big trees and drive in's... aka, vacation part 3

if you'd like first read parts one and two...

asher's hand foot and mouth disease was apparently a pretty bad case (he still has scab remnants of the blisters, and now all his skin is peeling off of his fingers and toes.  both things the dr assures me are normal, and that they are seeing really ugly cases of it this year).  he never cracked a fever, but was obviously unwell.  he would grab at this blisters and run them like they hurt, and was seriously crabby and had no appetite.  we kept giving him tylenol, which he gagged on almost every time; but must have realized it made him feel better because at some point he stopped fighting it.

we let him suck his paci as much as he wanted and eat what he wanted when he wanted... (which has bit us in the butt since we came home, but that is for another day).  the poor buddy was so sad and sick the paci was the least we could do- plus it hid the sores on his mouth from the rest of the world.  and when he would ask to watch "cars" we just obliged.  i watched it approximately 42 times on this trip.

uncle patrick and daddy kept calling him disease, and referring to his blisters as "all those diseases" which was kind of funny, but made me so sad for my little baby boy.  



there was one thing both matthew and i were anxious to do in california.  see the big trees.  we nixed a trip to the sequoias because, well... i'm lazy and didn't want to drive 3 hours one way on my vacation, but knew that the redwoods close to san francisco were a must. wednesday was the day.

i enjoyed most of the drive to the muir woods.  we drove through several quaint towns on that side of the bay, and i thought it would be nice to live there.  then suddenly we were in the mountains and on a crazy swerving road with no guard rails, it actually dropped to 1 lane in several places.  i freaked.  matthew egged me on. patrick thought it was hilarious. i wished i would have taken a dramamine before i left the house, but we made it there in one piece.


the trees were incredible.


we followed the wooden decking along the trails and gazed at the huge trees.   

every time the creek running down he middle of the two paths left our sight, asher lost it.  "waw wa, waw wa, waw wa..." he would shriek and cry over and over.


it was cold in the shade under the huge trees.


the sunlight peeking through them was intoxicating.


this was one of my favorite things we did while we were there.

after we meandered as far as we could with a stroller, we headed back to the car and off to the beach.



we don't have beaches in nebraska.  i forgot how hard it is to walk in sand.  the freezing water was strange.  all the hippies at the beach on a wednesday afternoon was strange (doesn't any body work).



the cliffs and the sound of the waves were soothing.  the sun was low and bright.



asher was scared of this waw wa.  he hid under my shirt most of the time.



i hoped to spot a whale. but we did not.

and then we were back in the car on our way to kinders for some ball tip and sweet potato fries.  asher and mama both slept in the car.

asher did not hold up well this day.  his blisters had spread to not just his hands feet and mouth, but also his legs and arms.  the diaper rash part of this was terrible and he had screamed bloody murder when he had to take a bath.  he was crabby, and sore, and tired, and just not his normal self.  so he went to bed early, and we took it easy the next day.

thursday was patrick's birthday.  we decided to stay close and drive to walnut creek and meander around town and window shop.  we met shelby at mel's diner during her break from work, and tried to get asher to eat real food (to this point he had seriously only eaten bananas, chips, and nutri-grain bars for our entire trip), he ate french fries instead.  then he had an epic breakdown at an adorbale toy store.  a make your blood boil kind of screaming and thrashing.  i was mortified, and couldn't help but laugh.  when the tantrum turned to uncontrollable sobbing, it was clear our day in walnut creek had come to an end.  we quickly snatched up some gelato for the road and headed back home.  asher went right into bed for a nap, where he stayed for a full 3 hours.


and then the evening held my 2nd favortie thing we did on vacation.  men in black 3 was showing at the drive in theater just down the road.  and since patrick, matthew, and myself generally love anything with will smith,  and patrick's girlfriend shelby hates him (yes i said she hates will smith-only person in america) and she had to work that evening... we headed to the drive in.



we may or may not have packed a cooler of of alcoholic beverages.  we also stopped at the taco bell drive thru on the way.  asher watched until he could hold his head up no longer, and then just fell asleep.  we talked to each other without being scolded by the old lady behind us, and the boys checked sports scores on their phones.  cheaper than the real theater, with beer snacks brought from home, and the freedom to do and say as you please.  we loved it there.  like a step back in time, only with will smith and cell phones.



more later...  

Comments

  1. I've always wanted to go to a drive-in movie! We drove by an old one when I was in Seattle, and I told my sister-in-law that I never even know we had them.

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  2. I'm sure my mom is glad to know that I turned 30 and still just wanted to grab Taco Bell for my birthday... just like when was I was 13 or so

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  3. Yes. I got a kick out of the Taco Bell dinner. That's okay.
    Sounds like a fun night.

    I saw the original Pink Panther at a Drive In in Hawyard Wisconsin.

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  4. BTW. I love the pictures!!! LOVE!!!

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  5. donna, glad you like them, i'm pretty much putting them up for your sake... most people could care less i think.

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  6. Did you write the back in time reference on purpose when talking about MIB/theatre? If not, very clever.

    Love to you all, esp poor baby boy!

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