Christmas prep

Have you ever really thought about how you prepare for Christmas? I’m guessing you probably put up your Christmas tree & decorate it, maybe put up lights on the house. You might take in your local Christmas festivities or sights, whether it be performances, viewing the neighbourhood lights & decorations, or attending the community display or activity. You go out to your favourite stores to present shop for friends & family, stock up on food at your preferred grocery store and possibly even order gifts and such on line for delivery to your door, or to someone else’s.   

You know where you need to go to do all these things, you just need the time. 

Now, what if you weren't in your familiar environment? What would you do? What if your location changed often enough that you had to find out where the grocery stores & shopping were before you could even go there to get your items? What about a Christmas tree, and decorations and doing Christmassy things? 

These are all things we are addressing this year.

Sure, we may be on the road traveling and seeing the sights, but we still want to celebrate the holidays.  It’s a bit harder, but definitely doable. It just takes a little ingenuity and research to find out what’s happening in the area. 

We don’t have floor space for a tree, but we do have empty spaces on a few walls. I’m quite happy with how our wall tree has turned out. I cut the shape & put it up, and the kids have had fun choosing & making decorations for it. Other decorations (lots of paper snowflakes) around the rest of the place make our home feel a bit more festive.  It is annoying that we don’t have any of our Christmas stuff with us, but oh well, can’t do anything about that right now. At any rate, a few trips to Michael’s and such, and voila, Christmas decoration conundrum solved.  No lights this year, but that’s mainly because I haven’t found any I like.

Shopping for presents has been a bit more of a challenge as it takes a bit of time to get the lay of the land, so to speak, and then navigate through the unfamiliar stores (and the same store in a different place is often not laid out the same).  As well, driving through unfamiliar streets is not always comfortable (or easy with the big dually!).  I’m noticing that legal U-turns are the norm in California for getting turned around, but they just aren't feasible with the long box! Also having only one vehicle sometimes makes it more difficult for everyone to run the errands they need to (especially when trying to purchase gifts).  But we get er done. 

Lily on the train at CALM

Every community has something going on for Christmas, and Bakersfield is no different. During our week in Bakersfield we've walked (and taken a train) through the California Living Museum’s (CALM) dazzling Holiday Lights display (and looked at their reptile house & their big cats) and visited the Kern County Museum’s holiday festivities, which included a musical lighted tree, skating (on artificial surface – too funny), and tubing (down those big slide ramps used at fairs, with actual ice at the bottom). Both events were interesting, quite busy with people, and both helped us feel like we are actually taking part in the holiday, rather than just watching it go by(like we've watched so many miles of road go by).  

It’s been challenging preparing for the holidays, especially having moved a few times this month, but interesting too. Seeing how other places prepare for and celebrate the holiday has made me think a bit more about traditions and how much the Canadian environment influences what I think of as the Christmas season. I know it’s nearly Christmas, but I’m finding it a bit odd not being in the snow & cold at Christmas. I’m so used to short days, chilly nights and snow meaning winter – and Christmas. Here the days are short (dark by 5), but it’s only cool out, not cold (we all needed long sleeves and a jacket, but definitely not cold weather gear) and there’s no snow (although I guess Bakersfield does get some; definitely none in San Diego though!). 

Regardless of all this, it’s time for one more move before Christmas arrives. We’re off to the Bay area to see my family. Although I’m missing the snow at the moment, I’m glad I’m not in my frozen north homeland, trying to drive my home through it. Stay safe everyone, and Happy holidays!

Unsustainable

Since we entered California it seems like we've been on this crazy whirlwind tour of theme parks & attractions. The kids and Bob have definitely been leading the charge on this one, and I’m pretty sure they could keep this up for as long as there are attractions to see (and there are a ton of things to do/ places to go in south Cal.). Me, not so much. I want my quiet time. I need my quiet time. While I know that we just had a quiet stop in White Tank Mountain, AZ it feels like a million years ago (rather than just two weeks). 

