California- the first week

Once again I was the crazy one who took two kids alone on the airplane! We only had one connection- a two hour in Dallas. Addilyn and Levi did really well the whole time. All except the last half hour of our decent into Los Angeles Levi started melting down. The first leg of the flight we watched a movie the whole time. When we got to Dallas they ran around like crazies while I frantically tried to charge my laptop. It's been finicky and occasionally won't take a charge. So it didn't charge and the second half of our trip was the longer stretch so I had to get creative with entertaining the two of them. We flew in on a Sunday and arrived about 4:30 in LAX. My cousin Danny and Uncle Gary came and picked us up.

Levi LOVED Sofie

We had a few days of solo time with Aunt Maudie and Uncle Gary. It was great because we were able to take a couple of days to adjust to the 3 hours difference. I had the hardest time with the change- probably because I'm pregnant! Everything seems to be harder when you're pregnant. 

We enjoyed the spa on our own- The weather was so-so to start with but every day it got warmer and warmer. Levi could not get enough of Sofie and she was so good to him. 

(Levi did go swim, but I didn't take pics until he and I were out)

They had some delicious snacks that we got to enjoy. Here, you see Levi fully experiencing pudding. 

first in-n-out

My mom flew in on Wednesday evening and my brother Brian and his family arrived the next morning. One of the days when we were all together we drove down the road and went to a dinosaur exhibit and then to lunch.

Rubios- the best fish tacos

 

We packed Saturday FULL. It started off with the Orange County Swap Meet. Grandma rented this stroller which was awesome for the kids. I also bought a bag of kettle corn and the kids munched the whole time on it. 

After the swap meet, Brian hadn't realized that we were so close to Newport Beach. We took a spontaneous trip there. Of course we had nothing for the beach- no towels, baby powder, extra clothes etc. Addilyn ended up traveling without pants on because they were quite wet. But others weren't as lucky as her. Jaxson fell into the water completely. Afterwards he went in the nude while they ran into a store to buy him some new clothes.  

After the beach we drove to my Aunt Elaine's house (my dad's sister). My dad's brother, my Uncle Gary, and his wife Kathy were also there. Aunt Kathy brought my grandmother's photo albums for me to go through. I had a few questions about some people in our family and we were able to talk about them. I was also able to snag some pictures of my brother and I with our grandparents and others to scan- mostly of my dad when he was a kid. Below is my dad's parents wedding photo.

The Jadwins

 (out of order beach photos)

We had family night and Mariah had brought a kit that someone had given to them. I read the book about an elf and then we made everyone into Christmas Trees. Addi was first and then everyone got a turn. There were ornaments and everything. They sure had fun!