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Day 4: Sunday July 5
We woke up early, to pack up and head out. Re-packing the van is always hard. Where did everything go? Why doesn't this fit right? The sun was warm very early, and we didn't have too much shade at our campsite. And, in trying to clean out the tent, we had 2 bees fly in. Poor Mike had to kill one, and the other flew out on it's own. We were all tired and hot and not feeling the best, after our long day, the day before. So, it took longer than we planned. We finally got everything and everyone loaded up, and left the campgrounds.
The lunch that we had scheduled for Thursday, we had rescheduled for today. It did take a while to get there, through traffic, but we finally made it. I've known ANT for 3 years, online by following his blogs. Since we were in the area, we arranged to meet in person, something I thought would never happen. We met for lunch at California Pizza Kitchen, in downtown Los Angeles. It was great. ANT is my favorite friend, favorite comedian, favorite person of all!!! He's so kind, and giving. We had a wonderful lunch, although a short one. We were late, and he had another appt. that afternoon, so it was a short visit. But, one that I will treasure for a long time to come!!!!
After that, we went to see the Hollywood sign, and another online friend, a fellow ANT Colony memeber, Jeremiah. He lives in the Hollywood Hills, in a beautiful home. We drove up there, with our van struggling and putting along, AND packed with our camping gear, tents and chairs strapped to the top, LOL!! Jeremiah gave me great directions, and was so gracious and gave me a tour of his house. He can look out of several windows of his home, and see the Hollywood sign. Unbelieveable!!!! We visited for a few minutes, then drove down the street, to where there was an unubstructed view of the sign.
By this time, it was getting later in the day, and we decided to head home, so we could take our time, and stop if we needed to. We took the grape vine home, the more direct route, and it was fine. We stopped once, in Gorman.
We got home, and the kids were so happy to be home, and happy to see the puppies! We unloaded the van, washed pillow cases and went to bed.
This was a very different vacation for us. Most times, once we get back home, I feel like we never even left, and all my stress comes back. But, this time was different. I think the fact that we aren't at the apts. anymore made a difference. We didn't come home and have to struggle with stairs to unload, and the house was clean, not a mess. Our lives are so different now, all for the better, and I love it!!!!
Day 3: July 4
Saturday, the day we had been waiting for! We got up early, packed our lunches, beach towels, blankets, canopy and chairs and headed for the beach!!!
We had less traffic on Saturday then we did on Friday. We got to the beach in about 10 min. Drove into the first parking lot we found, and found a spot in the second row. Amazing!!! We got out most of our things, to go set up, and then we planned on just going back for the rest. We got to the beach about 11am. It was already pretty crowded, but not packed. In looking around, I realized that I hadn't done as much research as I should have. We were at the edge of the beach, rather than the main entrance. There were only stairs, and the other path crossed a stream. They also had grass picnic areas above the beach. So, being that we now have a differently abled child in a wheel chair, we couldn't go down on the sand. It was a different beach experience for all of us, but it turned out to be really great. The girls still went down in the water, made some friends, and we all had a wonderful time!! We weren't crowded and had a nice area. The only downside was that the restroom was a little bit of a walk, and not the best.
We had sandwiches for lunch, and Mike found a Carl's Jr. nearby for dinner. We had planned on eating at the snack shack there at the beach, but since it was further down, and a little more expensive than we thought, we changed plans.
This is the farthest South that we have traveled so far. The air there never really warmed up. In the sun, it was a little warm, but in the shade it was pretty chilly, all day. Very different than what we are used to, when we go to the central coast beaches. But, it was really nice. Michael sat, wrapped in a blanket, and people watched. He loves doing that! Like I said, the girls went in the ocean, but Alexis didn't last as long as Harley-Rose did. She changed and sat with Michael. Harley was in the water until dinner time.
Once the sun started going down, we took down the canopy, got out our jackets and sweaters and got set for the fireworks. They set them off from a barge out in the ocean. The show started a little late, but we had some others to watch, down the beach too. Then ours finally started, and they were awesome!!! Big, colorful, loud and just amazing. It was so beautiful to see the moon reflected on the water, and all the boats that came to watch the show, with all their lights on. Every now and then, I would look down to see the waves, and felt so blessed to be there. There is nothing like spending time with my family, watching fireworks, with the sound of the ocean in the background.
