Road Trip to see the Grandparents

"Over the river and through the woods, to Grandmother's house we go....." We were supposed to take a drive up north to see friends and family several weeks ago when I was on vacation from UCSB....however, I got sick and didn't want to spread the germs to those I love. So, we decided to wait until my next holiday I had off, which was Martin Luther King Jr. day last weekend.

Sadly, my day off was the start of this crazy storm CA has been getting. We drove about 5 hours in the rain to San Jose to see Grandma Suzanne (my Dad's mom) and my uncle Pat, Aunt Cindy and cousin Brian. (So mad at myself, I didn't take ONE picture!) It was a nice visit, but too short as always. I don't think we were there for more than two hours before we got back in the car to head to San Ramon (45 minutes away) to visit Norm (family friend, like a father to me).

We skipped any idea of taking Owen to a restaurant for dinner that night. I couldn't fathom putting him back in the car, and I only imagined what sort of shenanigans he would have gotten into while running around a restaurant after being cooped up in a rainy car all day. We were too tired to even think about chasing him, so we got comfortable and ordered pizza at home. It was nice to relax and spend some time with Norm for the evening, though I was in bed by 9:30! So tired.

After dinner it was time to put our sleepy head to bed. We were worried about how this was going to go down since we are still dealing with the pacifier issue, and he was going to be sleeping in a big, fairly high bed in his own room...ALONE! Fortunately, he was SO excited to be in a big bed with fluffy pillows and comforters, that he didn't make a peep when I left the room. (Time to get a toddler bed at home soon.) He slept great until he woke up soaked from a leaky diaper just before 6 AM : ( The next morning, the rain was REALLY bad on our way to Santa Clara to visit Grandma Pat and her sweet husband Paul. I was dreading the drive back to Santa Barbara in a matter of hours.

Of course Owen decides to take a 15 minute nap before we get to my Grandmother's house, and would not even wink one eye shut on the entire ride back home.

We arrived with lunch from Whole Foods and had a nice, yet another short visit with family. Owen had a good time jumping on their couch (grrrr). He was pretty well behaved given all he had been through in the last 24 hours of this trip. He got to pick out an animal puppet from a big box of them and bring them home. I swear my Grandma had every animal on the planet in puppet form in this box. Out of all the bugs, lizards, cows, chickens, and pelicans just to name a few...he chose the pink flamingo! He loves this thing! I have to say that it did save our life on the last 20 minutes of the drive back when the whining wasn't stopping, it was a good distraction. Thanks Grandma!

Fortunately, by the time we left their house, the rain had stopped and the sun was shining! Our drive back was beautiful! Green velvety hills, fluffy white clouds, and crisp clean air. We hit some patches of rain, but nothing too bad.

After lots of complaining to "get up" from his car seat, we decided to make a pit stop in Pismo Beach and let Owen run around and stretch his legs. He deserved it! We found a cool park over looking the ocean. It was great except there were huge puddles everywhere from the rains earlier in the day. Puddles to a toddler is like chocolate to a woman; he couldn't resist. He was good for about 5-10 minutes, and then he just dove right in! Oh well, he's wet already, let him go nuts and have fun at least! Thankfully we had clean clothes in the car.

He was So Happy playing in the water, until..........Face plant into the muddy puddle!This doesn't even look like my son. He has a soul patch, a Hitler mustache and dark brown eyebrows!This picture cracks me up. It reminds me of those Wooly Willy games I had as a kid with the magnet pen and the metal shavings that let you drop the shavings over a drawing of a bald man's head to look like hair....does anyone else know what I am talking about?

Needless to say, after a quick wipe down with baby wipes and fresh warm clothes, we were back on our way, and made it home safe and sound. It was way too much driving with a toddler in such a short amount of time. We didn't get to see friends or any other family that live up there either. : ( I will not do this trip again in so few days. I need a minimum of 3-4 days to make it worth while. Though it was nice to see everone, we didn't get to visit anyone long enough.