California Trip Recap

The plan was to take off for our trip to California after church on the last Sunday in April. Plans changed when I came down with a nasty stomach bug the night before. I spent the night in the bathroom. I'll spare you the rest of the ugly details. There was no way I was going to be able to preach on Sunday, so our deacon filled in for me at the last minute. I emailed him my sermon the night before, just in case.

Monday the 26th we headed out. I was feeling a tad bit better and was praying that the Immodium would do its job. It did. We stayed the night in Medford, OR. Lunch the next day was at In-N-Out Burgers in Redding, CA.

Here's a picture of Aidan enjoying his first In-N-Out experience.

Lily, too, enjoyed her meal...until she caught my stomach bug and threw up in the car just as we were coming into Merced, CA. We spent the night there after cleaning up the mess in the car. Lily threw up a few more times before bed but slept the night through and was fine the next morning. Kudos to the folks at the Holiday Inn Express in Merced. After telling the gal at the front desk that we were originally going to stop in Fresno but had to pull in here because our daughter got sick in the car, the manager came over, laid a coupon down on the counter (offering a night's stay for $64), and said, "Give 'em the 'sick kid' rate." That was greatly appreciated.

Wednesday April 28 we pulled into Rancho Cucamonga and "Grammy O's" house. As you can see in the picture above, one of the places we couldn't way to get to was Golden Spoons Frozen Yogurt.

"Shu Shu" ("uncle" in Chinese) Mark stopped by Wednesday night since he was working in nearby Ontario. Mark is a lifelong friend of mine, best man at our wedding, and one of Aidan's baptismal sponsors.

The weather at mom's was spectacular. Here's a smogless view from her front yard looking north at the San Gabriel mountains and Cucamonga Peak.

This is one of my favorite pictures of Lily. She tried on my mom's cowboy hat and strolled around showing it off. Don't you just love her disinterested model look?

Thursday was a day to rest and relax following our drive down. I also had to make a trip to mom's doctor (my doctor some 20 years ago). I thought I had a blood clot in my left heel. It was very painful, hot to the touch, and I couldn't put any weight on it. The doctor said that it wasn't a blood clot but was "cellulitis," a bacterial skin infection. I told him "I thought cellulitis was an old person's disease." He gave me a wry look and said, "Well..." I knew what he was implying. Antibiotics and heel cream was what the doctor ordered.

Friday April 30 was set aside for Disneyland. My foot felt a whole lot better so I didn't have to hobble around all day. We met some friends there who work for Disney. They have a daughter Lily's age and a son on the way soon.

Aidan loves "choo choo trains" so he was thrilled to get to ride one right off the bat.

And here's another glamour shot of Lily taken on the carousel in Fantasyland.

The kids wanted to ride in the monkey cage on Casey Jr.'s Circus Train. Thought that was appropriate.

Jillian (our friends' daughter) and Lily don't seem too concerned that they're just about to be eaten by Monstro.

Aidan loved flying with Dumbo.

It's a Small World was next. I loved this shot with "Stroller Central" in the foreground.

Lily wasn't so freaked out about meeting Mickey Mouse this time. Aidan, on the other hand, was definitely uncomfortable and was clinging for dear life to mama.

He got over it quickly as soon as we hopped on the Autopia.

One big kid and one little one.

Lily couldn't wait to get to Minnie's house. Here she is with Jillian.

The kids forged ahead all day long at the Magic Kingdom. I was surprised how well they did, especially Aidan, considering it was the first time he'd gone without a nap. We arrived at 9 am and didn't leave the park until about 9 pm. But once we were in the van, they were both fast asleep within two minutes.

Saturday brought another visit from "Shu Shu" Mark along with around 50 other family members and friends.

Sunday May 2 we went to church with mom. Her church has a nice little grotto on one side of the breezeway.

One last shot before leaving "Grammy O's" house. We headed out after one last In-N-Out Burger with mom. And fortunately, no one threw up in the car or in our hotels on the way home.