28 on the 28th!

On September 28th I turned 28!!!  I ended up going on a solo mini vacay for the weekend and it was awesome!  Since my birthday was on a Friday, I took the day off of work and booked a room in Buellton, which is right by Solvang.  Right after work on Thursday, I threw my bags in my car and took off.  

I stayed here:

It's a nice little place, nothin' fancy, but it was comfortable and, most importantly, it had a windmill.  When you go to Solvang, you have to stay someplace with a windmill; it's the LAW!

Before I left, I Googled a bunch of cool stuff in the area and looked up addresses for all of the essentials (Target, a grocery store, Target...ya know...the basics), but once I got there I decided to narrow down what I was going to do.  So, I spent Thursday evening finalizing my plans for the next day and then gave myself a mani/pedi, so that I would wake up with fabulous nails on my birthday and not feel like an old lady.  HA!  ; )

On Friday morning, I was up around 9, which meant that I could make it to breakfast at the motel, which was not too shabby.  Then, I went to this awesome place I found online, called Quicksilver Ranch, which is just outside of the tourist-y part of Solvang.  It's not someplace you would want to spend hours, but definitely worth 15-20 minutes.  It's a ranch with mini-horses!!!  I repeat, mini-horses.  NOT ponies.  They were about waist-high and packed with awesomeness. They were SO cute!  My pictures can't even do them justice, but I'll post them anyways.

 How cute are they!?!

I'd also like to report that I followed the rules and left with the same number of fingers I arrived with.

Another cool thing about this place it that it's free!  It was cool enough that I would've been willing to pay a few bucks for it, but I didn't have to!  Yay!  So, if you're in the area and have a little time, go here; it's awesome and kid friendly!  : )

Afterwards, I headed back toward Solvang and stopped at the Santa Ines Mission.  I had been there a few years back and discovered that there wasn't much to see, so I didn't spend much time there, but just walked around and looked at the pretty landscapes.  I would just like to give a little shout-out to strangers that are willing to take pictures for people.  Since I was there alone, I was wholly dependent on the kindness of others to get pictures of me on my birthday adventure and I must say that every time I wanted a picture, a good Samaritan would come along and help me out!  

At the Mission!

After the Mission, I drove to Solvang and went straight to the most amazing store ever.  It's called Jule Hus (Christmas House) and it is magical. It's Christmas there all-year-round.  I went to Solvang for the first time a few years ago on a mother-daughter road trip and fell in love with this store, but didn't really buy anything.  Since then, I have started a new tradition; I collect a Christmas ornament from everywhere I go and I have racked up quite a collection of the cutest ornaments!  I'm way proud of them and can't wait to put them up on my own Christmas tree in my own house some day!  : )  Anyhow, I have been dying to go back to this store and pick out a few gems for my future tree and that is exactly what I did!  I ended up spending lots of time in there, going through all the ornaments and decorations, making sure I got just the right ones.  I was pleased with my final selection and now I can die a happy woman...in about 60 years, that is.  ; )

Then, it was on to the rest of the cute Danish village!

I, of course, had to go to Mortensen's Bakery and get something delicious!

I did a ton of window shopping, went through a couple of museums, including the Hans Christian Andersen museum, and took a picture with one of Solvang's big windmills.

I spent several hours wandering around at my leisure and then decided to throw out my trip itinerary and go back to visit a pumpkin patch I had seen on my way to Quicksilver Ranch.  I have visited pumpkin patches before, but had never actually gotten a pumpkin from one.  Since it was on my bucket list, and it was my birthday, I decided that the day had come!  Here I am with my very first pumpkin patch pumpkin!!!  

Just down the road from the pumpkin patch, there was an apple orchard, which was perfect because apple picking was also on my bucket list!  So, I pulled over and picked some apples!

I was totally giddy and the man that worked there was extremely amused by that and humored me by taking a picture for me!  : )

After that, I decided to go back to my motel room and relax for a little bit before dinner.  I had decided beforehand that I would go to Andersen's Split Pea Soup Restaurant for my birthday dinner, so when I got hungry, I headed across the street for dinner.  On Andersen's website, I had seen that they have a Christmas store year-round and I was excited to check it out.  I was definitely not disappointed!  It was SO cute!  Just like a winter wonderland!  I apologize, by the way, for my extreme usage of exclamation points.  I tend to get very excited and when you're typing, exclamation points are pretty much as good as it gets!!!  Don't judge me!   ; )   

After spending an inordinate amount of time in the Christmas Shoppe, I ventured into the dining room where, I was determined to try some split pea soup.  I was getting up the nerve to order some, when I saw someone else delving into a bowl of it, and it kinda looked...absolutely disgusting.  I asked the waitress what it tasted like (creamy, bitter, pea-ish, etc.) and she brought me a tiny dish to sample.  Ummmm...YUCK!  Well, it wasn't terrible, but I only had one bite of the sample and did  not order any with my dinner.  Other than that, it was pretty good.

