The 60th Anniversary Cruise

So, as many of you know, we went on a cruise with my siblings and their spouses to help my folks celebrate 60th anniversary. We left on Monday, May 31st and arrived back in Long Beach on June 4th. Take down of the trailer took longer than we thought, but we finally got our ducks in a row and got to the Long Beach cruise terminal where we parked. We got on board with no hitches and used the magic of cell phones to find my siblings. My sister, Penny had called ahead to have my parents room decorated. There were streamers and flowers and a banner. I will attempt to post photos later. We started the cruise by doing what one does a lot on cruises... we ate!
The cruise was interesting! It was certainly NOT Smith hours! Most all the activites ( even for the kids) started after our bedtime (9pm) The kids were in clubs for their ages. Derek's club seemed to start at about 9 and go until 1am. Colin's was a little more variable, though he had one night party that went until 3:30am!!!! That first night Marcus and I enjoyed playing pinnochle with Sandy and Steve like we used to when we lived in Chico and Sacramento! We made it all the way 'til 10:00pm.
During the day we went to Catalina where we wandered around with various family members, shopping, hiking and chatting. That evening after dinner the adult Smiths went to bed early. The nest day we went to Ensenada where we shopped some more. The kids enjoyed the bartering process and ended up with some cool hats, and sling shots. That evening we found a room to take over where we presented our parents with a DVD of photos of each of us and our families as we grew up. It was so fun to see the old photos that brought back so many memories! Sandy did an excellent job putting it all together! My dad then talked about each of his children and thier strengths and how mauch we each mean to him. Then he gave his sweetheart a lovely Tahitian pearl necklace and earrings that he had collect and bring on board. To top it off the 5 of us kids sang the anniversary song Sandy wrote for their 50th anniversary.
The rest of the cruise was spent visiting and catching up. Poor Penny ended up with the flu and was very sick, spending most of the rest of the time in her room. That was sad, since she lives in Germany, and we don't get to see her very often, let alone how misereable she was.
All in all it was great to see each other. We had a wonderful chance to visit with each other which is so rare since we all live so far apart!

Rating of the cruise:
Ann 9 I had a great time seeing my family, but I would have liked the activities to have started earlier.
Marcus 7 It was good to see Ann's family, but the cruise was not really my thing.
Derek 10 It was really really good!
Colin 9 It was great!

BBQ on the beach with Marcus' cousins May 30th

So, I know it has been a while! What a whirlwind of adventures we have had! I will try my best to remember it all. May 30th was a family day with Marcus' side of the family. He has several cousins from his dad's side that live in the area. We took the opportunity to have a family BBQ on the beach. There were 16 of us. What Marcus and I hadn't realized was this was Saturday of Memorial Day weekend and we were trying to have a beach bonfire in LA area. We got there first and it looked like there were no fire rings to be had. We parked the car and wandered up and down the beach looking for one. Trina got there next and looked farther south on the beach. She found one of the last few fire rings to be had for the day! We lucked out with parking too. Trina even threw herself in front of a truck risking life and limb for one of the last spots. Once all the family was there, we started to settle in. AS I said there were 16 of us, but I'm sure we had enough food and beverages for 160! And wood. We had plenty of wood for our fire! It was none too warm with the wind on the beach, but the sun was out and we were happy to get to spend the time together. Derek begged, bartered and manipulated his way into starting a family game of capture the flag, which brought on lots of giggling, and feats of athleticism and skill. Soon, a neighboring group joined in. We ate, we chatted, we ate some more. The only down side was the wind. It was very hard to get away from the smoke with all the fire rings lined up in a row. Our eyes were burning and we smelled of campfire as we went home to our little trailer, but we wouldn't have traded it for the world! We had a great time reconnecting with Marcus' side of the family!

You will have to survive without rating the days and such for a while, until I catch up with myself! Sorry!

Lazy Day & Medieval Times

When we get lazy, we get lazy!! We spent the day lollygagging around the trailer. We napped, we screened, we caught up on blogs long overdue. I even payed the pool guy!
The weather has been partly cloudy and none too warm. But decent weather for Theme parking... Not too hot for standing in lines.
The excitment of the day didn't come until the evening. We went to see Medieval Times. We were sitting in the second row very close to the center, and routing for the red knight. He was the victor. We ate with our hands (a half chicken was served mom!) We screamed for our knight and waved our flags. It was fun! We were there with another of Marcus' cousins, Trina and her daughter Sierra. It was fun to see them and get a chance to catch up.
When we returned to our trailer, and were reading Warriors, in final preparations for sleep, the Disneyland fireworks started to go off. We could see them perfectly from our trailer. That was a nice way to end the day!

