Our California vacation this year was awesome! We only visited family in the southern part of the state, but we enjoyed every second while we were there.
Our trip started in San Diego where we spent half a day touring San Diego Zoo. That was awesome! We saw a hippo, elephants, panda bears and lots of other animals. We met my cousin Russell and his wife Carrie for dinner at a local Italian place and stayed the nice at their beautiful house. Emma loved their cats! She kept saying that their house was more fun than our boring old house.
Back in Santa Barbara, Emma particularly enjoyed helping out down the hill in the barn with Grandma. Emma was in charge of feeding the cats and counting and collecting the eggs. She gave the daily report to Uncle Mark every evening. After several days of watching Grandma milk the goats, Emma attempted milking Lainie, a favorite mama goat. It was really great to watch, and Emma did manage to get a tiny bit of milk in the pail.
Grandpa and Uncle Mark amused and instructed Emma on the ways of honey bees. She eagerly shared her knowledge of the queen bee with me and pointed out the queen amongst the mass of bees inside the capped honeycomb.
Aunt Karen Anna graciously shared her American Girl dolls with Emma as well as the old bucking bronco horsey she rode as a child. Aunt KA also instructed Emma on how to handle a dog on a leash and very quickly Daisy and Emma became fast friends. They cuddled on the couch all weekend, when they weren't playing or walking around that is. Emma was able to bunk solo in Ladybug Cottage, Aunt KA's bedroom. She loved the decor and the big girl bedroom.
Aunt Lauren, Uncle Paul and Charlie provided many hours of entertainment and hilarious moments. Emma liked watching Charlie do everything, especially take his bath. Baby Katie took to needing a nap or her diaper changed in Charlie's room as often as possible.
G-Bugga took us all down to the breakwater where we enjoyed the fresh salt air. Daisy and Nora came down, too, and that was when Emma really lit up. We watched the surfer boys for a bit; Emma was interested in what they were trying to do.
Grandma and Grandpa took the whole gang to the Museum of Natural History, which was quite fascinating. The science explore and play area was a real hit with all ages. The "underground" tunnel with puppets and holes for popping out of was great fun for Grandpa, too. Emma said afterward that her favorite part was the tarantula.
Grandma and Grandpa also took us all (minus KA and G-Bugga) to the Sea institute (or something like that). Emma got to pet a small shark and examine lots of interesting marine animals. In-N-Out was a delicious lunch! Emma was spoiled with her own strawberry shake. (A typical 4 year old moment must be shared so that you don't start thinking it was all smiles and joy. Emma had taken the lid off the shake so she could dip her french fries; this was something I had shown her how to do in San Diego- my mistake! Emma picked up the shake container and was attempting to do something with it so Uncle Paul started trying to help her since a major spill was imminent. She got angry and started trying to yank the shake away from Uncle Paul. As I opened my mouth and said Emma No (you are going to spill it)! The whole thing launched out of their hands and splatted on the floor in a huge mess. Emma cried. I tried to explain that the whole thing could have been avoided and that Uncle Paul was indeed stepping in to help. And despite my efforts to keep her from having a replacement shake, a full strawberry shake arrived promptly. Lesson learned? probably not.)
Vacation also marked the end of the first trimester. We told Emma the news that she was going to be a big sister one Sunday morning. I had made a couple of shirts that said "I'm the Big Sister" on them, but of course she refused to wear them. So plan A of having Emma go out for breakfast wearing the shirt as a way to announce the news had not be aborted. Plan B- we got dressed and shared the news ourselves. Everyone was very excited. Emma was subdued about the whole thing. Towards the end of the trip she started to talk a bit more about the baby, and we were cautiously optimistic that she didn't throw a tantrum when we told her.
Overall the trip was relaxing and fun. And it was wonderful for Emma to have a chance to bond with the family and be "on her own" for over a week. :) The only major downside was the on Thursday night Emma woke up and couldn't go back to sleep due to pain in her ears. It turned out that she had a double ear infection and bronchitis! We started her on antibiotics and she was ready for the trip home.
BACK STORY: in mid-December we found out we were expecting but wanted to wait until the 12 week mark before making any announcements, even to Emma. Due to intense and constant morning (all day!) sickness, I failed to keep up with the blog, talk to friends, or cook home cooked meals. Consequently, there were a few times during the trip when I had to excuse myself from the dinner table and go lie down. Thankfully, Emma never noticed and nobody commented until after we spilled the beans.
Sometime last year Nanie sent Emma a book that I had as a girl. (I was annoyed that she didn't actually send it to me but I will let that go.) It is called Strawberry Shortcake's Cooking Fun by Michael J. Smollin. Emma had us just read it to her like a storybook on a semi-regular basis. Every once in awhile she would say something about making a recipe and we would say, sure, someday.