Next, I went to Albertson's and bought a mini-cake, which was delicious, but so rich that I could only tolerate a few bites, some candles, and a little thing of ice cream.  

I finally learned to use my camera's timer and was able to get a decent shot with my birthday cake!

The next morning, I took a beautiful drive down the coast, past some of THE most beautiful beaches, to Santa Barbara!  I toured the Santa Barbara Mission, which is super pretty!

I don't typically include grave markers in my blog, but I thought it was kind of cool to see the burial of the girl from Island of the Blue Dolphins.  She's buried in the churchyard inside the Mission.

After the Mission, I went to the Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History, which was small, but worth the stop.

Before heading home, I went to a little restaurant in Santa Barbara, called Jane, and had lunch and tried a piece of their delicious coconut cake!  Yum!  Something bizarre happened there, however, that I will include here for your amusement.  There was an older couple sitting at the table next to me and I could hear them discussing the coconut cake.  She wanted some, he didn't.  Then, she looks at me and asks, "Is that pretty good?"  I responded that it was. So, she asks me for a bite.  WHAT!?!?!  A stranger just asked me for a bite of my cake!  I looked around to see if I was being punked or something, but, no.  She really just wanted a bite.  lol  It was a pretty big slice, so I cut off a piece from the edge I hadn't eaten off of yet and put it on the bread plate on her table.  It wasn't a big deal, but it was definitely out of the ordinary.  ; )  

The drive home was pretty easy and I enjoyed my trip alot!  It gave me the solitude that I had been craving, but was short enough that I didn't feel lonely.  Certainly a win-win situation!  

On Monday, October 1st, my whole family (those in California, anyways) went to dinner at North Woods Inn in Covina!!  I love that place!  Here we are:

And I got a birthday sherbet!

Overall, it was a very happy birthday!

A Day Away Keeps the Crazy Away!

Sometimes things get crazy and I just need to take a break from life.  So, that's exactly what I did.  Usually this means that I head down to San Diego and this time was no different!  I just love that place!  It's a good place to go when I'm sad and want to feel better; it's a good place to go when I'm happy and want to celebrate that; it's good for an adventure.  It's just a cure-all for me and always has been.  This time, I wanted to do things that I hadn't done in a while, but didn't want to tie myself to a rigid schedule.  I was just looking for a chill, relaxing day in which I could allow myself to do...pretty much anything I wanted.  So, I looked up several addresses and took them with me.  I figured that I would do a couple of the things on the list and then head home.  As it turned out, I did everything on the list and it was a very fun and unique sort of day for me!  Just what I needed!!

I started off at the beautiful San Diego Temple

 and then went to Seaport Village.

It was a beautiful day.  I had thought about going to Seaport Village to do some browsing and then calling it a day, BUT the weather was perfect...and the ocean was SO blue and inviting!  So, I decided to do the next thing on my list.  I went across the Silver Strand to Coronado Island, where I ended up on the most beautiful beach!  I hadn't really planned to spend much time at the beach; I figured I'd just walk around the island a bit  and do some window shopping, but like I said, the ocean called and I felt compelled to answer!  : )

The beaches of Coronado are absolutely breathtaking!

And, of course, I got to see the awesome Hotel del Coronado!

As the afternoon was winding down, I decided that I should start home, so I got into my car, buckled up, started to back out of my parking spot, and then realized that I was NOT ready to go afterall.  Sunset was approaching and I realized that, if I stuck around just a little while longer, I could see the sun set over the beach.  So, I re-parked my car and took a little walk around part of the resort.  When it looked like it was starting to get dark, I went back to the water to see the magic.  And, magic, it was!

It doesn't get much more beautiful than that!

After I had seen the sunset, I drove to Phil's BBQ to get order dinner for myself and, of course, take some home for the family (we LOVE that place)!

Then, I went home.  It was such a nice day!  I decided to turn off the air conditioner, roll down all of the windows, and turn the music up.  It was even a nice drive home!  Truly, it was a day that I really needed and I'm so grateful to have gotten to escape for a bit and gain a fresh perspective on some things!  : )

Surprise Road Trip and Danny's 1st Birthday!

