Staycation 2019: Partying Potter Style

For a lot of people 2019 has been a hard year and it has only just started! I'm there and I feel y'all. One of the ways that I cope with stress and the grind of day to day is planning vacations and weekends out. It helps me get through the stressful day to day if I have something to look forward to and I love to create fun memories with my family.
One of the things I had really been looking forward to was having my parents and nephew visit. It was my nephew Ian's first trip away from his parents, it also happened to be my dad's birthday. We did some serious celebrating. It involved butterbeer, a velociraptor, and minions. Many minions. We went to Universal Studios!

Laszlo, Ian, and Paul, all of them Potters.

We made sure all the kids were suitably outfitted for Hogsmeade, and then we headed off into the traffic to get ourselves up to Hollywood. Ian, age 11, has read all the Harry Potter books and is quite a fan.

Behold: an uncrowded week day in February at a theme park!

We got pulled out of the crowd to participate in the special effects show, which was pretty funny, but all the better because we were given the best seats in the house to watch the rest of the show.

Here we are enjoying the studio tour

 Paul's favorite part was eating a giant donut from Lard Lad's (It had to be split 7 ways at that was more than enough donut for everyone.)
Laszlo's favorite was either the studio tour or Super Silly Fun Land. It's hard to tell with him being a generally cheerful child.
Ian's favorite was everything Harry Potter. He says he would like to live at Harry Potter World.
I'm not sure what my favorite is, but I'll tell you what it isn't: the drive home! Yay LA traffic!

Obviously not meeting the Po was not an option for my Dad.

A vespa for every kid.

We all fit on the motorcycle!

From a different visit, but I'm not going to post them all separately.
Ain't nobody got time for that!

After two days at Universal, we took it easy on Saturday and tried to sleep in. We picnicked at the Cabrillo Marine Aquarium and visited the beach. We found some shells and rocks and got our shoes wet.

Great picture of Laszlo, but I was smiling, posing, not realizing my head was
cut out of the picture.

Ian showing off the lobster shells we found on the beach.

I learned this week that my nephew Ian looks more like my sons than I do. Ian learned that Hollywood is in California. Paul finally learned Ian's name after several days of calling him "that kid." I also learned that Universal Studios will give you a great "Happy Birthday" button and write your name and age on it, but if you're too old they will forego the age part. I'm not sure what the lower limit on that is, but it is less than 69. Happy Birthday, old man!

Living SoCal: Pros and Cons

A few years ago I did a pro/con post about living in Arizona, I think California deserves the same treatment. I know it is a big state, I've not seen all of it, but this is one woman's experience in L.A.'s South Bay area.

Knott's Berry Farm

Pro: Everything you need is within 2 miles. Seriously, every store, restaurant, and entertainment type within 2 miles of your home, it makes errand running much easier.

Long Beach Harbor

Con: With having so many options, it is really hard to determine where to find good quality. There are hundreds of Mexican restaurants near us. I just want to know which ones are actually delicious and affordable. I don't have the time or money to go to every single one and find out! And online reviews are always a little suspect. Just because no one has reviewed it doesn't mean it isn't great. Just because lots of people love it doesn't mean I will. I am overwhelmed by indecision so we rarely eat out.

The beach at Miramar Park

Pro: It's not too hot and not too cold and all you need is a light jacket. In all seriousness, the area we live in doesn't often get warmer than 80 degrees, it gets into the 90's sporadically in the summer. We've had a couple hot days but it isn't ever Arizona hot. Everyone knows So Cal is warm and there isn't real winter here. It might be in the 50's sometimes, but it never gets Rocky Mountain cold. There is often a nice coastal breeze that keeps the weather feeling pleasant.

Con: No one has A/C. That might be a slight exaggeration, but most rental properties do not have air conditioning. We don't. Even though the daily temperature is usually pretty mild our house is not well insulated and it gets very warm inside. Our house was warmer than 80 degrees every day of July and August and many days in September. We had a few days around Independence Day where the temperature inside was 90 degrees. It was miserable.