Going to all these places is great fun & interesting and often educational in some way, but, it is true that you can have too much of a good thing… we do have responsibilities and this is not a vacation! While a big part of this adventure we're on is to see the sites and visit new places, there has to be a balance to it. Swing too far one way or the other and something needs to change. The pattern we've been on the last few weeks is not sustainable. It's exhausting and our recent stops have been rather expensive.  

It also hasn't left enough time for properly attending to certain tasks – things like, oh, school for one!  December is already a short month for school, even before taking a bunch of extra days off. I had planned to take a complete break over the holidays (two weeks just like back in Alberta), but I also wanted to finish some of the units Morgan’s been working on, first. Social studies (the bane of my existence!) and the current Science unit are so close to being done, but it’s pretty difficult to get them done if we don’t make time for it! 

I also need time in my house, to just be here.  

Now, I don’t mean that I want to sit on my butt and do nothing but eat chocolate all day (although that does sound good – the chocolate part, that is). I mean that I actually need a whole day in my house!  (or two or three!) It’s a cluttered mess at the moment, and desperately in need of a deep clean. And Christmas decorating! There are a myriad of other small things that need attending too. 

L.A. and San Diego have just so many things to do; so many attractions & places to tempt us away from taking care of our “regular” lives. And so, to avoid all that temptation I convinced the family to leave the sun & sand of the south coast and move up to Bakersfield. There are a couple reasons to come here, which I will get into later. 

We received several dubious looks and comments from fellow campers at the resort in San Diego who asked where we’re going next. There's nothing to do there they all said (which I highly doubt is true, considering that people, and families, live here). It does mean this place is perfect for my intentions to do nothing more than catch up on school work & life and get ready for Christmas. We’re here for a week and then will be moving up to San Francisco to spend Christmas with my extended family (oh boy oh boy oh boy!!!  It’s been too many years since I've seen them all, and they've seen us all, and I'm excited.)

NOTE: As I read this post, a couple thoughts came to me…  I think the rest of the family actually could sustain the life they've had the last couple of weeks for as long as there was money in the bank. They seem to all love amusement/ theme parks and Morgan would happily ditch school in favor of nearly anything else! I’m the one in the family who stresses about meeting school deadlines and keeping expenses to a dull roar and all that stuff. I can never quite let it all go. I never have been able to. I do wish I could let it go and live in the moment more, but I also think someone has to be the responsible one! 

And, boy, oh boy, after one good solid day where Morgan made good progress in his school work, I caught up on laundry, we walked to the playground, prepared for some work on the trailer tomorrow, watched a movie and met several of our campground neighbours (who are all extremely friendly) I feel so much better about life in general.  

I'm pretty sure we can fit some fun activities into this week, just better balanced.  

San Diego

This week has gone by so quickly. Two days

of doing nothing more strenuous than Grade 2 (which can be quite stressful at times!) and walking across the street to play in the sand at the beach of Mission Bay, here in San Diego at the beginning of the week did wonders for my energy levels.  I built a little sandcastle, which survived the overnight tides, but was then thoroughly vanquished by busy beaver children.  (What is it about my two that makes them want to smash and destroy!?) And I finally felt rested. 

Snowball fight!

Which of course meant it was time to be busy again! Off we went to visit SeaWorld, since it is included in the So. California City Pass, which we had purchased at Disneyland (and which would expire on Sunday). We spent the day riding rides and taking in the myriad of animal shows. The Sea Lion show was entertaining, the dolphin & whale show mesmerizing and the dolphin & seal/sea lion exposure tanks were quite interesting. We missed the iconic “Shamu” show mainly because my own monkeys were much more interested in playing in the artificial snow in the winter area (which was admittedly, great fun).  Actually, I think the snow was my favorite part of the whole place.

After visiting SeaWorld we met up with an ex-work friend of Bob’s from his old workplace (and said friend’s family) for sushi at a local restaurant.  The restaurant was quite busy, and due to a hiccup in our navigational skills we ended up out of sync with them (and thus ate at separate tables).  We still had a nice, if brief, visit. 

These 2 belong in the zoo!

