the curse has lifted!

It’s official, folks!  We made it to and from Santa Barbara without illness and without broken bones.  Third time really was a charm.

This trip was officially booked because of a wedding.  My college roommate and wonderful friend, Kristy, was tying the knot so we tacked on a few extra days to make it a “work trip” for Jason and a vacay for me and the boys.   Here’s a look back over the week in pictures…

Outside our hotel lobby, waving Jason off to work for the day.  That’s me thinking Oh man, what am I going to do all day with a 4-year-old and an almost 3-year-old?  No worries, I got this.

The view from the porch of our hotel room.  Not too shabby.

Here’s what I did with the boys all day, btw.  Hit the beach.  Hard.  After picking up some coffee.

And met up with old friends, Stacy and Sarah, and their kids, throughout the week.

Stacy and her oldest, Jane, who reminded me on SEVERAL occasions that she is almost four.

Sarah and her oldest, Charlie.

Sarah’s youngest, Max.  This is one mellow fellow.  I don’t think I heard him make a single peep the entire week.

Gryffin, Isaiah and Charlie playing outside our hotel room.



Gryff having a jump on Charlie’s trampoline.  He was REALLY excited about it.  I was really excited about that netting.

Isaiah… not so much into the bouncing yet.

Waiting for our breakfast Saturday morning.

Jason and the fellas found an old swiss army knife in the fountain, which we brought home, of course.  The boys call it their “magical treasure from Santa Barbara.”

The wedding was incredible and full of so many personal touches.  From the song that played while Kristy and her dad walked down the aisle, to the children’s book excerpt included in the ceremony, to Biff the dog walking down the aisle… we were so happy that we were there to celebrate with Kristy and Carlos.

A mariachi band led all of us down the street to the reception following the ceremony.

Kristy’s dad had EVERYBODY crying during the reception.

More beach time on Sunday morning.  

Followed by lunch downtown with some of my college girlfriends in town for the wedding (and Jesse… we let him crash our lunch).

And… yet more beach time on Monday.   This time I took along Greg & Kim‘s girls, who were so much fun.  And, I must admit, made my job considerably easier, since Macy & Phoebe (9 & 10) did things like fetching water and sand monster games in my stead while I looked on from my beach chair and chatted with my friends.
And we’ll close the post out with a shot of G and Z sawing logs on the fold-out couch in our hotel room.  “Naps” got the air quotes on this trip and bed time was stretched on more than one occasion so this was a welcome sight indeed.  

Overall, a great trip.  I might even venture to call it “a raging success.”  Hooray!