Wow! It has been quite a while since I have blogged! I should've done some while I was in Oregon, but ... same old reason--I miss having my Mac! I could blog so easily from that thing ... now, on Billy's computer, I find myself writing a blog nearly a month since my last post. I very much dislike that, but it is what it is.We have been so busy! We had a wonderful Christmas with my Mom and Step-Dad. We went flew to San Francisco and drove up the coast to Brookings. I wasn't really looking forward to the travel days, but it turned out to be alright in the end.
Before we left for Oregon, we had a little Christmas here at home. Colton left cookies and Mountain Dew (at Santa's request) out for Santa. We watched Frosty the Snowman together, too. It was a fun "Christmas Eve". On Friday morning (the 23rd), we opened gifts like it was Christmas morning. Then we made pancakes, and Billy went in to work a little later than usual. We packed up all day, because we left pretty early in the morning.
We woke up at 4:00 a.m. and were out the door by 4:30 a.m. We got to the car rental place, and they did not have our rental information (even though we had already paid). I had, unknowingly, used a middle man to book our rental information. I thought Park'n'Fly was the place ... it was actually called Payless Parking. Anyway, PNF didn't send our info to PP, so PP tried to not let us park there. We fought them and called PNF until they let us park. Then we were off! First, we flew to Miami (why we we went southeast to go northwest, I have no idea). It was an up and down flight ... totaling 45 minutes in the air. In Miami, we were delayed a little bit. The kids did a great job just sitting in the airport. Unfortunately, the flight from Miami to San Fran was about 5 1/2 hours long! I was so tired of being on the plane. Colton slept about 3 hours of it, so that was great! Khloe was amazing, too. When we got to San Francisco, we were a little late, but we had made it safely. We drove down to see Austin and Pam. They only live about 10 minutes away from the airport! They have such a cute place, and were so sweet with getting us something to eat. By then, Khloe was having her one meltdown of the day ... she had made it all of the way to the Purkeypile's house before she was so overtired and hungry that no one could calm her down. Billy told me to go lay her down, but I didn't believe that's what she needed. I was sure, if she would just eat, she would feel better. No one could get her to eat. She was too tired! Pam tried so hard to calm her, too. I feel so badly, because I wanted Pam to be able to hold the sweet little Khloe that I always have around, and instead, she got crazy Khloe! I finally listened to Billy, and I wrapped Khloe up as tightly as I could in her swaddle and put her down on the bed. She fell right to sleep! I guess husbands do know a thing or two sometimes!
After we visited with the Purkeypiles for a little bit, we left to drive up to Brookings, OR to see my Mom and Step-Dad. By then, we were pretty tired, but we tag-team drove, and we made it there in pretty good time. It was so good to see my Mom. We were pretty exhausted since we made it to their house at 3:00 a.m. Florida time--which means, we had been up for nearly 24 hours.
On Christmas morning, we made breakfast and opened gifts. Colton made out with two really great DVDs ... An Ice Age Christmas (which is surprisingly very funny ... and nicely only 25 minutes long) and The Lion King. We watched plenty of those movies all week ... especially when it rained. Khloe got some cute toys and clothes. I was thrilled to receive a cake pop pan! I am definitely going to make some cake pops for some occasion or another this year. Billy got some Wii games that he can play with Colton--still, he doesn't really "let" Colton play. Ha, ha! The best gift of the morning was one that my Mom received. It was from my sister. She opened two cute wall hangings ... a lizard and some sea turtles ... whose colors match some pillows she had just bought. She was so excited to get the wall art. We took a picture to show my sister just how much she liked them. When my Mom spoke with my sister (who couldn't be in Oregon with us this Christmas), she thanked her for these two pieces of art. My sister said they weren't for her! She had mistakenly wrapped them up and put her name on them, but they were gifts for someone else!!! Too funny!
It was very nice to be able to spend some time with my mom. I wish it had rained less, but we had a great 3-day weekend there with no rain and warm weather where we hiked as much as we could. We did go to the beach nearly every day--rain or shine. That's the best part about that area of the country ... the beautiful hiking and ocean scenery. It is breathtaking!
I do wish we all lived closer to each other, though. It took us nearly an entire 24-hour period to make it to and from their house. It was a long travel day there and a long travel day home. With two small children, that equates to something even longer!
A funny thing happened at the beach one day. Billy and I (and Colton, too) were getting restless in the house due to the excessive rain we had been having. So, we decided to head to the beach one morning ... even though, it was raining. We hoped to get some fresh air. We got the kids bundled up and headed out to the harbor beach. When we arrived, Billy took Colton out to the beach, and I put Khloe into her Bjorn. The wind was so fierce that it kept making Khloe catch her breath, so I decided it was just too much for her. We headed back to the car. Colton had been throwing rocks into the ocean waves with Daddy. While Billy was paying attention to me and not to Colton, Cole found his own rock and handed it to Daddy. Billy thought it felt weird and it must be trash or something, and upon closer inspection, realized he had just been handed dog poop! He promptly threw it down only to realize Colton still had the other half in his hands! So, Colton had to ride in the car back to my Mom's office with his hands up in the air so as not to touch anything until we could wash his hands. It was pretty funny!
Friday turned out to be a super nice day! We went down to Harris Beach again, and the sun was shining to brightly. We even saw about 10 whale spouts out in the ocean as they were making their way south. It was pretty cool! Colton enjoyed spotting the seagulls and chasing them off of the beach. We had a great time out there together!
New Year's Eve was a really nice day outside, so we all decided to go on a little hike. It was a really beautiful hike, but you can't say that it isn't a really beautiful hike very often in this part of the country. We were so thankful to get some fresh air and to have a nice sunny day. It made for a beautiful Sabbath.
On New Year's Day, Billy and I went on a really great hike at a point called Cape Sebastian. It's a trail that follows highway 101 for quite a while. It goes right along the coastline. It was a really nice hike, and it made me sad that Florida is so extremely flat. We both felt really good after hiking and running along that trail. It was such a beautiful, sunny day, too. I think that also made it feel really incredible ... after all of the rain we had been having recently.
The drive back to San Francisco for our flight was nice and sunny, but we were so ready to be home. And we knew that we still had TWO flights to go before we made it back to Tampa. The first flight was uneventful aside from the fact that the lady made me sit with Khloe and Colton, because one side of the aircraft only had 2 oxygen masks. It was a trip trying to keep Colton entertained while holding Khloe at the same time, but it worked out all right. Luckily, the flight from San Fran to Los Angeles is pretty short! Our overnight flight from L.A. to Tampa was brutal. Colton could not get comfortable to sleep, so he flipped and flopped all over the place on Billy for most of the flight trying so desperately to sleep ... but he didn't really get very good rest at all. Khloe did really well, but I was exhausted by the time we got home. Poor Billy had to work that day!
We had a great time in Oregon. It's always hard to leave your loved ones to return home, but it's always nice to sleep in your own beds! I just dislike it so much when this season is over, because the decorations, the lights, the music, the cheer of it all ... it warms my heart and fills my home with joy and love. Now, as I take my Christmas decorations down, my home will look barren and empty--for another 9 months until fall arrives again!
Now ... to focus my energy on my new year's resolutions. TO THE GYM!
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