We spent 10 days in California, near San Francisco, at the end of last month. We drove. Yes, 8-9 hours in the car with 3 small children. It actually wasn't too bad. We stopped just south of Redding on the way down and spent the night at a great hotel. Adia was thoroughly confused. Daddy and I realized that she can't remember the last time she stayed in a hotel. I think the last time was around 15 months or so. She enjoyed bouncing from one bed to the other, something I remember doing for hours as a kid. The twins wanted to go crazy, explore and just get into trouble. Leia especially loved the mirrored closet doors. She actually went to sleep fairly easily, which surprised all of us since they'd spent so many hours sleeping in the car. Mira was a total grump though. She screamed and fought and fussed and nothing could make her happy. She ended up projectile vomiting all over me, herself, her blanket, the bed. Lovely. I didn't get too much sleep that night and my bed smelled like puke. I had to wash her blanket in the bathtub at 11pm. That reminds me, I still don't think it's made it through the actual washing machine yet. We've been back for over a week now, but I still haven't had a moment to catch my breath.
The next morning, all the girls were crazy. Mira woke Adia up too early and that woke Leia up too. We had 3 cranky girls as we headed out to the beach house. It felt like the longest drive ever. The twins started to get hungry about 2 hours away, but we thought we were a lot closer. Who knew HWY 1 could be worse than HWY 101 from Florence to Yachats. I've never been a road that awful. The fastest you can drive ia about 25mph because of the twists, turns, switchbacks, cliffs on both sides. It was miserable. We were all nauseous by the end, including me. We found where we'd be staying, but couldn't check in for a few more hours so we explored the town. Stinson Beach doesn't have much to it. You blink and you miss it, seriously. We ate at a wonderful cafe. Too bad the girls were wild. Adia dumped her ice water all over DiDi, Leia and me. Somehow she managed to miss herself. We then played in the park. The girls all loved that, but we were all under-dressed for the weather. It felt more like the Oregon Coast than what I imagine California feeling like. We put pants on the twins and coats on all 3 girls, but they had fun anyway.
It was then time to check into the beach house. It was huge, but we immediately knew there would be a big problem, or several. There was a flight of steep, wooden stairs with no railing on one side. We used a baby gate on one side of the hallway and closed the door on the other, but it was a constant worry the whole time we were there, especially when we caught Leia teetering at the top of the baby gate. Apparently she really can climb anything. There were also electrical plug ins everywhere with wires criss crossing the floor, walls and ceiling. Of course the twins were all over those. We rearranged furniture, but there was only so much we could do. Leia tried eating firewood so Daddy had to put it on the deck. She then went to the kitchen and tried eating dish soap and dishwasher detergent tablets. That girl is a walking disaster area! We ended up giving the girls a bath in the kitchen sink though and Mira loved it. Leia was freaked out by everything.
My brother, his wife and their kids arrived that night. Adia was so excited to see her cousins. She immediately began playing with "Big A." Everyone was up way late, but Adia was happy to see them the next morning too. We walked the beach into town and had lunch. We also bought some sweatshirts, but it got pretty warm that day once the fog burned off. One of my friends came to visit too and brought her 3 year old daughter. Adia and N were cautious of each other at first, but were soon making sandcastles together and making lots of mud pies. Poor N got knocked over by a wave though, but she was over it pretty quick. Leia played with us a bit, but must have eaten her body weight in sand. That was one of her last trips to the beach because it made her so sick. I had a rough couple days after that because I severely burned myself. My legs are still peeling. I was in so much pain, I cried in the shower and could barely get myself dressed. Adia now knows the importance of sunscreen.
We went for a hike the next day. Adia had a blast with her cousins and we saw a HUGE snake. It looked a lot like a rattle snake, but it wasn't. They climbed in a huge tree and it was nearly impossible to get Adia back out. We had lunch at another yummy cafe, this time in Point Reyes. The waitress actually knew was celiac disease was since once of the other waitresses is also gluten intolerant. They were super careful with the girls' meals and instead of fries, they were able to have fruit. Adia loved it, but I think the twins ate more. The kids played in the park for a little bit before we headed back to the beach house. The kids then enjoyed playing at the beach.
