The Perfect Vacation

This weekend we dashed off for a somewhat impromptu trip to Southern California. We had great plans to see friends and play at the beach, most of my children having never seen a beach (even the ones who have seen it have no memory of it).

We were staying with beloved friends and enjoying their company. M was not sleeping and the playing with friends on the part of the kids, of course, meant less than usual amounts of sleeping for them as well. But we had promised a beach.

Imagine my surprise Saturday morning when CE came to me, begging, "Mom, do we have to go to the beach? Can't we just stay here and play?" If ever there was a no brainer, this was it! So, the kids were in and out of the pool all day, having a blast with their friends.


Bam wouldn't "get in" the pool. But water balloons were so much fun that he went through 3 outfits of clothes. He was perfectly happy playing on his own inside and outside.

Even DH got much needed respite, since the big case settled.

Z enjoys an inner tube contraption--ever the inventor!

CW follows suit.

CE takes a page out of her Dad's book and soaks up the Southern Cal sun.

The trick was convincing the kids to apply sunscreen appropriately, since it wasn't nearly as hot as "hot and sunny" always is at home. They don't believe that you can get sunburned unless you are also being roasted alive Nevada desert style.


The day ended in the best possible way, with the baptism of our friend, pictured here with his grandfathers. The Spirit was so very strong during the baptismal service and I feel so blessed that we were able to participate in that sweet experience.

Now, to appease certain members of my family who will complain if there are no pix of M. Here's one:

She still hasn't figured out crawling all the way, but will get up on all fours like this and try very very hard until she falls angrily back to her commando crawling, thus dusting all the tile floors in my house with her belly!

Now, I have had some requests for a progress report on the subject of my previous post: becoming a morning person. So I wanted to give one. I was doing pretty okay. I had gotten up between 5 and 5:45 nearly each day since that post. I was feeling invigorated (despite less sleep), going to bed earlier to facilitate it and it was working. And the true test was that in the midst of this lovely weekend in Cali, (the one where no one slept) I got up--on my own--at 6 am and ran six miles in the most beautiful California morning weather, feeling renewed and able, despite the no sleep, to have a lovely day with family and friends. Then, Monday night I was futzing with a problem and didn't get to bed until midnight-ish and my alarm went AWOL, so I awoke with a start at 7:20 and could do none of the exercising, reading, writing and rejuvenating that I had become accustomed to over the previous week or so and needless to say, yesterday was a bad, sluggish day. I have learned my lesson. Not to say I have magically become a morning person. But I am learning which things I can't start after the kids go to bed, when to definitely be in bed for there to be any hope of getting up at five (and it's not "midnightish"), but most importantly, that I need that morning time. The day really does go better and I am a better woman, mother, wife, human when I have that time to myself. I'm thinking this knowledge will ultimately be the thing that turns me to true morning personhood. I'll let you know.