As nice as all that was, by the time the show was over, we were all freezing! So, we packed up and headed to the van. Of course, the parking lot was packed, and no one was going anywhere. But, still, they tried. I couldn't believe the people. And, I witnessed a new all time low - backing out of the space, next to the line of cars and making your passenger get out, stand in front of a car, so that you can pull in front of them in the line!!! I was stunned!!! I saw 2 people do that. I did unfortunately say something to one lady. She backed out her big, big SUV, almost right into the car behind her. Then, tried to squeeze in the line. The car that she almost backed into, had a very, very upset driver. His wife was literally pulling his arm, to keep him from getting out of the car. He had his door open and was ready to kick some butt!! I told that lady that she should stop, and that she was upsetting people. Of course, her teenage daughter had some things to say, and the woman said something about having 6 kids, blah blah. Whatever. Finally I just turned my back, and put my kids in the van and waited it out. I have this need to try and fix things and make everyone happy. But, things don't always work out that way, and not everyone sees what I'm trying to do as a good thing. I really need to just not ever say anything to anyone. So, I wasn't going to let them ruin my good time, just because they can't have some patience.
We finally got out of there, and went back to the campsite. The freeways were packed, so it took a while. We were all a little sunburned, and probably a bit car sick too. So we went to bed and went to sleep. It was a great day though. I'm so glad we went!!!!
Day 2: July 3
Friday we drove to Newport Beach, Balboa Island actually, to have frozen bananas. The kids and I saw them on Unwrapped, on the Food Network. So, since we were in the area, we wanted to try them. We drove up the coast. Once we got there, we had to drive around for a bit, to find a parking space. Just as we were about to give up, and park off the island and walk over, we saw a space, just down from the frozen banana stand! We walked down there, and there was no line. The bananas are already frozen and on a stick. When you order, they dip it in chocolate, twice, and then you get your choice of toppings. Alexis got Oreos, I had chocolate sprinkles and peanuts, and Harley-Rose got everything, which was Oreos, chocolate and multi-colored sprinkles, peanuts, Heath bar, and something else that I forget, lol. Mike got a Balboa bar, which was a big square of ice cream, also dipped in chocolate with toppings. Michael got a minty mint chip shake, which was really good! After that, we walked around a little bit, and looked at the shops. It's a really nice place, but because of the holiday, was a little crowded.
After we left there, we stopped at the grocery store and picked up some dinner items and lunch stuff for the next day. Then we went back to the campsite.
When camping, Mike does most of the cooking. Being that he was a boy scout, and eagle scout, he did a lot of camping growing up. This was only my 3rd camping trip, ever. Anyway, we had chicken packs for dinner. It's just potatoes cut up, with a piece or two of chicken, butter and seasoning, wrapped in foil. Those get put right in the coals, and cook for 15min. or longer, depending on the thickness of the chicken. We all love it, and it's so simple!! After eating, we cleaned up and Mike got the campfire going and the kids made some s'mores.
Then it was time for bed. Another great day!!!!
So, we are back from vacation, and had a great time!!! LA sure is hard to get used to though, all the traffic and people everywhere!!!
Day 1: Thursday July 2
We had planned to leave early, around 9am, in order to be in LA by 1pm, to meet a friend for lunch. Well, as you know the old saying about well laid plans and all that.... things did not go that way. We had to get our tire fixed, as it had a nail in it. Mike took it to the garage on Wednesday afternoon, but there were 12 cars ahead of him, and it would have taken too long. So, he opted for first thing in the morning instead. That turned out to be just as long of a wait. Plus, as he was waiting for it to be fixed, he got a call from someone who wanted to hire him for some contract work. So, of course he had to meet with him.
Mike finally got back around 10, and we started loading up the van. Which thankfully didn't take too long. We didn't have the stairs of the apt. to deal with, which made things much easier. But, we were very short on room!! We were loaded up, and the kids barely fit inside!! After some final preparations, and dropping the garage door opener to my brother, to take care of the puppies, we were finally on our way.
With the van in not such great shape, we decided to go the long way around, and avoid the big climb of the grape vine, and go through the desert instead. We went up through Tehachapi, and Mojave and Palmdale. Let me tell you, Mojave is the driest, hottest place I have been!!! No trees in sight anywhere. Mike wanted to pull over and rest his eyes for a bit, and let the van rest some too. The shopping centers had no landscaping and not trees at all!!! So, we ended up at this county park, which was in major dis-repair!! We stayed there for a while, and then continued on.
