In the beginning of August, we made our trip to Nor Cal! The ten hour drive through Nevada was gorgeous... NOT! Hahaha! Actually, what made me nervous about the drive was Miss little Squish. Was she going to last ten hours in the car? Ya know what? She did fantastic! We didn't have to stop for her once! We just took longer when we got gas so that she could run around and have a break from her car seat. Other than that, she did awesome with a capital A!
So basically these next few pictures crack me up. Now obviously the lovely ten hour drive couldn't have happened smoothly without some entertaining. For whatever reason Melanie thought it was the funniest thing in the world to have me sniff her feet and say "Ewww, stinky!" She would get laughing pretty hard. Haha!
Her face makes me laugh in this picture...
If we weren't foot sniffing we were watching movies. Hahaha! The Muppets, Toy Story, and Frozen to be exact.
And if we weren't doing any of the above... we were sleeping.
Dallan's face. Hahaha! What a goober.
Here's one of our pit stops. After we used the bathroom and filled up on gas, we let Melanie pick out a treat for doing so well.
As much as I was going to miss Nevada, I was sure glad when I saw the "Welcome to California" sign.
We made pretty good time and got to my Nana and Tata's house just in time for dinner! After dinner family started coming over! Here is my cousin Sophie and me doing what we do best.... goofing around. Haha!
Melanie and my cousin Emmalie really hit it off. They became good buddies. We found them hugging in a corner so of course we had to snap a picture. So cute!
It's weird for me to think that some of my first cousins are closer in age with my daughter than they are with me. Hahaha! At least Melanie will always have someone to play with when we all get together! :)
The night we arrived, my uncle Matt and his family were there. Also my uncle Brian and his family were there. Brian's kids were playing a game of hide-and-seek. It was Sophie's turn to hide and I thought of a brilliant idea. Hahahaha! As you can see in the picture below, I took one of my Nana's pajamas and stuffed Sophie under it. I hoped that my cousin James wouldn't notice anything odd about it. Maybe he would just think I was 50 months pregnant or something Hahaha! I was WRONG! He immediately noticed and found her. Oh well... I tried to help. Hahaha! Besides, I'm sure all my Tata (Grandpa) was thinking was, "Get that blouse off, you're stretching it out." Hehehe! Whoops. Sorry Nana and Tata! Hahaha! :)
Ok this little girl is such a water bug! She saw the pool in the backyard and immediately started getting excited and pointing at it.
Literally after waking up each morning and after waking up from each nap, the first thing that came out of her mouth was, "wah- wah." Meaning that she wanted to go swimming. Hahaha!
Playing with her Great-Tata. She developed a special bond with him this last trip. She loved playing with him and if she couldn't see him, she would say, "Bah-pa? Bah-pa?" That's what she called him. It was cute. She loves her great-"bah-pa."
Hahaha!
Hey! Where'd she go?
My uncle Matt and aunt Valarie gave us their
My uncle Matt and aunt Val, gave Melanie this floaty thing because their daughter Emmalie out grew it. It works wonderfully. Melanie LOVES it. It's nice because it helps her float up right. A life jacket immediately puts them on their back to float. This thing doesn't and that's what Melanie loves about it.
Thanks Matt and Val!!!
She can even swim by herself using the floaty thing!
My cousin Emmalie and Melanie absolutely loved playing in the pool together. They would stand on the edge of the pool together while holding hands. Then when I counted to 3 they would both jump in.
Testing the water first... Hahaha!
1....2....3....GO!
SPLASH!
Melanie had so much fun jumping in the pool! She only did it about a million times! Haha! :)
The water was so warm, when you got out the air was a little chilly. By the look on Melanie's face, you'd think it was like 30 degrees outside. Hahaha!
We also got the chance to go to the Sacramento Zoo. Melanie loves loves loves animals so we couldn't pass up going there. While we were waiting in line, there was this lady that came up to us and she asked us if we were zoo members. We said no. She told us to take her coupon because she wasn't going to use it. It was a buy one adult admission get one free and Melanie is under 3 years so she was free anyways. So we only paid for one adult admission. That was so nice of the lady to give us that. Thanks nice lady!
They have flamingos!
"Ooooh- oooooh-aaaaah-aaaaah"..... (that's a monkey sound)
Hahaha!
Jaguar!
"Rrrrraaawwwrr"
We were growling like a jaguar. Her growling face is a lot cuter than mine. Hahaha!
The lemurs had to come take a look at who was looking at them.
"Look guys! Zebras!"
We had a lot of fun at the zoo...
So much fun that Melanie was conked out by the end of the day.
Look at that crazy hair!
