California Day 4

On Friday we spent the day at Ventura Beach. It was a 2 hour drive there, but we saw beautiful scenery along the way. Bakersfield is very flat, but everywhere you look there are mountains in the distance. We got to drive through some of those mountains and they were so pretty.

Kate did not appreciate her beautiful surroundings. Instead she took a little cat nap.

When we first arrived at the beach the morning haze had not burned off yet. We had a picnic on the beach and by the time lunch was over there were blue skies. It turned out to be a beautiful day!

Wake up, Daddy!

This nasty pelican walked right up to us. Turns out he was injured, but still told him to get lost.

Working on a sand castle with Grandaddy

The finished product.

I love how you can see mountains from the beach.

After a full day at the beach we walked across the street to the marina and shops for dinner. The kids were so tired from not napping that we didn't get to stay for very long.

What a cute octopus.

My three favorite people!

Beautiful!

Grandmama trying to entertain the tired baby!

Our view from dinner.

It was such a fun day! The kids didn't make it five minutes down the road before falling asleep. I am loving California! It is just so different from the east coast. No humidity, no winter, beautiful views. It doesn't even rain from March-October here in Bakersfield! Sounds like my kind of place!

California Day 3

On Thursday we stayed around Bakersfield. Grandmama, Ben and Braden went to a local park to play and stomp around in the creek. While there they saw these frogs that were between and tadpole and a frog. They had 2 front legs but still had their tail. That was a highlight for Braden. He has been talking about them ever since. After the park they needed to cool down in the pool so we did that for a bit. Ben and I made a Target run during nap time and I had my first ever iced coffee...yum! Anyway, when Grandaddy got home he grilled shrimp, chicken and veggies. We had a delicious dinner and then went back to the hot tub for a bit. While we were in the hot tub a fox crossed through the pool area. I have never seen a fox so close, so that was neat. It was a low key day, but so feels like vacation!

Playing in the creek with Gmama

Silly face...surprise, surprise!

Daddy's girl

Sharing his Caprisun...warms my heart!

Grilling with Grandaddy...well waiting with him anyway!

Bedtime routine with Grandmama.

California Day 2

Wednesday was a day of rest here in California. We all slept in, had a leisurely breakfast and headed to the pool for a while. Grandaddy works so close he comes home for lunch so we had lunch with him, followed by very long naps. We had to wake both kids up after 3 hours so they would sleep at night. Then we had more pool time and dinner and baths and early bed time. Hopefully we are all on west coast time and can function past 6pm the rest of the week! Here are a few pictures I snapped on G-mama's camera:

Peekaboo with Grandmama

LOVE this picture!

We love having Daddy around all day everyday!

Nap please!

California Day 1

Tuesday was a big day for the Blanton family. We departed Knoxville at1:45 and headed first to Dallas. The kids did really well on the first leg of our flight. It took 2 hours and 15 minutes and neither kid slept for a minute. I wish I had gotten a good picture of Ben and Braden but I was busy every second entertaining Kate and trying to keep her in her seat. As you can see they did not allow her carseat on the plane (we are going to fight harder for that on the way home). We arrived in Dallas at 3 local time and our next flight wasn't for an hour and a half. Our stroller was 2 pounds over the limit so we had to check it so we had to carry Kate and her carseat and our 4 carry on bags about a mile across the airport. We were all so tired and the kids needed to nap so bad by this time that sitting around the airport proved very difficult. Everyone waiting was looking at us and I was dreading the 3 hour flight to Los Angeles. Thankfully Kate did take a small nap on the second flight and I was able to relax for a bit. All in all the trip was good. It could have been way worse! It wasn't easy, but we made it. I'm not evening thinking about the flight home yet! Here are a few picture from the first flight:

I got to sit with this cutie all day.

Checking out her new surroundings.

I hate this picture is dark. I was trying to sneak a pic of Braden between the seats but the seat blocked my flash. He was so cute sipping his Root Beer through a tiny straw. The plane was all quiet with people reading and sleeping and Braden screams as loud as he can "This is the best day EBER!" Everyone laughed and I was glad I got to share this "first" with him.

"Must you take a picture of everything?"


So we arrived at LAX at 5:45 (8:45 our time) and found Grandmama waiting for us at the baggage claim. She was so thoughtful and had the kids some chicken nuggets and fries knowing they would be hungry. We had snacked all day but a meal was very much appreciated! From the airport we drove straight to Santa Monica Pier. We knew LA traffic would be horrible so there was no need sitting in it when we could have fun instead. My college roommate, Lisa and her husband live close by and met us there. We had dinner at Bubba Gumps and then walked around the pier and let the kids ride some rides. This was about 10pm our time so the kids had turned to zombies, especially Braden. Kate just loved all the lights and people and was having a good ol' time!

Grandaddy and Braden

Grandmama and Kate

There were tons of big rides around that cost $5 each to ride, but my son picks this 50 cent ride! That's my boy!

He also rode these airplanes. It was so funny because he just rode around staring into space. The poor boy was so tired! He had not napped at all and it was 11pm to him.

Checking out the roller coaster.

Scott, Lisa and Kate. It was so good to see Scott and Lisa! I had not seen Lisa since Braden was a baby so it was great catching up and spending some time with them. I kept thinking that it was so weird that we were all together hanging out in California! What a long and tiring and fun day!

So we drove to Grandaddy and Grandmama's house and finally got everyone in bed at 11:30 pacific time! That is 2:30 Knoxville time. Whew! Of course Braden woke up with night terrors due to his lack of sleep, but we all got to sleep in the next morning.