August 2013 Santa Barbara

August was such a crazy month, it's going to take 3 posts to cover it all. First, the smaller moments of life between graduation and our trips:

We went to the Treehouse Museum with Papa Mike. It was a blast! Looking back, I wish I had taken pictures of all the toys. I left there with the decision to never again buy normal toys, but just the educational kind you would find in a children's museum. 

Covey loved playing "Teacher" in the cute schoolhouse. These kids were good sports to be his students. He taught them how to tell time on a clock... as long as the big hand is on the 12.

And how to write the word "bake". The students' mom, who was observing, was impressed with his penmanship!

I LOVED the adorable school boy costumes they had to wear in the schoolhouse. If I end up homeschooling, would it be weird to require uniforms? 

 

Although I didn't get any pictures, the best part was unexpectedly finding family there. Covey came running up to me saying, "I found Rachel! I found Rachel!" I thought he was crazy, but there she was along with Jarom, Helaman, Gideon and Lindsey! It was awesome!

"Thumbs up" in the firetruck!

This was so cute. Finn decided he needed to sit right up on top of this dinoland table. He sat there and had the dinosaurs sliding down the volcano and swimming in the water, making the cutest dinosaur noises for almost a half hour! It made me want to somehow replicate this table.

 The handsomest brothers in history ready for worship.

They created a reading nook under the end table with pillows, blankets and tons of books. They both love books so much! Finn is looking at books all day. The best is when I catch Covey reading to Finn.

Wook at dat face!! Don't you wish you could kiss those lips? Lucky me gets to all day!

So, after graduation we had three job prospects. The one in Utah for an Interventional Radiology group still hadn't given us our official job offer even though they'd led Matt to believe it was a sure thing during his rotation with them in the Spring. We thought we'd have it in time to cancel our interview in Santa Barbara because we really weren't interested in living there. But since the radiology group was dragging its feet, we decided we better keep our options open. This was just a few days before we were supposed to leave and suddenly we had to take the trip seriously and hurry and plan a Disneyland vacation in there while we were at it. If we were going all the way out there, we needed to make it worth our while! So, I had Tuesday and Wednesday to plan the trip, Thursday to pack and Thursday night we left at 11:00 pm. Here are the boys that night. As you can see, Covey was too excited to sleep!

 It was not a very restful sleep with Finn crying every hour or so and I'd have to get out of my seat and try to find the binky he threw, but could've been worse for sure. Matt had slept during the day and did all the driving for us. We all woke up around 7am. Spirits were still high!

The bad timing of the drive was where we had to stop for breakfast. San Bernadino. San Barfenpukey is more like it. IHOP was the best option for food. And when we tried to find a park for the boys to release some wiggles, it looked like a park for prison babies. So, back on the road it was.

What can help entertain the boys for the 5 hour drive remaining? Slinkies.

The plan was to get all the way to Santa Barbara and explore it a little. Then hit the beach in the morning. But we hit some killer traffic and almost ran out of gas. We had to pull off of Hwy 1 and ask the first beach bum we came across for the nearest gas station. He said the traffic would last a few more hours. So, we made an impromptu beach visit in Carpinteria or "Carp" as the beach bum called it.

We were very unprepared, as you can see! Just in our driving clothes. :/

 

 The boys LOVED it! They both loved the sand and letting the waves rush up on their legs.

Look at all this nasty stuff that washes in! I had no idea. What is that??

Finn kept pulling his hand away from ours and wanting to navigate on his own even though he kept face planting it right in the water.

It was a super cute beach.

Throwing rocks in.

Wrote his name in the sand :) This is a common problem he has with his writing. Each letter gets bigger as he goes. He also likes to make his Y with a curly-cu tail.

Making sand angels.

He looked like a little churro all covered in cinnamon and sugar.

 Back in Santa Barbara we got lost, finally found The Sandman Inn (as classy as the name sounds), and wandered the streets for a place to eat dinner. We ended up at a mall with an Italian restaurant. Covey stopped to make a wish at this fountain.

His wish was for there to be new rides at Disneyland. Since he'd never been, that was kind of a waste. He should've wished that all the rides would be open. Then we wouldn't have missed out on the Matterhorn and Big Thunder Mountain Railroad.

 The next morning, we packed up and hit the beach again. This time SB-style. 

 The line of palm trees was very pretty.

As well as the fog.

 But we preferred the beach in Carpinteria. The strange sea life was just strewn all about (see nice pile of such above) and there were gross sand flies hopping all around in the sand. Yuck. Maybe the other beach would have been the same if we had been there first thing in the morning. And apparently there's no law against sleeping on the beach because there was a couple there with a bed made up. The lady was still snoozin' away while the guy waded out and caught some little fishy breakfast. There was also a beach bum who wanted people to pay him money for the privilege of looking at or taking a picture of his seashell covered van. It was an impressive amount of seashells, but still. California is so weird.

But, the morning light was really pretty and the boys had a great time.The sand wasn't as... sandy. So this time it was more about standing in the water and running away from the waves.

Ooohhhh it's cold!

There was also a sea lion not too far out that kept poking his head up. It was super cute and I really wanted him to come close enough for me to get a decent picture of him. But it wasn't long after that I started to get kinda freaked out by the water. Anything could be in there! It was time to move on to better things. Disneyland! "What the what?" you say? We went all the way to Santa Barbara just to sleep one night in the paid-for motel and backtrack 3 hours the next morning? Yup. The boys were becoming pros.
Finn fell asleep instantly in the car.

Disneyland will be it's own upcoming post.

After our second night at Disneyland, we drove back to Santa Barbara. Ugh. There was nothing we wanted to do less. But had to we must. The next morning, we packed up again and Matt dropped me and the boys off at the zoo. Then, he headed off to his interview at the Orthopedic clinic that made the trip possible. That limo in front was a weird disconnect from the Sandman Inn. Hmmm. We sure felt the love. But they must've not been too apathetic about us, because they did offer Matt the job. The money was even more than we thought it was, but we were more convinced than ever that California is no place for us. 

 

 And here we are at the zoo. They look excited, don't they? Like one of those old timey photos that creep you out. 

I have no idea what he's pointing at. Ohhh someone left that door open. Good call, Finn.

Being a flamingo isn't so tough.

The California Condor.

This part WAS cool. They had a Dino Show where someone in a very real dino suit with very real sounding dino sounds came out and interacted with a zoo keeper and a vet. This was "Duncan". He pooped on the stage. 

And this was "Lily". She laid an egg. Covey wanted so bad to be chosen to go onstage or answer a question. I hate when he doesn't get called on! Primary, Dino Shows... it's all the same! 

After that (around noon) it was Adios California! And Hola 12 hour car ride back home. The boys were so amazing! Angels really. I drove a big chunk of the ride home and ever since my middle finger has hurt. NOT from what you think. I think I grip the steering wheel really tight, but isn't that weird?