Steps for May 28th (apparently being lazy doesn't add up to lotsa steps!)
Ann 2,460
Marcus 3,215
Derek 3,470 Winner!!
Colin 1,870

Ratings for May 28th
Ann 8 I needed a relaxing day and I enjoyed Medieval Times
Marcus 7 Needed the r&r but it was not a very exciting day. Medieval Times was fun.
Derek 9 I liked having some downtime. Medieval Times was great!
Colin 7 The beginning of the day was a bit rough, Derek was annoying, but I liked Medieval Times!

VIP for May 28th
Ann with 31 out of 40 points!

Quote for the day is from Colin as we were leaving Medieval Times: "Can we do that more often?!"

Disneyland and California Adventure

This day was much better. We got to Disneyland at 9am. There were a lot more people, but the lines for the Matterhorn were short so we rode it several times. The boys got to do their favorite rides a bunch. Then we headed over to California Adventure. Derek LOVED California Screemin, so life was good again! We went on the grizzly river rapids and got drenched, how fun is that?! The highlight of MY day was the ferris wheel!! They have this very cool looking ferri wheel, where the cars are on loops and swing freely on this big loop while the ride goes around. We were all looking forward to it! Not long after the ride began, Colin got very nervous and I got very queasy. By the time we had made it half way around I wanted to crawl in a hole and die!! I asked to get off when we got to the bottom, but they said no, I had to go around again. Luckily, they have barf bags in the cars! I filled mine up! Colin stopped crying with his concern for me. when we got off the ride, I was greener than kermit the frog! I was completely useless then! I couldn't move my eys from side to side I was that sick. I don't know when I have ever felt that bad with any kind of motion sickness except perhaps the cruise we went on a few years back. Anyway, the boys were done around 4:30 and begged to go back to the trailer. Becky, Marcus' cousin thought our boys were a bit odd. How many kids beg to leave a theme park?
When we got back to the trailer we had some nice chat time with Becky. It was her birthday and so we took her to Fire and Ice for dinner. Again, we had a great time! We were back in our trailer and in bed by 9:30! Smith hours are back!

Steps for May 27th
Derek 20,174 Winner!
Ann 11,994
Marcus 10,762
Colin 15,721

Ratings for May 27th
Derek 10- awesome rollercoaster!
Ann 7- barfing on the ferris wheel was not my greatest moment!
Marcus- 8 The day was less scheduled and more easy-going
Colin 9- I was in a good mood all day.

VIP for May27th
3way tie: Ann Marcus, and Colin

Quote for the day: Becky referring to why the kids should go to the Enchanted Tikki Room, "just think of it as the history and culture of Disnyeland."

The Magic of Disneyland

Our kids were shaking with anticipation! The final hour was at hand. They were making their first pilgrimage to the Mecca for kids: Disneyland. Colin decided it was great, but Derek was underwhelmed. He thought it was majorly over-rated! We went with Marcus' cousin Becky. We did all the must do's... It's a Small World, Indiana Jones, Space Mountain, Matterhorn, The Enchanted Tikki Room, the Haunted Mansion... Derek was so disappointed in the roller coasters that he found it hard to enjoy himself. Favorites of the day were: Colin Autotopia and Matterhorn , Derek Toy Story, Marcus- Matterhorn, Ann Matterhorn. Least Favorite:Enchanted Tikki Room for all of us.

We were tired, we were hungry, but we the adults decided the kids should see the parade. We went to where we thought the parade started, waited FOREVER only to discover they reverse course during the week, so we were at the end of the route. The kids were underwhelmed with that as well. We left Disneyland after the parade to go to dinner and straight to bed. So much for the "Magic of Disneyland!" We think perhaps we were all overtired and should have had some downtime before tackling such a big day.

Steps for May 26th ( theme parks seem to help out on this front! Some of the wilder rides give steps while you are seated.)

Derek 16,630

Ann 14, 671

Marcus 22, 624

Colin 22,912 Winner

Ratings for May 26th

Derek 6 Disneyland was NOT what I expected!!

Ann 7 There were few crowds, I enjoyed the time with Becky, the weather was great, but Derek was difficult!

Marcus 6 Hard to enjoy Disneyland with unhappy kids.

