Sunny California

We stayed nine days in Yorba Linda, CA with the girls' Leila and Pho-pho. The weather was absolutely wonderful. After the heat and humidity in Little Rock, it was so nice to spend time outside with the girls.

 

The girls went swimming in their first real pool.  These car floats are so great!  They get to kick their little legs around in the water and the canopies keep them mostly out of the sun.  The pool has a shelf area that is only around a foot deep so we were able to walk with them there.  They got to sit there and splash and touch the tile sea turtle embedded in the floor of the pool's shelf.  The girls love water!

Another fun thing to do outside at Leila and Pho-pho's was swinging.  They set these swings up in a covered gazebo area behind the pool and the girl had so much fun in them. We took them out there at least twice a day.  And they always had a big smile on their face.

 

One of the days Leila, aunt Lani, the girls and I went to the zoo.  I had never been to Santa Ana Zoo.  It is a small, inexpensive zoo with limited animals and is designed more for children.  It was perfect for the girls.  The zoo is not too large so we were able to see everything before the girls got too cranky.  Most of paths had lots of trees that provided shade so it was nice and cool.  The girls had a good time watching all the different animals but got scared by a sheep in the farmyard area.  We were up close to a sheep in the barn and it suddenly started bleating, very loudly.  Both girls were screaming and we had to take them out of the stroller and hold them to calm them down.  We felt badly of course but we were also cracking up.  Poor girls, afraid of a sheep.

We spent the following weekend at my sisters in Temecula.  Oma, aunt Emily, cousin Holden, the girls and I headed down to San Diego one of the days to go to the beach and meet up with friends of mine.  My friends brought their kids too and it would have been nice if they were all at a more social age so they could play together, but maybe next year. 

 

I was afraid the girls would be afraid of the water rushing at them but they loved it.  They wanted to go deeper and deeper in the surf and didn't mind the kelp strands getting caught on their legs.  They had so much fun.  I wish we lived closer to a beach.

 

They played in the sand a little.  Both girls sampled it, which I wasn't thrilled about, but that's what babies do. 

This was the scene at breakfast in the mornings. So glad I only had twins and not triplets.

Oma and her babies

For the last week of the trip we drove out to Morongo Valley, to the house I grew up in.  The girls had the run of the main rooms.  We borrowed cousin Holden's walkers and they were racing around the tile floors.  Unfortunatly by that point, the weather had gotten hot and little humid and being in the desert made it worse.  So we mostly stayed inside.

 

In the evening if it was cool enough we took the girls outside on the patio.  We mainly relaxed at home the whole week, playing in the kiddie pool once a day when it was hot and the girls need a distraction.  We had planned to go to the Children's Discovery Museum of the Desert in Rancho Mirage one day when my sister and Holden were out visiting but they don't allow strollers.  And when I explained that I have twins that don't really walk yet and can't do it without a stroller, the women basically said sorry, you're out of luck.  I'm still a bit miffed about that.  There are already a number of activities I can't do with the girls when I'm alone anyway, so it pisses me off that more activities are restricted because of stupid rules.

 

Anyway, at home a couple of friends were able to stop by who I hadn't seen in years.  It was nice to catch up.  The weekend before we returned to Arkansas, Leila and Pho-pho came out to the desert to spend one more day with the girls.  It was wonderful because by that point after spending a week in the house with the girls, Oma and I needed a break.

We had a great trip.  I wish my husband had been able to come with us.  At least, in January we will return to California for a week but with the whole family this time.