Tide pools in San Pedro

Pro: There are a lot of interesting, fun things to do nearby. We are about 30 miles from Disneyland, Knott's Berry Farm, and Universal Studios, 10 miles from the city of Long Beach, and 5 miles from the ocean. There are a lot of National Parks in the state making them very reasonable road trip destinations.

My minion meets a minion at Universal Studios

Con: I've had to re-think time and distance when traveling in a big way because, spoiler alert, there is a lot of traffic here. In a small town with a non-crowded freeway, 30 miles of driving can be accomplished in about 30 minutes, give or take. Depending on which direction I'm driving and what time of day and day of the week it is, it will probably take significantly longer to get anywhere than makes any kind of earthly sense.  If we want to visit our family who live a mere 50 miles away we have to plan for about 2 hours in near stopped traffic for a significant portion of the drive. L.A. is only 15 miles away, but it might as well be a hundred. I never go there. It is the epicenter of the bad traffic, like some kind of black hole/time vortex, you come out on the other side with gray hair wondering what year it is.

The sand dunes in Death Valley National Park

Pro: Transitional Kindergarten. This is very specific to our family and might not matter to most people, but if your kid has a fall birthday that means you have a whole extra year where they are at home. You have to pay for them to go to pre-school or join a co-op neighborhood pre-school. However schools in this part of the world have TK, which is special Kindergarten for kids who missed the deadline like by a few months. And, whether transitional or otherwise, kindergarten is all day. I didn't think I'd be a fan of an all day kindergarten, but I AM. 5 hours of recess, play, reading, writing, singing, counting, and art. Paul loves it and we wouldn't have had this as an option in Utah and I never heard about anything like this in Arizona.

Con: The air quality. It is significantly worse than Southern Arizona's air. I rarely saw smoke or smog in Tucson, only when a fire was close. LA just has gross air year round.
Utah has similarly bad air because inversion! The reason I think LA's is worse is because at least the inversion happens when it is cold and there isn't any pollen floating around. Here there are allergens AND smog! It's a win for people like me with assorted respiratory issues.

Pro: I didn't think I'd care one way or another about going to the beach, but I actually love it. The kids splash and dig, I think watching the waves is relaxing, and we frequently see dolphins or sea lions. It's a cool thing that we get to do on a pretty regular basis, last summer we went to the beach at least once a week.

Con: Parking. And everything to do with cars. So little free parking at the beach. Parking at my own home is a chore. When people park in front of my house I want to slash their tires. Don't they know that is my parking spot and I have a car full of groceries and children and just MOVE ALREADY!
I've looked into the city bus. It doesn't come at the right time to take Paul to or from school, or I'd use that and sell my car. Except...
Double Con: The DMV. It is only a couple blocks away from us, but it is the worst place I have ever been. Imagine all the horrors of a normal DMV, but the line is out the door. And around the building. And that's for the people who made an appointment six weeks in advance. That appointment, from start to finish, will take 2-4 hours. If you didn't plan that far ahead, you'll wait in line for 4 hours to get a number, wait for 2 more hours for your number to be called, and then have your appointment take 4 hours. Going to the DMV again is my number two fear, after giant spiders with machine guns.

Sequoia National Park

Pro: Southern California is a true melting pot. Every religion, nationality, and lifestyle can be found here. People from all over the world live here and they brought their delicious foods and beautiful languages with them. I am beginning to think I am the only non- bilingual person in the state, and I am really okay with that.

Con: The big one you all knew was coming: Cost of living. Compared to Arizona especially, this is a seriously set back. A house is literally 800% more expensive. I am not exaggerating even a little bit. Good luck finding 2,000 sq ft for less than a million dollars. If you did, someone else would out bid you...by offering a million dollars. The real question is not "do you like living here?" it's "can you afford to live here?"
And the answer is largely no. Next time you take your family to Disneyland, look around. See all the smiling employees? (Yes, I know they're called "Cast Members," I just think that's stupid.) They aren't paid a living wage. Some of those friendly, enthusiastic, hard working people are a sneeze away from homelessness. Doesn't that make you feel all warm and fuzzy inside? Now enjoy your trip to the "Happiest place on Earth!"

