We just got back from vacation today. We went on a long weekend family vacation and had a great time! We pretended that we were going somewhere really tropical....really far away! In fact, the kids thought that we were going to be going on an airplane to get to our vacation spot! We told them we were going to have so much fun....we were going to go to the beach and go swimming in the pool and go on bike rides, etc, etc! They couldn't wait! Little did they know that our vacation destination was in fact only a 45 minute drive and they had been there many times before!! Yep, that's right....we are going on vacation to Grammy and Grandpa's house kiddos!! My parents went out of town for a couple weeks so we decided to "go on vacation" to their place in Redondo Beach! What a great idea....a vacation on the beach with free lodging....can't beat that!!
We drove down on Thursday afternoon and got there in plenty of time for dinner and a family bike ride on the boardwalk just in time to watch the sunset and enjoy chocolate covered frozen bananas (yuck in my opinion, but Jeremiah and Ayden enjoyed them) on the pier! It was perfect....a beautiful night and ended up being the best day there....weather wise!
I love these pictures.....no idea what these two could be talking about, but I'm sure if I did know what it was, it would make me smile!! :)
We were worried about these 2 sharing a room, but they actually did really great!! All 3 nights, they went right to bed and didn't come out. They woke up each morning and we could hear them in the next room saying "Good Morning" to each other. We asked them who woke up first and Ayden always said he woke up first and then would rub Zoe's back to get her to wake up!! CUTE!!!
You can see Zoe here in bed with a death grip on her "green bucket"! Unfortunately, just in time for our vacation, she came down with a stomach bug and was throwing up non-stop all of Thursday night and Friday morning! Poor girl! It was so sad and such bad timing since she was so looking forward to be on "cation"!! It all started 10 minutes before we left on Thursday when I was packing up the last few things in the car....she threw up twice in the driveway....and then again in the car on the way there (our car still smells like puke...ewwww!!!)....and then again in the parking lot when we got to Redondo....and then again in the bike trailer when we went for a bike ride....and then again at Grandma and Grandpa's two more times the next morning!
I had to put this sheet down wherever Zoe laid....just in case! The only thing worse than having a sick child is having a sick child in someone else's house with someone else's carpet and someone else's furniture!! Luckily she got it in her bucket one time and on the sheet the next!!
Luckily she was feeling a little better on Friday after the 2 throw ups and our time in between throw ups was getting farther and farther, so we decided to head down to the beach! It was chilly....the sun was out, but it was windy and I almost froze! Don't know how kids can tolerate the cold so well, but they had no problems sitting in their swimsuits and running back and forth to the ocean!
Feeling MUCH better!!! Guess she just needed some sun.....and a peanut butter and jelly sandwich to make her feel better!! :)
WATCH OUT BAYWATCH!!! Ayden is the new beach babe in town!!
We all decided that we could get used to our playground and swings overlooking the ocean....what a view!!
When I finally convinced the kids that it was too cold at the beach, we went back to swim at the pool.
At the end of the day, we walked down to the pier to check out the crabs. Ayden always likes to go here and look at the crabs, but this time, he kept talking about eating them! He had it set in his mind that we were having crabs for dinner!! Ewww....I had something better in mind (AKA Ruby's on the pier....Mmmmm Mmmmm Chocolate Shake!!!), so we decided to let the boys have crabs as an appetizer! Ayden loved the whole process of picking out his crab, watching it wiggle around, then watching it being thrown in the steamer to cook, and then eating it! Something about that whole process made me sick!! Ha!
Looks to me like Jeremiah is giving a pep talk here ("Come on Ayden, you can do it....BE BRAVE....crabs are good!")....I am not sure who was more excited to eat crabs....Ayden or Jeremiah!!
We didn't realize it until after we got home, but Ayden was wearing his "Beach Comber" sweatshirt with a crab on it....perfect!!
Ayden trying to decide what he wants.....crabs or lobster!?!?!?
Checking it out.....Ayden's face says "are we REALLY going to eat that Dad?!?!?"
And the first bite.......
SUCCESS!!! He loved it and wanted to go back for more....and more....and more!! It ended up that Ayden ate most of it and Jeremiah only got a few bites!
Ayden was having some fun with this dead little crab that couldn't pinch him anymore....
Zoe.....not so sure about the whole thing!! She wanted nothing to do with the crab....didn't want a taste of it....didn't want to touch it....NOTHING!! I can't say that I don't blame her!! Us girls just dreamed about our Ruby's shakes that we would be inhaling in a few minutes!!
When we got home that night, Ayden wanted to make a "Crab Order" for the next day. He wanted crabs AGAIN for dinner and wanted Jeremiah to write down his order so they could give it to the guys at the market!
Zoe had her moments where she still wasn't feeling 100%, but we tried to still have fun!! Hopefully next time we do this she will be back to herself!! Since she wasn't feeling the best, we did spend some time hanging out watching some shows....I had to capture this moment when I saw these 2 watching TV like this!! We all know that moments like this between brother and sister are sometimes few and far between!!
This kid has NO FEAR at all!!
On Saturday we went for a bike ride to Hermosa Beach for lunch at a Mexican Restaurant we like on the pier. We realized that Ayden actually rode his bike 8 miles that day!! From Redondo Pier to Hermosa Pier and back.....TWICE!!! That kid has some energy!! And he definitely shares his Daddy's love for bike riding! We probably had about 20 different people comment throughout the weekend about Ayden's bike riding....about how old he was and that he wasn't riding with training wheels! It was funny!
We were freezing, but after lunch, we stopped and let the kids play in the sand!!
We bought a new little biking contraption while we were down at the beach. This picture makes us laugh because you can hardly see Zoe behind me! And then when you realize that she is sitting behind me, it looks like I am sitting on top of her!! It looks really uncomfortable for her, but she loved it and had a lot more room than it looks like she has! Now that we are a bike riding family with Ayden who wants to ride his own bike, we decided that this little seat would work out better than lugging the bike trailer around everywhere! Oh the fun we are going to have this summer on family bike rides!!
We had a great VACATION....and luckily it turned out MUCH better than it started!!! And I love that we got to get away locally!! It was so much fun....even though it wasn't the BEST beach weather and we will definitely do this again soon!! It sure doesn't take long to get used to sunsets on the beach, crabs on the pier, chocolate shakes at Ruby's Diner, family bike rides along the coast, early morning runs along the deserted boardwalk, and making lots of family memories!! Good thing my parents are NEVER in Redondo on the weekends.....so pretty much, we have decided that this is our new weekend residence (thanks Mom & Dad)!!! :)
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