I will now bore you with a slideshow from our family's vacation to California. Ha ha. Just kidding. I can't show you a slideshow because you are not here at my house and I don't have a slide projector anyway. I will tell you about our week with words.
Day 1: We drove to California on a Wednesday. We made it in record time! The kids are all so old now that we have to stop less and less frequently. We were trying to beat a storm. We really wanted to get through the Sierras before the snow started. In those mountains, it seems like they make you put chains on your tires even if there is a light rain. We didn't feel like putting on chains. Mostly because we couldn't remember where we last saw those chains. But we did it! We won the race! We got safely to Sacramento where cousins greeted each other with noisy celebration! And then the storm came and stayed. We got there on a Wednesday and it rained almost nonstop until the next Monday afternoon.
We stayed with Chris' brother, Woody (not his real name), his lovely wife and four children. The kids have so much fun together. So. Much. Fun.
Day 2: Thursday. Woody's older kids went to school. We had a quiet morning with the little ones. We drove down to Lodi (about an hour away) to pick up our nephew, Trevor. Lodi is where Chris grew up. As we got off the freeway and turned onto Woodbridge Road, I felt a sort of homecoming even though it's not technically my home. I love Lodi. It's full of grapevines (right now, they just look like fields of sticks) and it is beautiful. Anyway, we took Trevor to lunch and then headed back to Sacramento just in time for the cousins to be getting home from school.
Woody and Michelle told us weeks earlier that Michelle's parents wanted to take us somewhere that night, but they wouldn't say where. They just told Woody to find a babysitter for all those kids. I thought they might be tricking us into an Amway meeting. (That's just a joke since this slideshow has been lame so far.) Woody hadn't got a babysitter yet. I procrastinate these things, too. But it was getting late. Trevor, who is 18-years-old, kept telling us he could babysit. Eight kids? we said. He said he'd be fine. Including a baby? we said. He said if the baby cried, he'd let her cry. The kids get wild together, we said. He said nothing could frustrate him. So we believed him.
Michelle's parents came and picked us up. We drove to a little town in the Sierras called Auburn. Everything is so pretty in this part of the world. First we went to In-N-Out for hamburgers. When In-N-Out was only in California, people would take us there as a special treat. I was never that impressed, so when it came to Utah, I haven't bothered. But this night, it tasted so tasty. So tasty that I haven't been able to get it out of my mind and I've already been back to the one in West Jordan. Maybe I've been a little anemic and have been craving red meat. But I don't feel anemic. I just feel like In-N-Out is tasty. So tasty.
I think I'm getting off the point. After dinner, we went to a little, old, historical movie theater. And guess what was playing? It's a Mad Mad Mad Mad World. Because I am not much of a movie buff, I had never even heard of it. But it was full of famous people that I have heard of. Apparently, it's Michelle's dad's favorite movie and he has tried to get Woody to watch it for years, but Woody keeps falling asleep. It's a long movie. But if you like movies, I think you'll like it. I did.
During the movie, Woody got a text from our fearless babysitter. "Where's the binky?" Of course, there's no way we could find the binky from the movie theater. But Trevor texted a little later, "I got her to sleep without the binky. I'm just that good."
On the way home, Woody got another text telling him that his three-year-old had had an accident. Yuck. Not easy for an 18-year-old boy, right? Wrong. Trevor just dealt with it. He took care of the mess, the little boy, and all was well. When we got home, six of the kids were asleep. AMAZING! The baby was awake, but not upset. And the 3-year-old was still in the shower. I complimented Trevor on taking care of the mess without complaining and he said, "I just felt so bad for him. He's so embarrassed." It was awesome to see a kid showing complete compassion in a situation that is kind of gross.
I wish Trevor lived in Utah so he could babysit for us all the time. Except that I already have a few good babysitters. But still, I was impressed.
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