Nora was very excited to fly on the airplane and had been anxiously awaiting the chance to do so. We're happy to report that she was a terrific air traveler this time. Now that she has a longer attention span for shows and movies, likes to play apps on my phone, and periodically falls asleep in her carseat if she's really tired, she was a great little flyer. This was a HUGE relief to me and Billy after our trip to Oregon last year, when flying with her at just under 2 years old proved to be a disaster even with her own seat.
We arrived in LA late, so we stayed overnight at a hotel and slowly made our way up the coast to Lompoc. We stopped for brunch on the beach in Santa Barbara at a restaurant we visited with my grandmother on one of our last visits before she passed away. The weather was so unexpectedly nice that we put Nora in her swimsuit and spent about an hour playing on the beach. Both my maternal grandparents had their ashes scattered over the Pacific Ocean, so it was nice to spend such a peaceful, beautiful morning "visiting" them.
Once we got to Lompoc, we got to spend several days with my dad's family. Aunt Ashley and Everett were even able to join us for our visit, and I think getting to share everything with her cousin was Nora's favorite part!
We visited the niche where the ashes of my dad, grandfather, great grandmother, and family friends are interred. Nora was very excited to see that Mimi had placed little pumpkins in their vases!
My Aunt Carrie and Uncle Steve were kind enough to let me, Billy, Nora, Ashley, and Everett stay at their house. Nora LOVED getting to "spend the night" with her family for so many nights in a row, and I liked having the chance to spend time with Billy, Carrie, Steve, and Ashley even after the kids went to sleep. Everett will turn 2 in December, and it was fun to watch Nora play the role of "older cousin." She is used to being "the little one" in most circumstances, but she adapted quite quickly to Everett's interest in what she was doing. It was fun for us to see how much he has grown and developed since we last saw him a year ago. He is VERY curious, just like his cousin. Sometimes he is busy on the go and very chatty, and sometimes he seems happy to sit quietly and observe what's going on around him. I could tell he was really paying attention to everybody, especially Nora, and that was cool to see firsthand. I was such a shy kid growing up, and Nora can be that way too, so I was also pleased that he and Nora alike felt very at ease with all of our family members and happy to engage with them.
Unfortunately, I didn't take too many pictures of the big family and friends cookout Aunt Carrie and Uncle Steve hosted on Saturday night, but it was a lot of fun! My cousin Christine even made the drive up from San Diego for the night to see us, and my cousin Russ was visiting, too. Family friend Melissa is 9 years old now, and she was such a great little "babysitter" to Nora for the evening.
A big group of us went to the Santa Barbara Zoo, which was a fun thing to do with the kids and gave us a chance to chat with everyone who came: Aunt Carrie, Aunt Dana, the three of us, Ashley and Everett, and Aunt Kim and Uncle Craig. We also stopped at In-N-Out afterward, where Nora was initiated into the neopolitan milkshake club.
Aunt Dana helped us pick out pumpkins and we carved them together at Mimi's house!
And Nora and Everett loved being escorted around Uncle Steve's farm, where they got to sit in the tractors, taste the vegetables from the fields, and take a "ride" in Papa's Model T.
Soon to come: pictures of the LA half of our trip and Halloween!
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