Baby Danny's 1st birthday was July 30th and Daniel and Tyisa were having his birthday party on July 28th.  So, the plan was for my parents and I to go up to Utah on the 22nd and have a short vacation before the party and then drive home the following week.  However, I had applied for some jobs that were closing on Wednesday and decided that I should stay home, just in case they worked quickly and called for interviews that week.  So, I spent my week alone, which was nice and when Friday rolled around, I had not received any calls for a job interview.  Sad, but not unexpected.  Also on Friday, I discovered I had gotten enough alone time and was feeling bored.  It was about 6:30 pm and I was trying to figure out something to do, when-all of a sudden-I decided that I should just drive to Utah.  Then, I decided that it would be even more fun to kidnap a few of my nephews and take them with me.  So, I called my awesome sister-in-law and she and my brother agreed that I could borrow Joey, Aaron, and Cy for the weekend.  Ecstatic, I threw a few things in a bag, grabbed an ice chest and some snacks, booked a room in St. George, and headed up the hill to pick up the boys.  We got all packed up and on the road a little before 8 pm.  Here we are, just about to leave!

The boys had never been out of the state without their parents.  I was way excited that I got to take them and the boys were way excited to be on a big time Auntie Rach Adventure!

We got to Stateline just fine and made it through a potty and gas stop and got back on the road.  We got to our hotel about 2 am, Utah time, and fell right to sleep!  I wasn't sure how the morning was going to go, since I've never readied 3 wee men in a hotel room before, BUT I had set out their clothes the night before and by 7:48 (my goal was 8 o'clock) we were all showered and dressed and heading to the office for breakfast!  I was way proud!  ; )  

Here they are!

Anyhow, we got back on the road and made excellent time to Diane's house in Salt Lake City.  My parents knew we were coming, but it was a complete surprise to everyone else.  When the boys walked into Diane's condo, she was super happy!  As for me...well...I'm just chopped liver, or something!  hahaha  Just kidding! If I were as adorable as my nephews, I would've stolen the show too, I suppose!  : )  Here they are showing some love for their Auntie Di!

Diane's birthday is August 3rd and since it was only a few days away and we would be home by the time it got here, we decided to celebrate it at Brick Oven Pizza, in Provo, right before Danny's party.  The food there is delish, but the boys didn't like their kids' selection too much....we had fun anyways!

After we ate, we went to Daniel's house.  When the boys walked in, Daniel started yelling, "There are wee men here!!!  There are wee men here!!!"  hehe  It was an awesome surprise and I'm happy to say that he was excited to see me too!  : )  It was great to see Daniel, Tyisa, and Danny!

Here's Daniel with his birthday boy!!!

It was also nice to see Uncle Rich and Aunt Sue, Daniel's friend Garrett (kind of our whole family's friend, actually), and Tyisa's parents.  Poor Danny was completely overstimulated by all of the attention he was getting from his cousins...and it was nap time.  BUT he was a trooper (a groggy trooper, but a trooper nonetheless) during present-opening time.  

Next, it was time for cake.  Danny was ALL over that!  

Here's how it started...

and here's how it ended...

...followed by a bath.  : )

 Here are a few other pics that I just had to post!

Danny playing with Cy and Aaron!

Me and my sweet boy!

My Benjamin and me!

We had a great night, but I was ready to get some sleep!  The following morning was quite eventful.  Aaron had a seizure and he ended up spending half of the day in the hospital...after enjoying a fabulous ambulance ride to Primary Children's Hospital in Salt Lake City.  It was SO scary and I'm so grateful that he's totally fine!  Melissa flew up to be with Aaron on the drive home and also because it would have been terrible to be so far away from her little guy when something so scary had just happened.  I'm glad to say that everything was fine and that no further incidents occurred.  

While Aaron, my mom, and I were at the hospital, Daniel and Danny came to visit.  It really brightened up Aaron's day!

 And getting some love from Grandma!

While we were with Aaron at the hospital, I had Diane take Joey and Cy to Temple Square to keep their minds off of what was going on.  They had a great time!

When Aaron was discharged from the hospital, we all met back at Diane's condo, packed up our stuff and started on the trek home.  My parents and I cara-vanned to St. George, where we had  rooms next door to each other.  We all got a pretty good night's sleep (relatively speaking) and headed out in the morning.  We all went to Brigham Young's Winter Home and then my parents left and Wiss, the boys, and I went to the St. George Tabernacle and then to a splash pad that was right next to it.  We had also planned to visit the Jacob Hamblin Home, but decided not to, after we spent a sizable chunk of time at the splash park!  We'll get there next time!  : )

 Brigham Young's Winter Home

 St. George Tabernacle

Splash Pad!!!

 This place was awesome!  These pictures don't even begin to do it justice!  The boys had a blast!

Finally, we headed to the St. George Temple, where we walked around a little and went to the Visitors' Center.

Then, HOME!!!

We had quite an eventful trip, that's for certain, but we had a great time overall and I'm so grateful that everything worked out and that all was well!