On Tuesday, we took the ferry from Sausalito to San Francisco. I've never taken a ferry before or spent any time in San Francisco. Adia loved the ferry ride. She sat out front with DiDi, Daddy, my brother and her cousins for the longest time before coming inside with the twins and me. It was super windy and she said she was cold. We got to see the Golden Gate bridge and Alcatraz from the ferry. I honestly didn't know Alcatraz was so large. My brother and his kids went to Golden Gate park after we docked and we walked to Fisherman's Wharf. We looked around for a bit before trying to find the Rainforest Cafe. We couldn't find it so I had to call in help for directions. I love having texting buddies I can count on. We found it and Adia thought it was awesome. The food was really good too. Adia didn't eat too much, but she loved the atmosphere. The twins devoured everything we put in front of them. We spent a long time in the gift shop too. The twins got matching monkeys. Adia wanted a canteen. We were hoping to go to the aquarium, but we didn't have enough time before the ferry back. The ride back was awful. It was super choppy and Adia was a mess. She wouldn't stop screaming, trying to kick and hit. I strapped her into the stroller and we tried to ignore her. She was awful.
We spent time in town on Wednesday. Thursday was the last day with my brother's family. Adia was sad to see them go, but they had fun playing. We went to the park and then they played at the beach for the longest time. The older kids spent time watching a movie before it was time for them to leave. Adia kept asking when they were coming back. It was heartbreaking.
We sidetracked her by going to the Children's Museum. It took some time to get there, but Adia loved it. I wish it had been open later or that we would have known about it sooner. All 3 girls absolutely loved it. The twins had a safe place to play and Adia had lots of things to climb on. She especially loved the pirate ship.
Thursday was our last night and we packed up most of our stuff. We had to be out before 10am. Somehow, we managed to be out by 9am. We drove all the way to Sacramento to see my dad. The girls loved his house because it was baby safe and full of toys because he has a granddaughter that lives with him. Adia loved her baby cousin. She gave her tons of hugs and kisses and would make her giggle and squeal. It was so sweet.
Sadly, Adia ate some gluten while we were there and she quickly showed a reaction. Within 30 minutes, she needed to run to the bathroom and she started acting cranky. Every once in awhile I doubt her gluten intolerance and think it's all in my head, but on the rare occasion she actually ingests gluten, I know otherwise. She was cranky all evening and had to keep using the toilet. I felt so bad for her, especially since we were seeing my friend and N again that night. We met them for dinner and that perked Adia up a bit. She refused to eat, but the girls had fun playing at the play area. We then had gelato at Whole Foods. Adia did eat a few bites of that. What she didn't eat, the twins did. Adia had a rough night and was even worse in the morning. She had a full on meltdown, the kind where you wish they made toddler straight jackets. It was awful. She eventually calmed down, we were able to load the car and follow my friend and N to Fairytale Town.
Adia played hard with N at Fairytale Town. It was the perfect way to wear her out. She was upset to leave, but we had a long long drive ahead of us. We had a long 8 hours in the car to go.
We stopped somewhere between Sacramento and Redding to eat lunch. By then the twins were screaming for food. They devoured their lunch, between Mira's screams. I hate how she screams to get attention. Adia ate a little bit, but was still being a butt. It was such a relief when she finally fell asleep in the back seat. Leia also had a blow out and Mira peed out the side of her diaper. We stopped in Grants Pass for dinner. It was so nice to be back in Oregon. Our dinner was wonderful. The twins had everyone's attention and everyone that worked there kept them happy and well fed. We did learn that Mira's favorite food is french fries. If she knows we have them, she won't eat anything else. We were soon back on the road and in for the worst part of the drive. We had to stop multiple times between Grants Pass and Eugene for diaper changes and complaining 3 year olds. It was one thing after another. We finally got home around 11pm. I was exhausted. Daddy brought everything in while I tried to get children to bed. I ended up passing out with Adia.
The craziest part though was early the next morning, we were back on the road again. This time we were camping near Tillamook for the 4th of July with Gramma, Papa and Unky Eck.