Of course when you're out of town, you have to go out and eat at the places that aren't found in your State.
First place.... Cafe Delicious. My grandparents love this place. Good Mexican food.
This was Melanie's favorite place. I think it was called Leo's or something like that. REALLY good authentic Chinese food. This munchkin LOVED the noodles.
Sluuuuurp!
Ok this one is an exception because we do have this restaurant in Utah. In fact, it's everywhere here. Texas Roadhouse. They only have one in Sacramento. My grandparents have to travel quite a ways to get to it. So what do we do? We go there, because we all love it! Hahaha!
Ok this place brought back memories of my child hood. We used to always get thrifty's ice cream when we were kids. It's where I developed my love for chocolate chip ice cream. Hahaha! Mmmmm....
Mmmmm, I want one now just looking at this picture.....
My uncle Matt has about seven chickens in his backyard. Melanie wasn't too amused. She was more interested in playing with Emmalie.
Melanie, Sophie, and James played tag together. It was so cute. Melanie was "it", and they made sure to go extra slow for Melanie to run after them. In fact, to make it easier for Melanie and harder for them, instead of running they would army crawl around the house and let Melanie chase after them that way. They had too much fun! It was adorable.
"TAG! You're it Sophie!"
We got to visit my aunt Amy and her two kids. Unfortunately my uncle Mike wasn't there. He had to work.
We had fun. Garrett had this archery set and we played some creative games with it. He was quite the little arrow shooter.
Then Dallan had a turn.
"I bet you can't get your arrow higher than mine Dallan!"
Melanie and Charlotte bonded. Well sort of. Hahaha!
Melanie sat in the doll stroller and Charlotte tried to push her around. Little cuties!
Everyone looked so happy. Hahaha! They were more like, "What the heck are you guys doing to us?"
It was great to see them!
A selfie at Old Sacramento. :)
We also got to visit my uncle Dave, aunt Anne, and their five kids. They invited us for dinner and my aunt Anne made a scrumptious meal for us! It was nice to see them again and talk to my cousins one on one. Jessica and Jocelynn are so grown up now. It's weird to see them as young women now. They aren't little girls anymore, they are BEAUTIFUL young women. Jacob is so grown up too. He is one handsome kid and boy is he sweet. Jenna and Josh are as cute as can be and so much fun. Melanie LOVED playing with Jenna. Jenna even gave her this little horse to take home to keep. That was so sweet of her. Melanie still loves to play with it :) It was great to see them!
Towards the end of our trip, we went to San Francisco with some of my aunts and uncles.
China Town!
Entertainment at China Town.
We brought our stroller, but Emmalie didn't have hers so we had Emmalie hold Melanie in one stroller. They didn't seem to mind it very much. Hahaha! It was super windy their so they probably helped each other keep warm.
Pier 39.
Where ALL the freaks go. Did I say freaks? I meant people. As in tourists and entertainers.
Some entertainer trying to be a who knows what.
Some break dancing.
Lovely clean water..... Bahahaha! Full of seal poop and whatnot.
Everyone who went to San Fran :) We had a blast!
The famous Seal spot.
Mmmm... Clam chowder in a sour dough bread bowl. HEAVEN!
I miss seeing palm trees around. They don't have those over here in Utah. Too cold for them.
Crossing the Golden Gate Bridge!
We stopped at these cool historic spots.
Pretty awesome.
Brianna, James, and Sophie wanted to stop at the beach so we did! I'm glad they wanted to go because I did too! I LOVE the ocean.
We took Melanie to the beach when she was a really young baby, but this time she was old enough to actually enjoy it with us and have some fun.
Look at those CHEEKS!
I love these two!
It wouldn't be a beach trip without some playing in the sand!
Sophie looks so cute holding Melanie because Melanie is almost as big as she is. Hahaha!
My favorite :)
On our way home from San Francisco, we always make a stop in Napa Valley for some good Italian food. Felipe's is a hit with our family.
A week wasn't long enough. We had so much fun! It was good to see all my family. I wish we could have done more with all of them. We had an awesome trip! Wish we were still there!
LOVE ALL OF YOU CRAZY WADMANS!
Melanie riding home in style. Utah, here we come!
When we got home I had a project that I wanted to get done.
Painting this plain kid's table.
Chairs finished and so far a success with the Squish!
Finished product!
I love how it turned out. Melanie LOVES it too! She uses it everyday!
We had an awesome time in California! It's good to be home as well.
I just wish we all lived closer. Maybe one day. Until then, we'll keep making our visits.
Thanks again Nana and Tata for everything you did for us on our trip! We really appreciate it. :)
We miss all of you guys! Love you!