Colin 9 The roller coasters were the perfect speed for me!

VIP for May 26th: Ann with 31 out of 40 points

Quote for the day from Colin: " It's Disneyland mom, get used to it!"

!

Preparations, mishaps, and The Beginning.

I thought I would have posted before now, but the final two weeks before our departure were quite eventful. Marcus was trying to wrap up at work, I was trying to wrap up the school year with my two perfect students, Colin had a birthday party, we had a farewell party and... stuff started breaking. I had been trying to figure out pool issues for weeks, and it turned out I had many. Our new pump wasn't programmed correctly, the pool sweep needed a tuneup and our pool guy disappeared. I didn't get that all sorted out until last night as I talked to our new pool guy over the phone. Our washer broke. I must say a big major thanks to our friends and neighbors for allowing me to launder around. The biggest break was the sprinkler valve mid day Monday. It was NOT what we needed! Marcus got that finished as light was disappearing and the store was closed. If that fix had not worked we would not have been able to leave until the next day, or the sprinkler was fixed whichever came first. We managed to get through all of that and still maintain our schedule and most of our sanity.

I have to say... we feel so lucky to have such great friends!! During the party, we were presented with a poem, some gifts, and lotsa hugs and well wishes. I swear we have the best friends ever!! As we were hitching the trailer Monday night, neighbors stopped by to wish us well and say goodbye. At 6am, we were greeted by Julie who took photos of us as we drove off. She is so efficient, she already has them posted on facebook!

The trip to Anaheim was great! Good weather, no bad traffic, pretty flowers blooming by the roadside. We even saw a red fox! The boys were happy. It was all good. We were feeling mighty proud of ourselves! That is, until we started the set up! Even that was going well until we tried to unlock the door and get in. No such luck. We pulled we pushed we pried we shoved we stomped, we swore? Maybe. What do YOU think? Anyway, we decided to have lunch first. Afterward Marcus got out his trusty tool kit and managed to finesse his way into the trailer. We then tried to slide the front door into place, but it wouldn't quite go either. We finally got it to sort of stay in place and called it good. Our theory? Putting the bike racks and or AC on must have somehow torqued the trailer. It seems bent a bit. We will have to see whether unlatching the bike rack helps.

We finally got all set up and even had some down time. Marcus took a much deserved nap! we found a fun restaurant for dinner( it was our 23rd anniversary after all) called Fire and Ice. It is a Mongolian BBQ. The food is great, the atmosphere is fun and we all enjoyed it tremendously! (Though we all agreed my chocolate cake is way more betterer!)

On our trip we decided to wear pedometers. We each have the same kind and we are tracking our steps and having a friendly competition. We will post our steps at the end of each blog.

Steps for May 25th:

Ann 6989

Marcus 2880 ( he wasn't wearing his properly)

Derek 8417

Colin 8462 (he was determined to win... adding jumping jacks before bed.)

We also decided to borrow some good ideas from our friends the Bolings who went on a trip like this last summer. We will rate the day, share VIP for the day, and give a quote for the day.

Rating for May 25th.

Mom 8 I was in a great mood and had a lovely time at Fire and Ice, though set up was a bit of a downer.

Dad 8 Set up was frustrating, but the drive was great and Fire and Ice was nice.

Derek 9 Fire and Ice was great! The day was Great!

Colin 9 Had a great time at Fire and Ice!

VIP for May 25th

Derek with a score of 36 our of 40!

Quote for the day from Ann: "What else can break?!"

The Countdown is on!!

Ok, so here it is... There are just 3 weeks, yes, I said 3 weeks until we begin our little adventure. There is an amazing list of things to think through when you are going to be away from home for an extended time!! Bills, pets, house, work, school... not to mention things like Colin's birthday, and our anniversary! We are getting through it slowly but surely.
We have planned our trip quite thoroughly from May 25th until June 16th. Then it is more open-ended. We hope to be flexible enough to go where the mood suits us for some of it.
Our departure date is May25th. We will head from here to the LA area where we will see Marcus' extended family and do some of the touristy things like Disneyland (our kids have never been there). Then we meet my family for a 4 day cruise to Ensenada to celebrate my parents' 60th wedding anniversary!! Then on to see some good friends in San Diego. Here the pampering ends and the true nature of our trip begins. We will head to Lake Mead, Grand Canyon, Arches and Mesa Verde. We will keep you posted on how we are doing, what we are loving, what our follies are (I'm sure there will be many) and any other pertinent info along the way.