With leaving so late, we had to reschedule our lunch for Sunday. We still wanted to stop in LA though, so Mike could see their digital art gallery. However, once we got into LA, the traffic was awful!!! And it wasn't even holiday traffic or travelers. It was all commuters. Because, what time was it when we drove into LA??? Yep....5pm!!!! I could not drive in that every day, I don't know how they do it!!! We were actually stopped at times, just sitting there on the freeway!!! Some of those streets in the towns are called Parkways, I think they need to re-name the freeways the LA Parkway hehe!!!
Then, the Google maps directions were really out there sometimes. I made the mistake of following them word for word, and turn by turn, instead of going through them. At one point, it took us off the freeway, down the street at bit, turn left, down that street, turn left again, and right back on the freeway!!! The only thing I can think of, is at one time there was a detour and they didn't update or something. Oh well.
Finally, we made it through all that LA traffic. The campgrounds were about an hour South of LA. We found them with no trouble, with about an hour to set up before it got dark. Harley-Rose and Dad put up the tent in record time, very impressive!!! We were one of the few families there that night. It's a nice place, a county park, down in the canyon. But, only about 5 minutes from town. Kind of wierd, but nice. We went and got Jack in the Box for dinner, since it was so late, brought it back to the campsite and ate. Then we got ready for bed, and went to sleep.
All in all not a bad day, just a later than planned start, and a lot of driving time!!
We leave for vacation on Thursday.
The plan is to leave town about 9:30am, and head down to Los Angeles. There, we are meeting with a couple friends for lunch. After that, we'll go on to the campgrounds. We'll get everything set up, and make dinner.
Friday we'll do grocery shopping for the rest of the weekend, since Mike gets paid on Friday. Thank heaven for automatic deposit! Not sure what else we'll do on Friday.
Saturday, we'll go over to Doheny Beach, by Dana Point, about 30 minutes from the campgrounds. We'll spend the day there, and watch the free fireworks show that night, launched from a barge out in the ocean.
Sunday we will pack up and leave the campgrounds, and drive back through Los Angeles. We have a friend that lives in the Hollywood Hills, and gave me directions, to bring us right up underneath the Hollywood sign. I hope to get some really great pictures! Then we want to take the kids to Groumans' Chinese theater, and maybe walk some of the Walk of Fame. Mike also wants to visit some of the Hollywood cemetaries, and visit some celebrity gravesites.
At some point we also want to go to Newport Beach, and get a frozen banana from a place we saw on Unwrapped. The kids love that show!
Those are the plans, so we'll see what we actually get done, hehe. This is our first trip out of town, in over a year, and will probably be our only one, for a long time. With our landlords filing bankruptcy, we aren't sure what's going to happen with our house, and things may change for us, in the coming months. I want to make this a great trip, and take time to be a family, and enjoy each other's company. Mike has been working a lot, and wierd hours. Most nights we don't have dinner until 8pm or later. And when he works the morning shift on the weekends, he goes in now at 6am, so he's tired when he gets home.
This heat is so unbareable, you can't even stand outside without sweating!!
I know that we are going to have a great time, combining camping and the beach, with some other things mixed in too. I am going to find out just how many pictures my memory card can hold!!!
Despite how other things in my life are going right now, schooling is going well. I'm bringing the kids up to speed, slowly over the summer. We do a bit of lessons each day, and they enjoy most of it. It's amazing too, when I think they aren't paying attention while we read history, they get the questions right at the end!!
We'll take next week off, while we go on our mini vacation/camping trip. Monday and Tuesday will be spent doing laundry and making sure the house is clean, so we don't come home to a mess. Wednesday we'll pack, and we'll leave on Thursday morning. That in itself will be an adventure, since we usually travel at night.
Lately, I have had no time to relax. There is always something going on - the van is low on gas, how is Mike going to get to work? What are we going to have for dinner, payday is a few days away. The electric bill is due, the cable/internet/phone needs to be paid. And, the biggest one of all, with the landlord filing bankruptcy and giving up the house, every day I expect to get the notice that we need to move.
I wanted a few hours tonight, to just sit and get lost in a movie. The movies in the park was showing Casablanca. I know the kids were not thrilled about that one, but they had their mp3 players filled up, and brought toys to keep them busy. I was so ready for it. We get to the park, only to find out the movie had been canceled!! So, we walked around a little bit, it's a big park with a stream and lake. I did get some good sunset pics too. Then, the girls put their feet in the water and we just sat for a little while. But then, a big group of teenagers came, and chased a duck around, and were being obnoxious, so that meant it was time to leave.
I have been feeling so frustrated!!! Now, I'm second guessing our decision to go camping next month. It won't cost us too much really, with the campsite only $15 a night, but the kids need bathing suits and new chairs, plus clothes (which they need anyway) *sigh*
Life has been so crazy for us, for the past year really.
