Niebauer Family: California trip

Disclaimer- this is a really long post. I just wanted to capture our whole experience. Feel free to skip down to pictures :)

We went out on a trip to California for the past week. It was a great time! The whole reason for the trip was to go two weddings on back-to-back weekends for some dear friends of mine from my bridgespan days in Boston. But we also decided to make a road trip of it and spend some good time with friends and family.

We flew into Orange County on a friday evening flight that went somewhat well (some crying, but not incessant or anything). But of course at the airport all hell broke loose and I was reminded why I wasn't sure I wanted to take this trip at all. Mike went to get the rental car while I juggled one baby in a carrier and 2 more in the stroller while trying to round up luggage plus 3 car seats and get it all out to the curb on my own. Some lovely people helped make this happen, but not before hysterics broke out. And it didn't die down for an hour. Seriously. But eventually we got to the hotel and got everyone in bed. Phew!

The next morning we were going to try to connect with my brother Matt but decided so much driving for pretty limited hanging out time didn't make that much sense. So instead we got together with my friends Phil and Michelle and their little boy Oscar, who is about 6 months older than the twins. We went on an awesome walk down to the beach near their house and had a blast catching up. Then we had lunch with our friends Harpreet, Allana and Tous, all of whom are here for the wedding as well.

The wedding- the first of two of the trip- was for my dear friend Jen, who I shared a cube wall with at Bridgespan. She met her husband Daniel while we were working together, and I remember the days where she didn't want to call him her boyfriend, so she just called him her "person." So great to see them get hitched! Jen is one of the most hysterical people I know and her wedding was as fun as one would expect. She had another of our friends and former colleagues, Peter, serve as the officiant. He did such a fantastic job- just the right level of humor, charm, romance, and all of that... The reception was a crazy good time. Lots of dancing and laughing with old friends. And it was so nice to have a night out with out the munchkins! We had a great babysitter who we found through my friend Phil, who just jumped in with no hesitation and took the kids off for a walk to the mall so that we could get ready to go. Caroline didn't even cry! It was awesmoe. It took a while for everyone to get to sleep, but otherwise I think it was a pretty easy evening for her.

We left early the next day to go visit my dad. It is always good, but hard, to see him, given his Parkinsons. He seemed in about the same shape, physically, although it is hard to imagine how he could get much worse. Mentally he seemed a little less aware, though he still had some good moments with us. He loved watching the girls and seemed glad to have us there. I don't know if Caroline will remember her Popsie in the distant future, but I'm glad that she is getting to know him now. We spent the morning with him and then left mid-day, when it was nap time and the monsters started getting pretty cranky.

We drove up to Santa Barbara and checked into our hotel. We had a little challenge when they thought they didn't have 2 pack-n-plays, but after much begging and pleading, they rounded one up at a partner hotel. We all went for a swim that afternoon which was fun. Caroline is hesitant to swim around the pool, which annoys me a bit after she just spent 2 weeks in swim lessons, but hopefully she'll improve and be more brave after more this summer. The twins had an absolute blast- they loved splashing around! After our swim, we went walking around downtown Santa Barbara in the early evening. It is such an adorable little town! I loved it. Would love to spend more time there. The next morning we went walking on the beach and Caroline played in an awesome park. Then we drove north a bit to the wine country. We had a picnic lunch at Sunstone winery and then stopped by a couple more (Rusack and Lincourt). It was great fun, and we could have kept going, but it was a little hard juggling the kids (mostly we just let them crawl around on the lawn) and Caroline needed a nap. So we went back to the hotel (a new one in Solvang) and went for another swim and then everyone had nap. Except Mike, who went for a little more winetasting in town... We all had dinner out in a restaurant, which is always a little crazy (we've mostly been buying food and eating at the hotel), but it went ok. We walked around the mission before heading for bed.

