To California and Back

 I tend to work best under pressure, so before heading to California for a little vacation with my family, I packed in plenty of work to finish before I left.

Come into play a couple of dressers.

They’ve been in my garage for weeks and I wanted them done before I left.

I started with the normal process; sanding, priming and painting when a friend of mine stopped by.

He was at my home to fix an air conditioner on the fritz, when he noticed what I was working on.

“What you need is a sprayer,” he said as I dipped my sponge roller into the bucket of paint.

But I don’t have an air compressor.  Instead, I have a mini sponge roller that attaches to a red handle.  Quite snazzy if I say so myself.

“I have an air compressor at home,” my friend said. “I’ll be right back.”

And before I could say anything, he pulled out of the driveway.

He was back in just a few minutes.  The dressers were ready to paint, so together we worked quite fast in getting them sprayed.

I couldn’t believe the process.  It was so fast.  It was so easy.  It was so clean, well, maybe not as clean as I hoped.

Keep in mind I had many little helpers with me; ages 7,4 and 2.

Come into play the knocked-over can of paint in my driveway.

And this.  

Eden found a pen and before I could stop her she signed a few drawers with her signature.

But in the end (and with a little more painting to clean these up) it was an amazing experience.  I’m now in the market for an air compressor.

The dressers were done and the next day my family and I headed to California. 

The cool ocean air combined with blowing bubbles of our third-story balcony was a great way to start our trip.  

Later, we explored the tide pools

 and played in the waves.

Some of us just wanted to play in the sand,

With a little convincing she finally went with me into the water, but wasn't too sure about it.

The counselor and I concluded years ago the best part about being on vacation is watching our kids.  

We love when their faces light up, 

and watching them experience something for the first time, like being chased by a wave

or catching a wave.

 

Of course the uninterrupted playtime is a perk too.  

The counselor and I pushed the double stroller up the cliff at the end of our playtime and concluded that was the best workout of our life.

Next, off to Disneyland where about a million other people had the same idea.

Remember my post about The Opposite of Thrifting, yeah, that's Disneyland in a nut shell, but you can't put a price tag on dancing with Princess Aurora.

,

or meeting Eeyore.

Eden would've been happy to stay on this carousel all day.  

She screamed like a girl when I took her off, so we went back in line again and again.

Reef and Mayer were good sports about it, riding the carousel multiple times too.

The boys and I were soaked after white-water rafting.

And where was the counselor?  He took Eden to meet Tinkerbell.

Later we met with Mickey and Minnie,

and where was Eden?  She finally crashed.

Eden saw many of the princesses, 

and was able to meet some too,

but at the end of the day, she just wanted to get back on the carousel.  

She is the sweetest princess of all.

Finally a family picture with all of us.  

With a family this size, it's almost a miracle when this happens.

We had a great time and are happy to be home.  Summer is officially here!