We survived...

Well we made it back from California safe and sound. And thank goodness I didn't pull out much of my hair. :) We had a pretty good trip for the most part. It had its moments but what trip doesn't right. We flew out to Sacramento last Saturday with Justin's mom and dad.

And guess who forgot the camera. (ME) So Justin was nice enough to buy a throw away camera at the airport so I could at least get a few pics while we were gone. So sorry about the poor quality. But his sister took a few shots for me with her camera too. :)

(LONG POST AHEAD....SORRY!)

I was so nervous for Ryken's first flight. And to make me even more paranoid he was being a major fussy monkey at the airport and had not taken a nap yet that day. Then as we were making our way on the airplane he started freaking out. As I walked by holding Ryken and looking at every other person on the plane I swear I could hear them thinking "Oh great this kid is going to be a basket case this whole flight!" Which made me freak out too. So for the first 10 mins sitting on the plane we had to entertain him with his books and the airplane magazines.

Then as soon as the plane took off it seemed to really get to him. And he just fell asleep on me. I was the happiest girl at that moment and could only hope that the flight would go by fast and he would sleep thru all of it.

He ended up sleeping for most of the flight. I think he ended up waking up once the pilot got on the speakers and said we were about to land. So all in all it was a good first flight for him. And he was even kinda happy when he woke up. At least happy enough to get a little family pic on the plane without screaming.
Once we landed we made our way out of the airport with all of our luggage and went to find our rental van. Then we met up with Justin's sister and her little guy Tristan and had some much needed lunch. After that we made our way to Travis Air Force Base where his sister lives and we were going to be staying. We had to wait for what seemed like forever to get everything lined up for our rooms at the hotel but when it was all done we had some great rooms to stay in for the 5 days we were there. I was hoping that the weather would be nicer there but the day we got there it was in the 100's just like at home, I guess you can't always win. That night we got to hang out and visit with Jess and her hubby Cody and Tristan at their house.

Ryken doesn't play much outside at home but when we were there he loved going outside with Tristan. I guess we need to invest in some real patio furniture so we can hang out side more. When it cools down that is. :)Tristan loves books as much as Ryken so they got a little daddy/uncle Justin time and loved it. That night we headed back to the hotel a little later then Ryken's real bed time so I thought I was in for it. But guess what?... He slept pretty darn good that night. And even better as the nights went on. I was so grateful! On Sunday we were planning on meeting up with Jessica and Tristan and going to their church out there. We did end up doing that and Ryken wasn't the best since it was around nap time. But it sure was a different experience for all 3 of us. It was nice to get to go to church somewhere you have never been and see how others worship. So it was a fun learning experience for us. Then after church the boys decided to go out and play a little golf and the girls went to do some grocery shopping after the boys got their naps of course.

I guess they didn't take long enough naps cause this is the outcome of our grocery trip. Tristan started crying so that made Ryken cry and scream. So I had to lug him around the store so we didn't have to listen to both of them. :) We all headed out to Red Robin for dinner after the boys got back. And I guess Justin didn't have the best time cause he ended up hurting his knee. I guess that's why you don't do extra curricular activities on Sunday. (And now he and me are paying the price.) But dinner was nice that night...Can't you tell, Ryken loved his mac and cheese! He couldn't get enough of it. Which was nice cause it kept him busy so mommy could eat too. And eat I did! YUMMY! Monday we were able to get some family pictures taking at Sears. They turned out okay for the most part. Ryken didn't want to smile at all since he hadn't gotten a nap that day either. But he had a little fun with his cousin while we waited...And then after he got to ride next to his cousin in the stroller and we all hoped it wouldn't turn out like the grocery trip.But with snacks from Aunt Jessica in hand and in mouth everything turned out great! Later that day we got to go feed some ducks at the pond. And those ducks are kinda scary. There was some that hiss at you and they freaked me out. We were trying to show Ryken how to feed the ducks. So when we gave him some bread to throw to the ducks, he decided that he would rather eat it then share with the ducks. So he ate his bread himself. :) And there were a few ducks that looked like they were a cross between a duck and a rooster. They had red heads like roosters, they were also the ones that hissed at you.We decided to just check them out from inside the gates. If you look close you can tell what I am talking bout with the red heads on those ducks. I think Ryken had more fun just following around Tristan and being led around by uncle Cody then feeding the ducks that day. After dinner we always ended up at Jess and Cody's hanging out which was nice cause the boys got to interact with each other a little more. And they had some fun times but some dramatic times too. Tristan was trying to scratch Ryken's back with his little fake rake. Ryken thought it was pretty funny! Tristan was so funny with that rake he did the same thing to Justin's back too. Tuesday we went and checked out the jelly belly factory. And it was kind of a hectic day too cause the guys were planning on golfing too so we didn't get any pictures taken there. But we got some jelly belly beans! Justin didn't golf but he went and drove the golf carts around instead. I wish us girls would have been able to get out more while we were there but it didn't happen. But we did get a little shopping done a little that day which was nice. On Wednesday the plan was to head in to San Francisco and go to watch the Diamondbacks play the Giants. That day was fun and cold and a little stressful. The wind was blowing good that day. The game was fun but work too since we had to keep Ryken busy.

He got his hot dog for the day and it helped a little but it was still a little hard to get him happy that day. He loved getting to spend some time on Grandma and Grandpa Buchberger's laps thru out the game. We had to get up and take a little walk in the middle of the game too.
While we were walking around we found this BIG baseball glove and had to get Ryken to sit in it for a picture. What a goof right? I love my little goof ball!The Diamondbacks ended up losing the game but it got a little close at the end. But the Giants came back and won. BOO! Oh well we had a fun time. Since we were in San Francisco already we decided to go down to Pier 39 and check out the Sea Lions. And stop to eat at Bubba Gumps. It was a nice idea but once we were out of the car we were kinda regretting it. The wind was so cold and we had to push the strollers right in to the wind. Poor boys! But we finally made it to the Pier and saw the Sea Lions. There was so many of them. Maybe you can tell by this picture sorry there was no zoom for the camera. :) It was so stinky there and those big sea lions can get to be pretty loud too!We tried to stay warm but we decided to just head over to the restaurant for dinner. I am not a sea food eater but Justin's family is so we ate at Bubba Gumps for dinner. It was pretty good food. But Ryken was such a stink pot at dinner I didn't get to enjoy it much. Oh and also it was Justin's birthday that day so they brought him out a dessert.And for him to get it he had to stand up on his chair while they sang to him and the also made him get up there and...Shake his booty! It was pretty darn funny if you ask me. :) But hopefully it was worth it once he got the dessert. The only thing that seemed to keep Ryken from screaming was him getting to go look out the window at the boats going by and all the seagulls flying around too. So being the good dads they are Cody and Justin watched the little guys as the boats went by. : ) Thursday was the day we came back to Arizona. And of course Ryken decided to sleep the whole way to the airport. So that of course means that he didn't sleep on the airplane. Which was not good for mommy or daddy. Or the rest of the people on the plane. Ryken and another little boy were fussy during some of the flight. But it wasn't so bad. But for sure not as good as the flight to California. :) We had a fun trip with Justin's family. And we were glad we were able to make it out there with his parents. Thanks for everything Pam and Ken. It was lots of fun! And thanks to Jess and Cody for all they did too. :) It was great getting to see Tristan and Ryken play with eachother and also for us to get to visit with everyone. :)