Last year at this time, we had opened our gallery, and for the first time, we were business owners. It was fun, but it had it's difficult times too. To start out, it was just me and the kids running things. That was hard on them, getting up, getting dressed and getting out the door every day. The weather was really getting hot then, and they were doing road construction downtown, so it was a guessing game as to where we would park every day, and how we would get to the front door of the gallery. Some days, we didn't even have sidewalks to walk on!! But, onward we trudged. To make things easier, we tried opening later, and shortening hours, but it was still hard on us all.
Then, a few months later, Mike lost his job, and things were very uncertain. I was happy at first, to have him with me during the day, and some days the kids and I didn't even go to the gallery at all, just Mike went. He was happy and for the first time in years, stress free!!! It was a good job, but things changed (the passing of the boss) and became stressful for him. The gallery was becoming very popular, and we were excited to be a positive light on the art community. We even had our picture in the paper, and Mike was recognized at the mall!!! hehe
But, as time went on, things with the gallery slowed down, and we eventually had to close. The space turned out to be too big, and we just couldn't fill it. We had some great times though. And sadly, some not so great times and a few misunderstandings, that have created some bad feelings and left us out of a few things lately.
Since technically, Mike quit his job (mutual split, long story) he didn't qualify for unemployment. So, he tried to build up his own print broker business. He had a few clients, but that's when the economy really started it's downward spiral, and people just didn't have money for business cards and other printing.
For a few months, we really struggled. It was hard to pay bills, and buy food and other things we needed. Luckily, Mike got a temp xmas job, at JC Penney. He worked as a stocker, overnight. Most nights going in at midnight, or 2am, and coming home around 7am or later. I hated it. But, Mike needed it, for his own sense of self, and to bring money in for his family. And, after being let go from that, he did then qualify for unemployment.
For the past few weeks, Mike has been working at a local golf course. Again, crazy hours. He goes in most days at noon, and doesn't get off until 8pm. Sometimes he can get off an hour or two earlier. And, he also has to work weekends, luckily though those are mostly morning hours.
So, for the past year, life has been very unpredictable, and crazy, to say the least. I can't plan a weeks menu, since most days we are buying dinner for that night, with the $10 or so that I earned that day, through ChaCha. We don't always have snacks, and I feel so bad for the kids.
And, forget about going out of town. We haven't been on a vacation since Oct. of 2007. We did go to the beach for a day, in 2008, but it was too cold to really do anything.
Housework was very sporadic too. When I wasn't at the gallery, or working all day online, I would try to rush around, doing the bare minimum of what needed to be done. Schooling was almost non existant. I tried to get things together, but was so overwhelmed with other things, it just never happened. I printed out a few worksheets here and there, but nothing more than that. The kids are so behind and so far off of grade level! They do, thankfully, like to watch the Discovery Channel, and Animal Planet, and my son even likes the History Channel, so they have been getting some information and education.
But, things are going to change. We still struggle, Mike still works crappy hours, and there are other uncertainties on us now. But, I feel like I have come out of a deep sleep, like a switch has been turned on. I'm not even sure why. But, I did find a book the other day, when we cleaned out the garage, that I must have gotten from another homeschooler, at park day. It's part of The Core Knowledge series, What Your 5th Grader Needs to Know. So, I ordered the 6th grade one as well, the other day, used, for around $4, with shipping. I wrote out an outline for lesson plans, and we'll do some science experiments and art projects in there too. Nothing too structured, but I want to at least get them caught up a bit.
Today I cleaned the kitchen, from top to bottom - wiped down all the counters, cleaned the stovetop, scrubbed out the sink and even cleaned the corners of the floor, Cinderella style, lol. I also cleaned off the kitchen table, and we all sat down to eat dinner together, for the first time in months!!!
So, I am hoping this new attitude and feel will stay with me.
Okay, I know that it's technically not still Monday, but I haven't gone to bed yet, so therefore, it's Monday to me, hehe.
This is something new that I'm going to try out. I don't plan out each day's meal though. I just plan the meals, for my shopping list, and then each day I make whatever works for us that day.
1. Pita Pocket Tacos (our homemade version of Gyros)
2. BBQ
3. BLT's / Club Sandwiches (Alexis does not eat bacon)
4. French Dips
5. Chicken Salad's (not chicken salad, but salad with chicken strips - chicken and fries for Harley and Alexis)
Lunches ~
tuna
Hot Pockets
Mac N Cheese
PB&J
