Happy Easter!

We had a wonderful Easter with family, even though we were still all trying to recover from our vacation. A very funny event happened to Brandon on Friday. After eating with my cousin and family at River City Brewery (where Eli and I enjoyed some awesome mushroom Mac N Cheese and I drank their awesome homemade root beer), Brandon was too exhausted to go to a movie so he opted to put Eli to bed while we all went to a movie. He had just taken Eli's clothes off for his bath and turned around for a minute and smelled poop. He turned back around dreading what he was about to see. There was Eli covered in poop. It was all over his hands, toes, face, and he had drug it on his feet across the floor. When Brandon picked him up to throw him in the bath Eli swiped poop on Brandon's face. Seriously! So glad I wasn't here to clean up that mess! Yesterday was a gorgeous day, so we celebrated Easter with all the Corman family and relatives here in Easter. Brandon was brave enough to grill chicken and burgers for such a big group. It only took him 1 1/2 hours to finish all the grilling needed :-) It was a great party! Eli got to see his cousin Luke again. Luke was crying one time and I told Eli he was hungry, and Eli first held out his arms to hold him then guided my cousin who was holding Luke to his room and pointed to the glider where I always nurse Eli. It was so cute. Eli was taking care of him. Today at church Eli was dancing like crazy to the music and kept saying "more" when they'd finish.

Haircuts

We took Rica to the groomer last night because it's finally getting warm enough for her to have a schnauzer cut and not her fuzzy winter coat. I could not stop laughing when I got her "report card". First of all, I always take her to Petsmart and they've never even given me a report card before. They just always tell me how horrible she is. This report card had A through F. You can guess which one Rica got....F! Next to the F it said, "I was a Little Devil, but my groomer still loves me." I guess I shouldn't think it's funny, but I do. Eli also got a short hair cut yesterday. His shaggy do was just getting too long. He did so well! I was armed with books and snacks and kept him busy. He didn't even mind the buzzers. We just would warn him saying she was going to "tickle" him. They were impressed, and I was so proud of him. He looks so much older and more like a little boy. It almost makes me sad. Rebecca and Joel came up for Easter weekend. It's so great to see them since they didn't make it to Santa Barbara. Nothing like a fire on your plane to ruin the trip! Eli was happy to see them and chased their dogs around like crazy. My cousin Sam lives like a block away from us, so they are going to hang out there after Eli goes to bed each night. We had some funky weather this evening. Brandon and I had both commented that things were looking a little weird. I decided to take a nice relaxing bath and read a magazine...I was so excited. I literally get in and am in there for like a minute and the tornado alarm goes on and it starts hailing. I yelled for Brandon to take Eli to the basement (which he already was), I jump out, pull the drain, throw some clothes on and the alarm goes off immediately and everything came to a stop. What the crap? I knew something was fishy because my own weather radio didn't go off but the city one did (when normally my radio is always a few minutes ahead on storms/tornadoes). So much for my nice relaxing bath. It was kind of funny though. We got Eli's one year pictures back and our family pictures back. I will have my mom scan them next week and I'll put them on here. He looks so cute (of course)! I took Eli to the Christian book store to try to find a book on the Easter story for his Easter basket (all the contents of which I already bought before our trip so I wouldn't be stressed out). I was appalled that I couldn't find ONE single kids book on the death and resurrection of Christ. I know it's kind of a gruesome tale (but what bible story isn't...Noah's Ark where God kills everyone on earth, Daniel in the lions den, Jonah getting swallowed by a whale, David and Goliath etc.). I settled with a flap book of Noah's ark and an awesome story about Elijah and the Widow for Eli when he's older. Of course any book about the prophet Elijah I HAVE to have!

California....

