davy and Scottie to take a nap, but this time at our own place. We tried to watch the Lego Movie that evening to celebrate, but ended up with Raya and the Last Dragon to try to channel our inner Ninjago.

Thursday was a beach day at La Jolla. Nothing more need be said, though highlights include: awesome parking, ocean kayaking, Beau surfing, hanging with extended family, boogie boarding, sand crabbing, seagull trying to make off with our bag of PBJ sandwiches, watching the wonder of little kids who had never seen the beach before. Reminder to self that ten years old is too young to do one's own sunscreen--we mostly came out only slightly rosy. Cute story: as Lia and Gabriel were walking back to the Super Van, far behind the others, Gabriel tripped a little bit on the curb. "Mommy! That was your belly that did that!" exclaimed Gabriel, offended. "What?!" she responded, "your sister did that to you?" Then, addressing her belly using the joke name all the kids currently use for her, "Pateendhi! Why did you trip your brother Gabriel? Gabriel loves you! He's going to be your best friend when you get here! Don't trip your brother!" Which Gabriel thought a wildly funny joke, laughing and repeating, "Why did Pateendhi trip me? Hahaha!" the rest of the way.

Friday we got out early and headed to L.A. Since the San Diego temple was closed for renovation, the L.A. temple was the closest one. To maximize the required drive time, we decided also to visit The Getty, The American Girl store, The Original Farmer's Market, and attend a Dodgers game. We vastly overestimated anyone's ability to get through such a to-do list. For one thing, The Getty was a much bigger deal than we realized. Our oversized vehicle did score us basically VIP parking; Justin got a guided tour for the kids from a company that mistook them for a school group and even threw in a free parking voucher and so saved us $25; Lia Zoomed in for an Orem City Arts Council Meeting and so spared her poor pregnant feet an hour of museuming; Elisabeth found the curated gardens; Gabriel found the sunbrellas; Abdiel found the snacks. Everyone was happy, but the fun took much longer than anticipated. 

By the time we got to the L.A. Temple, ourselves unloaded and changed, and things settled with Nin and Opa watching the kids, we were very late for our 1:30 initiatory appointment. This probably would have been fine, except that the L.A. temple closes for a three hour break during the day, so all the workers had started leaving. Justin was still able to do initiatory work for five men and Lia and Elisabeth got to do work for one woman each before sitting in the celestial room. There was then a shift of the guard while Justin, Katharine, and Abdiel did baptisms and Lia hung out with the kids in the temple visitor's center.

Opa treated Gwyn and Elinor to whatever they wanted from the American Girl store. Lia, knowing the American Girl brand a little better than Opa does, kept that within reason. They ended up with a bunch of very expensive chocolate and a violin for their 18 inch doll to play. After a quick dinner at The Shake Shack, we headed over to the Dodgers vs. Red Sox game.

And, Wow! What a beautiful, picturesque California setting. Davy, Savannah, Trey, Nin, Opa, and Beau all met us there, too. We were sitting pretty close to each other but on separate rows, which afforded all sorts of gymnastics for the kids to get settled into the ideal seats. In addition to seeing Shohei Ohtani in person (from very high up!), acknowledging the 102nd birthday and presence of Jackie Robinson's wife at the game, and just enjoying the atmosphere, a crazy little turn of events was that one of the three women who helped Lia and Elisabeth in the temple earlier that day was sitting right behind us! We left just before the grand slam that secured the victory of the home team over the visitors. 

We cleared out Saturday morning and everyone performed heroic feats to make the eleven hour drive home in one day. In fact, Justin is such a master Super Van driver, we got back to Utah at an earlier hour than we made it back from the Dodgers game! Justin the hero, kiddos the heroes, Pateendhi the super trooper.