The Vacation

Well, this weekend was interesting. I shall attempt to write about it while watching the presidental inauguration.

We started out on Friday with the long drive up to Napa with my FIL and SIL and the twins. That was fine up until we were almost there, and my MIL suggested that because of rush hour, my FIL should drive a different way, and then gave directions that way. This began his irritation. I decided at that moment to keep my mouth shut as much as possible for the rest of the trip. When a man is getting directions in the night time when you can't see signs very well, and really are tired after a long trip, I think that the best thing is just to be quiet so he doesn't fume in your direction. It didn't help that my SIL was irritated at him, either. So, whether I saw the sign or not for the turn that was missed, I wasn't saying a word. Nope. I made a great effort to not pay attention to the road after a while. Carrie may argue with her father all she wants, I am not going there.

We got there, and I have to say, My FIL didn't really vent his frustration to everyone in the room. He may have been irritated, but it wasn't as bad as I expected.

It was already past bedtime, and as my FIL had pointed out several times in the last hour, there was not a good place to stop and grab dinner easily on the way there, so the kids had some pizza at Grandpa Dale's house and then Carrie and the twins and I took off to find the place where we were staying. That was a fun drive as well. Driving on windey roads after dark, not really knowing where I am going, especially when they aren't well lit isn't my idea of a good evening. Still, we got there.

We checked in and then Carrie and I decided that we needed something to eat (neither of us eat pizza, and the salad that was offered wasn't going to last us the night). We went to a KFC and was promptly told that they didn't have any chicken. Yes, that's right, they were out of chicken except for 5 hot wings. I saw a Burger King, but their chicken isn't my favorite (rubber is a good way to describe it.). We drove around for a while in downtown Windsor (not a booming metropolis, but a fun place to visit in the daytime) and finally found a Taco Bell. We went back to the resort where we were staying and I got the girls in bed. I unpacked a while until Tony and the other kids finally showed up at about 11:30 that night. They were excited after the airplane, but really tired, so we got them to bed pretty fast.

The next day we went out to Grandpa Dale's house and met everyone for our trip to the Jelly Belly factory. That was fun. Micah couldn't eat any jelly beans, but there were other things that he could have, and the factory itself was really exciting for him. Watching machines do the same thing over and over was a real thrill for him.

After the tour, we had lunch. That was an adventure. We took about 20 people to Costco to have lunch because it was cheap. Yep, that's how we roll.

We went back to Grandpa Dale's house and relaxed for a while. The kids played around, and then Tony and I went out and left the kids there with Grammy so that they could play and so could we. I found a wonderful grocery store (yep, that's what excites me) and explored. The entire shopping center was just full of places that I love. It had a Whole Foods market, a Trader Joe's, Target, World Market, a big bookstore and a bunch of little shops that I could have had fun for hours at. Unfortunately, we had to get back to Grandpa Dale's because the dinner adventure was going to begin.

Apparently the dinner theater thing didn't happen. Instead, we (I think the total was 27...but it could have been more) all went to this little place (at least it seemed small compared to our huge group) that specialized in prime rib. I had fish. It really wasn't to my liking, but others liked it. I'm not a huge black pepper fan, and that was the overwhelming flavor of that fish. I kept picking out bones, too. Bones that apparently no one else who had fish experienced. Whatever. I'm not complaining, but I'm easy to read when I don't like something. They offered to bring me something else, but I really wasn't in the mood. I just wanted to get out of there. Micah's food was a challenge there, too. I made my request clear, but we had to send his food back. They finally came out with his food by the time that everyone else was done. The poor guy was overwhelmed by all the noise in the place (and while our croud had the most small children, it wasn't nearly the noisiest), and he was hungry and frustrated at the fact that everyone else could eat except him. He did rather well, though, since he had a hat on that covered his ears, and crayons and paper that I had thought to bring. Still, I think that he was happy to leave when it was time.

We went back to the resort to sleep after that long night, and everyone rested pretty well.

The next day, we went to Grandpa Dale's church. Now, their beleifs are very different than ours, but overall, I tried to suck it up for the sake of unity in the family. Becca got confused when they sprinkled a baby and talked about his salvation, but after a pretty good talk, I think she is still confused, but is going to be okay. Considering the fact that we had been talking a lot recently about making Jesus our boss, and why people in our church "get dunked," it was really just poor timing to have that other kind of baptism. Still, it was an interesting lesson in showing her that people can disagree and still love each other.

After church, the family split up. Some of us took a scenic drive and took some fun pictures of pretty houses and interesting sights along the way. Others went to Costco (there's that store again) to get supplies for a barbecue and watching football games at the resort where we stayed.

Becca and I had a fun time taking pictures with Grammy and Daddy and the twins. We stopped several times along the way, and Becca got the opportunity to work her new camera quite a bit. My little budding photographer didn't do too bad, either. Some of the pictures you see were taken by her.

Back at the resort, there was football and fun watching videos and playing on the playground that was just outside the sliding glass door of our rooms. My FIL had to leave for his plane ride back, so after a fun afternoon, those who were taking him to the airport left. We relaxed for a while, and at bedtime, the kids went to bed and Tony, Carrie, Shawn, and I played a game of Family Feud that they had found on clearance at Target. It was fun.

The next day, I spent quite a bit of the morning packing and getting things ready for the trip home. Tony was a huge help, getting kids up and ready and basically doing whatever else I asked him to do. We checked out and got in the car, but then Tony knocked on the window and asked about the coupon book for the car rental place. I hadn't seen it the entire trip. I packed everything that morning, I knew that I hadn't put it somewhere not noticing it. Still, we searched all the bags while in the parking lot. Not there. We went on our way, but the guys finally called the rental place. Apparently it was left there. So we wasted a bunch of time looking through bags that I knew it wasn't in because it was left at the car rental place. Not that I was in a hurry, but the guys were going out to pick up my MIL and then get to the airport on time. Anyway, it worked out okay.

Carrie and I drove home. It was a long drive, but it wasn't bad. I enjoyed the trip. We decided to take the 99 instead of the 5 because it would have more places to stop if necessary. We stopped a few times, so I still think this was a good idea, even if it took a little more time. I think Carrie was really tired, but we made it home by 11:30, so it wasn't too bad. Hopefully she gets a nap after work this afternoon.

Overall, it wasn't a bad trip. There were some things that could have gone better, but it wasn't as bad as I expected. The thing that was wierd about the whole thing was that I kept thinking that I was going to have to talk to Tony's family more, but really I didn't even get the chance to do that much. At the big dinner, I was surrounded by my kids and not really interacting with others much except maybe Carrie because of how we were all seated. I didn't really visit with them much at all. Still, Grandpa Dale got to meet all the great-grandkids, and I think that was pretty much the purpose of the visit.

Anyway, that was my weekend, how was yours?