We were all set to pull out the next morning, but after looking at what we still wanted to do in the area (and where), we decided to stay put for three more days. So Friday afternoon, after getting some school done, we went to the San Diego Zoo because they have pandas, you know.  Lily has wanted to see pandas ever since she discovered that the Toronto Zoo has them. I was all set to wait until we were there for her to see them, but Bob wasn't having any of that! The Zoo is also world-renowned, and we were curious to see what made it so.  It is quite interesting, and there is a lot of growth and trees within the zoo. The paths meander and the enclosures tend to blend with the outer environment, giving a bit more of a natural feel to the place (the birds are in real (tall) trees & the forest seems to surround the big cat pens.  At the same time, the animals also feel more accessible than some of the other zoos I have been to.  The elephants have room to roam & all the animals seemed pretty content. One thing I noticed was that many of the animals were Right There in front of us, and if we had really wanted to, we could have reached out to touch many of them (note: don’t do this, unless you’re in the petting zoo!) We chatted with a keeper as she gave the spider monkeys a veggie snack and I had a nice little chat with a cougar, who sounded surprising like my old neighbours’ cat, Tigger (who has the teeniest meow you ever did hear), and was no more than five feet from me. 

After visiting the zoo, we drove over to Bob’s friend’s place for a more relaxed supper & visit and spent the rest of the evening swapping stories and enjoying the company. I never truly realized how huge a network of contacts/ friends from his old work days Bob has. Getting to meet some of them as we travel, has been quite interesting for me, as it gives me a whole new insight on what work was like, and the relationships that formed through the continent (through meetings/ conferences and the like). 

We stayed out a bit later than ideal for kid bedtimes, and I got to drive the truck home in the dark, through the unfamiliar city (high on my list of things I hate to do), and arrived back in time to pour the kids into their beds before doing the same for ourselves. Good thing Saturday was a planned quiet day. 

No matter how much fun & busyness we’re having this is life, not a vacation. Basic things like groceries still need to be shopped for, and since this is December, Christmas is just around the corner, and there are preparations to be made. Silly me, all of our Christmas decorations & items are packed neatly and tidily in a Rubbermaid tub in the storage unit. I know what I was thinking back in July when I tucked them away – I wanted them safe and secure and I didn't want to pack around the extra weight in the trailer. But now that it’s December I really wish I had brought some of our ornaments & lights with us. If I was thinking, I would have grabbed a handful when I was there in November (but it still wasn't on my radar). So, we picked up a few decorations to make the trailer a bit more festive

There was one more reason we didn't move campgrounds on Friday – Legoland. It is 30 minutes north of our current location and once this place was on the kids’ radar there was no way we were getting out of the area without going (either that or listen to the complaining for days!). Morgan noticed the signs on the way down from Los Angeles and then asked daily when we were going. We purchased our tickets on line, and got a decent holiday deal (way better than at the gate admission). Legoland is definitely geared for younger kids (12 and under), and there were plenty of rides to keep the kids busy. At some of the busier rides, Lego stations, where kids could play & build while parents stood in line, kept them entertained.  The kids donned their mittens to play in the snow area and then Morgan got soaking wet on one of the rides (and then subsequently stood under a big fountain of water in the spray park area). Good thing we had brought his jacket along so he could wear it instead of the (wet) long-sleeve shirt he was wearing! His favorite section of the park was the Star Wars mini scenes, while Lily enjoyed the dragon roller coaster the best. 

What a week (big tired huff). After all this,we need to focus on some regular life, and look at how the rest of the month is going to play out. We really need to get some school work done before Christmas holiday is upon us (and I want to take a complete break from school for a little bit) and I don’t even have a clue if we’re ready for Christmas or not! Time to move out of San Diego...

Man, am I tired! (aka Disneyland week)

I need a nap. A long one.

I am so tired that I can hardly string a sentence together, much less a cohesive blog post! Those darned, super long, exhausting, fantastically fun filled days at Disneyland and a day at Universal Studios combined with a (very) noisy RV park and fighting a bit of a bug have done me in. Totally worth it though!

The whole family is tired and we had the luxury of taking a week to do 3 days at Disneyland. I cannot imagine how vacationing families don’t completely exhaust themselves visiting the Los Angeles area, especially if they only have a few days to experience it all.  