Here are some memories of California:

1. Went to Carpinteria State Beach many times (because it was a couple blocks from our hotel)
2. Walked the Salt Marsh
3. Flew kites on the beach
4. Saw the world's largest Torrey Pine tree (seriously, it was huge)
5. Hiked twice to see the Seal/Sea Lion rookery-it was wonderful to watch them swimming and nursing their pups
6. Brandon and Will went whale watching and almost got thrown off the sail boat it was so choppy
7. Watched dolphins at the beach
8. Walked the pier and wharf in Santa Barbara (Eli liked watching the skaters in the skate park)
9. Visited with my grandparents, cousins, aunt and uncle at their beautiful house overlooking the ocean
10. Eli loved swimming in the cooled down hot tub
11. Eli also loved the automatic doors in the hotel and would throw his hand out and use his "powers" to open them
12. Eli loved playing with lemons off my aunt's tree and trying to destroy her beautiful landscaping
13. Ate amazing Mexican food (Brandon was thrilled to eat tomales his favorite) and eat a cut of beef that only is popular in California called Tri Tip (my uncle Bill grilled it and it was incredible)
14. Eli threw up all over himself in the car on the curvy drive up the mountain to my aunt's house (overfed him right before we left...I will never eat pasta with peas, corn, and carrots again)
15. Went to the SB Zoo and Eli rode a train for the first time. He loved it! He loved the penguins and flamingos
16. Celebrated my grandparent's 60th wedding anniversary
17. Eli enjoyed counting to three with Aunt Cathy...he still will hold something up and squeal "EEEE" for "Three"
18. Survived flying with a toddler. Enjoyed everyone's comments of how cute Eli was and how good he was on the flights from Denver to Santa Barbara and the return. The flights from Wichita to Denver and vice versa were not so good, but people were still gracious.
19. Loved staying in the adorable beach town of Carpinteria and walking down the main drag with surf shops etc.
20. Eli loved the ocean and couldn't get enough of the waves washing over his legs.
21. Overall, a wonderful trip and can't wait to go back!!!

We're Home!

We arrived home late last night from Santa Barbara. Eli is so tired he's still sleeping and on California time, so it's going to be interesting to try to adjust back. We had a marvelous trip and both Brandon and I were so sad to leave. We felt like we could have stayed through the week easily. Eli was a total trooper on this trip. He adjusted well to everything. Of course he had his whiny moments, but overall it was awesome! By the end of the trip he absolutely loved the beach and the ocean. He loved the waves washing over his feet and legs. We flew a kite on the beach, which he enjoyed as well. We came at a perfect time to see the seals and sea lions in a cove at the beach with all their babies. It was so fun to watch them swimming and nursing their pups. We enjoyed watching 8 dolphins swim right in front of us at the beach, as well. Brandon and Will went whale watching on a sail boat, but it was so windy they didn't see much besides seals, dolphins, etc. It was so wavy they actually almost went overboard a couple times and had a blast! My aunt and uncle were so nice in letting us use their house for naps because they live on the side of a mountain overlooking Santa Barbara and the ocean. We were able to relax with our family and enjoy the beautiful views. We got to visit with my cousins and grandparents. It was wonderful to see everyone and we appreciated Megan and Bob making the drive down from San Francisco to visit and my cousin Meredith up from L.A. More details to follow!

California dreaming

We made it! The first flight was a little rough as we were figuring things out, and Eli cried/whined a bit. The second flight he was so tired he zonked out immediately and slept half the flight. With snacks, toys, and books we were able to keep him entertained for the 2 hours flight without a peep! Of course Santa Barbara was beautiful the second we stepped off the plane, and we were so thrilled to have survived plane rides with a toddler! The weather was beautiful. We checked into our hotel, and while I took a nap Brandon took Eli on a walk to the salt marshes enjoying the flowers, fish, and birds. The beach is a couple blocks from our hotel, so we took Eli for a quick run there before bed. He was intrigued. He definitely ate the sand....there was no stopping it because he got some on his hand. Today we are going to take some more walks in the adorable area by the beach with shops and surf shops. We'll go to my aunt's house tonight for a barbecue and enjoy the beautiful views of the ocean from their house.