The next day, Tuesday, we drove up to San Luis Obispo to spend some time with my dear old friend Jenny and her family. She has 2 girls- Charlotte (Charley) and Lucy, who are 5 and 2. All of our girls had a blast playing together with each other all day, and Jenny and Jay were wonderful hosts, giving us their room, hunting down 2 pack-n-plays from their friends, and serving us wonderful meals. What a fun day we had with them while the girls played in the sun, splashed with the hose, drew watercolors on rocks, played at the playground, and generally had a fabulous time.

On Wednesday morning, we got up early and headed up to my mom's house. My brother Brian was around for a couple of days before heading to China on a 2 month trip before starting his PhD at Stanford (nice choice, kid). We hung out around the house, and my mom and I snuck out for pedicures while the kids napped. Then in the evening we had a little barbecue. Some family friends stopped by and my great aunt Joan stayed for dinner. It was nice to be in one place for the rest of the trip, especially since the twins can get used to sleeping in one place (they've definitely struggled going to bed, and have only been able to nap on car rides...)

Thursday morning I went to happy hollow with the kids and my mom. We met up with another dear old friend, Beth, and her little ones- Cash, 3 and Scarlett, 1. It is a fun little zoo/little kid amusement park. Apparently I went there as a child, but I didn't remember it. But we had a lot of fun and it was great to catch up with Beth. While we were out, Mike and Brian went for a hike. That afternoon my mom and I snuck out again to get foot massages at "U lucky foot." So great! And we all spent some time in the pool/hot tub. Sadly, the pool heater wasn't working well, so it was kind of chilly, so mostly we stayed in the hot tub...

Friday we had a mellow day. Mike took Brian to the airport and I went to the park with my mom and the kids. That night was the rehearsal dinner. My friend Harpreet joined us to drive over to Santa Cruz and go to the event. It was at a gorgeous spot- Chaminade Spa/Resort, which is up in the hills overlooking Santa Cruz. The dinner was fun, but mellow, since it was "dry," as was the wedding. Probably best to keep us all well behaved :) Harpreet spent the night with us and hung out that morning with us too.

Saturday morning we went walking around downtown Los Gatos and then just got ready for the wedding (which started at 3:30). Mike and I arrived a bit early, and found a winery along the way, so we decided to make a quick pit-stop. We only had 20 minutes, but we managed to taste quite a few wines. Also a good approach when going to a dry wedding :)

The wedding was absolutely beautiful. The location- at Kennolyn Camp, even further up in the hills above Santa Cruz, nestled amongst the redwoods- was gorgeous. And the ceremony was a really cool fusion of hindu, buddhist, and western traditions. But luckily it wasn't too long, since it was insanely hot outside! We had a blast at the reception with a bunch more bridgespan friends. Fun dancing and chatting and tasty food and cake. Afterwards there was an afterparty at a cool bar with an outdoor patio, where we danced more and celebrated the birthday of one of our friends, Maria, who was also at the wedding.

We are immensely grateful to my mom for watching the girls for both those days/nights. It is a lot of work, and we were just so glad to know they were in good hands (and not have to pay a zillion dollars to a sitter!) Thanks, Mom!

Sunday morning we got packed up and headed off to the airport pretty early. It was sad to say goodbye to mom... hope she comes to visit soon. The travel was a little bit harder than the way out (with the exception of the 1 hour screaming fit at the end of the first journey... luckily there was no more of that). But they seemed a little crankier, squirmier, etc. Luckily Caroline was a good girl again.

When we made it home, Mike's parents had turned on our AC and filled our fridge with dinner. So nice of them! They also stopped by soon after we arrived to spend some QT with their adorable granddaughters. They said they had grown and changed so much in that week. True.

All in all it was really a fun vacation. I was hoping to just survive it, given the challenges we had at Christmas. But really, I loved it. It was a great mix of visiting with family, catching up with old friends, good bonding time as a family, sightseeing, and a little time away from the kids. We are lucky and I'm so grateful
for these times.

The Bridgespan crew at Jen's wedding