Cute facepaint

California Screamin coaster

I have many thoughts on the past week, and I would love to share it all, but it seems my brain will just not co-operate. Sigh. Pictures will have to do for now. Maybe our new campground in San Diego (Mission Bay RV Resort) will let me rest up and regain my brain cells!  

Lily met Santa and lots of the characters

Bad Day / Good Day

No doubt about it. Sunday was a bad day. It started out alright, but as we got closer to LA the traffic volume went up and our speed went down.  Somehow I had completely forgotten to account for all the holiday Sunday traffic that would be wending its way home after the long weekend into our travel plans. Stupid, considering we didn't have to go anywhere, really.   

Still 90 miles from our destination

Time ticked away as we crawled along the I10 - an extra two hours’ worth.  The hour we had gained by switching time zones was completely obliterated by the slow pace. To add insult to injury, we had to stop to clean Lily up after the cherry slushie didn't agree with her tummy. Yucky! Shortly before turning off the I10 onto the quieter CA91 Lily started asking for some supper, but with the crazy amount of traffic, there was no where we could have pulled off. My rant: I've found that with the way the off-ramps are angled, you can’t see what services are off them until after you've passed the exit. It’s also quite frustrating looking for somewhere to stop, in the dark, while going 60 mph and being 53’ long! You can’t stop just anywhere like a car can, and so we resolved to eat once we had stopped for the night (which was now only 30 min away).

The last bit of driving before reaching our destination was on fast, narrow, freeway, full of aggressive drivers, which frazzled the last of Bob’s nerves and made him second guess his final turns. But, we found the campground, pulled in, checked-in, checked out our appointed spot and then Bob went to ask for a site transfer, since he didn't like being right beside the road. After inhaling a bit of supper (about two hours past when we should have stopped) we switched spots. By that point we were tired, frazzled and obviously not thinking clear enough because we then did something extra stupid. We dropped the fifth wheel – meaning we dumped 12000 lbs onto the bed rails & tailgate of the truck. That left a mark! Luckily the landing gear was mostly down, and thankfully we only dented and didn't destroy. Now we have dents in the rails for our tonneau cover and a dent on the tailgate as well as a broken light and two dents on the underside of the nose of our fifth wheel to remind us never to do that again. Ugh! I think this one will go down as one of the worst days we've had. 

Can you see the kids and I on the ride?

Monday, by comparison, was a fabulous day. We visited the Happiest Place on Earth, Disneyland!   Everyone enjoyed the rides (I actually went on two roller coasters, which for me is a huge deal!), the kids were well behaved and patient in the lines, and were happy pretty much the whole (long & busy) day. It helped that we utilized the FastPASS system (highly recommend) as well as Disney’s disability access pass, to cut down on our time waiting in lines. As a result we spent more time having fun riding the rides and seeing the attractions than waiting in line and dealing with meltdowns (which were noticeably, and thankfully, minor – and evidently were saved for today!).  Morgan loved the various roller coasters, a small world and all of Toontown.  Lily loved meeting the princesses and seeing the inside of Sleeping Beauty’s castle, and all the fireworks above it. 

Bring em to Disneyland and all they wanna do is watch TV!

Before we knew it, the day was done. We watched the fireworks, had a late supper, bought me a sweatshirt (because I was cold and I hadn't actually spent my birthday money yet) and then walked back to the RV park. The kids were pooped by the time we got back to the trailer at 9 pm. Morgan had a quick snack and then went to bed, while Lily went straight to bed, barely mustering the energy to get in jammies. I've never seen them crash so quickly! (except maybe the day before where they did pretty much the same) I think we all had great fun, and everyone is looking forward to going to Disney’s California Adventure Park on Wednesday (we have a 3-day pass that we intend to make full use of, but we all needed a break today to rest up!). Tonight we can all enjoy the fireworks from home. How sweet is that!

Big, beautiful Christmas tree

P.S. I finally got the inside pictures of our trailer loaded onto the Truck & Trailer page, if anyone is curious about what our home looks like.