Road trip

This weekend we headed to California for our first road trip as a family of four to see old family friends and to celebrate the 80th birthday of a man I have known my whole life. Those of you who know Emma well, know that she is NOT a good car traveler, never has been. She just gets so restless in her car seat and even when she is tired, she refuses to sleep (which is unusual because she is normally a terrific sleeper) so she just cries instead. Josh on the other hand does pretty good in the car. He will sleep when tired and generally plays happily in his seat.

Things definitely did not go as I thought, but they did not go badly either. The ride to California started off good and both kids fell asleep right away! Unfortunately we had to stop and pick up my mom at her house. That woke both kids up right away but they behaved pretty well. Josh slept on and off in the car and Emma did eventually fall asleep for about 45 minutes. We made it to Temecula around 6:30-7:00 and after meeting the Maurice and Tusler clans, Josh went to bed for the night. He slept like a rock and after playing with David and Chris' dog Sadie, Emma went to bed around 8:30. We hung out for a few more hours and then it was time to drive up the mountain to Anza where our friends Eric and Karen Tusler live. The drive is about 45 minutes from Temecula and I was afraid waking the kids from bed would end horribly but both transitioned back to bed wonderfully.

The next morning Emma was in heaven! Eric and Karen have 5 dogs and a number of horses (Karen is a professional rider). Emma fell in love with their new Great Dane, Jake and loved walking around the back as Karen tended to the horses. She thought it was fun to chase their huge (I cannot even remember what breed he is) dog Murphy who is a very shy dog and wouldn't let her get close. She nicknamed him woof dog because he had a great time barking at her as she ran around. After playing outside, we lounged around the house for the rest of the day until it was time to return to Temecula to celebrate Dave Maurice's birthday. As we went down the mountain, we noticed smoke and as we got closer we realized the smoke was a fire. We kept traveling hoping that the fire was not near the road and that we could make it down but not so much luck. We were turned around and took a detour because the fire was right at the side of the road. It was amazing seeing the flames and being so close to them, Eric was mad because his camera equipment was in the back of the Tahoe and he couldn't document it-crazy guy!

When we finally got to Temecula we started the party and it was great seeing more old friends that hadn't made it the night before. Both kids went down to bed and slept like champs (Thank you Baby Wise!) despite all the people, drinking, and general loudness of the party. To end the party, Dave's family and friends got up and shared stories and love they had for him. It was touching to hear what was shared and to realize how this man has impacted so many. I don't think their was a dry eye in the place and I know that I felt incredibly fortunate to be there.

The drive back to Anza that night was hard, we had to go a very long way around because of the fire (which was still burning) and were in the car from midnight until 1:30 am. Again both kids did terrific and slept but Eric and I were exhausted, especially Eric since he was the one doing all the driving. On Sunday, we again lounged around and left back for home around 3 pm. The drive home was long and tiring but Emma got the fantastic car rider award (we even told her that) because she was so good and actually slept a majority of the way. Josh had a mini melt down because he was so tired and couldn't get to sleep but finally he passed out and stayed out even as we transitioned him at home to bed for the night.

I am glad that we went and I am glad that we are back home. We had fun and even though both kids did better than I could have imagined, I think that our next road trip to California is not going to be for a little while!