west side

vacay....west siiiide!

where all muh playaz and g's at yo?

 

i'm sorry. i'm getting therapy, i promise.

 

so yeah. we went down the pacific coast for summer vacation this year (a.k.a. the west side of things). and yes, we are those crazy people who drove the whole 19 plus hours to get from wa state to (the almost butt) of california. we thought it would be a "fun adventure." i know.

 

the first night we decided to camp in the redwoods. since it was kind of a last minute decision, the only camp that still had spots available was in crescent city. we would have loved to stay in the heart of things, but the boys loved driving through the humungous trees to get to the camp site. since it was also on the coast, as the evening set in, the fog did too. it got pretty spooky, but it looked cool. it also got cold. since it was august, you know, the supposed hottest part of summer, i foolishly assumed that we would only need a light blanket for camping. hahaha!

 

we nearly froze to death that night guys. needless to say, i felt like a terrible mother and made the boys sleep in their jackets and socks...and any other clothing they could find. (in my defense, i was packing for the entire family since ben was out of town until the night before we left...it's hard to remember all that stuff!)

 

i packed my big girl grown up camera for this trip, but i got tired and so busy trying to keep harrison alive, that I ended up relying completely on my phone camera the whole time. convenience over beauty i suppose.

how many boys does it take to set up a tent?
a lot

 

with all those huge trees, harrison still was way more interested in the dirt and bugs.

then once we finally got harrison to actually stop running around the tent long enough to go to bed, we slept/froze to death.

 the fog was still hanging around when we left early the next morning...

 the coast. obviously...

then 5 bathroom stops, 4 encore showings of the lego movie, and two slap fights later, we finally reached our last stop before our little surprise.

we originally told the boys that we were going to see their cousins who live in the golden state and nothing more. but we are sneaky. we planned a little side trip to see our bestie, mickey.

here are the deets: i got the idea from a friend (who does this for her kids' birthdays) to tie a string around the house (or hotel room in our case) leading to the surprise. so while the kids were at breakfast the next morning, i quickly decorated the hotel room with red string. my only option for an inconspicuous location for the big reveal was...well...the bathroom. don't judge.

nate is currently the only reader among the godard offspring, so he naturally was the first to discover and appreciate the news...although it did not take spence long to figure it out. harrison was more like, "who is this mickey you speak of?"

i don't know how we managed to keep it a secret so long. i am terrible at any form of deception. (just talk to ben about Christmas). in fact, the night before the big reveal, i almost spilled the beans. but lucky for us, my children don't listen to me, like ever, and didn't hear what i said to ben. phew!
i'm firing myself from any future surprises.

the drive was much shorter this time...a mere 4 hours. we arrived by early afternoon. the hotel looked like a little piece of manufactured heaven! in my haste to get out of the car, i neglected to get any photos of its grandeur and magnificence...

 but i did get some palm trees....

and the lobby doors. heh.

stained glass is my fave.

then we dove right in! i love harrison's face in this picture. this was his first ever ride...like in the entire world, guys. it was a rocket ship ride called something orbitor that went around in a big circle. he just kept looking around at everything and would NOT look at me to take a pic. he kept saying "no, mama, no." he warmed up to me later...once the amazingness settled...

and some more amber-friendly aspects from the trip...

a little pool action too...

all in all, i'd say disney/anaheim was a success...i mean no one lost any permanent teeth!
just look at that little sunkissed face!

then we kept good on our original promise and visited the cousins.
(my kids are the reflectively white ones).

things might have gotten a little cray cray over night...like 3am cray cray. but it was all in the name of good fun i suppose. sorry uncle phil.
wish we lived closer to these little rapscallions.

and just like that it was time to head home...

to the west, slightly northeast, side.