Long Beach Aquarium

Neither Pro nor Con, just different: It is noticeably humid this close to the coast. In someways that is nice, it is annoying in others, I've had to adjust mentally from the assumption that bread left out for an hour will be drier than toast.

When it comes down to it, for some people the pros out weigh the cons. There are certainly people who would never want to live anywhere else. So they don't. Then there are folks who wouldn't live here if you paid them, and they all live elsewhere.

My moving around the west has taught me a couple things:

1) I hate being too hot more than being cold.

2) Most of my hobbies involve being inside.

3) I don't have Seasonal Affective Disorder.

4) I'm allergic to all nature so the pollen will

 ruin good weather for me wherever I live.

At year's end

I usually do a Christmas card blog post, but I guess this year I'm late, so call it my annual reflection post.

2018 was notable in our family for a number of reasons. We will get to file for taxes in two different states, which is exactly as exciting as it sounds, and our kids have mastered all sorts of new skills.

Paul can write him name, trace letters, and he is learning some sight words. He likes reading Captain Underpants books together and building legos. Here Paul demonstrates the train track he and Lee built while I made Christmas cookies and Laszlo napped:

Laszlo likes trains, books about trains, hats, and shoes. He has mastered the four word phrases "No, I do it!" And "Mickey Mouse Club House."

Christmas Eve day was spent out and about so we could wear out our kids.

This year we've been visiting national parks, so far King's Canyon, Sequoia, Rocky Mountain, and Death Valley have been checked off our list. In 2019 I hope to get to Joshua Tree, Yosemite, and Sequoia (again).

Christmas Eve cookie and gingerbread house decorating.

Early Christmas morning, ready to open presents.

Paul shows off the special ornament he made for us at school.

Laszlo had fun going through his stocking Christmas morning.

This year Paul started school, Lee started a new job, I joined a choir, and Laszlo learned to like people besides me. With all our busyness and change there has been one, comforting constant: Paul still thinks poop is really funny, and that makes all the difference.

Happy New Year from me and mine to you and yours! May your goals be reasonable and pursued passed February. I for one am really looking forward to once again writing the wrong year on forms, checks, and schedules.

With love,

 from the Phillips clan.

Birthdays, Holidays, and Hiking Below Sea Level.

We'll start with Halloween! It feels like so long ago, but my kids were too cute to not share:

Too busy/too lazy to carve pumpkins? Try stickers! I found these face stickers and had the kids decorate that way. They enjoyed it and the results were cute.

Our first time not doing a united family costume theme, instead we split into pairs:

Laszlo as Dobby the House Elf

Paul as Dash

The kids and I are ready to trick or treat, me as Hermione

Two very eager trick-or-treaters and Lee as Mr. Incredible

We had visitors come and stay with us, and I forgot to get my camera out. Suffice to say, it was busy and fun and we got to take them to the beach. Paul insisted on some pictures at the beach. as he always does.

Then the Birthdays! Laszlo's birthday was spent at Knott's Berry Farm. We let the kids each pick out a birthday dessert and say hi to Snoopy and Woodstock for the 30th time.

Laszlo's chosen dessert.

Paul's chosen dessert.

The kids loved their presents and playing with balloons. Paul's birthday was made special by having cousins arrive that night for several days of sleep overs. Here is Paul and his two cousins dressed in his new costumes:

I am sure it comes as a surprise to no one that there were some wildfires in November. We weren't near enough to them to have been in any danger, we were forced to change some travel plans as a result of them.

We had been planning a trip to San Francisco for months, all reservations had to be cancelled, however, because the smoke from the fire got trapped in the bay area. The air was so hazardous to breathe people were being encouraged to stay indoors, Alcatraz Island closed and refunded ferry tickets. It was a disappointment to be sure, but compared to real loss suffered by so many it is a small thing.
But we had this vacation time and we wanted to fill it with something, so I did some last minute searching for places with impeccable air quality and we settled on a rather unexpected destination: Death Valley National Park.

A hike to "Natural Bridge"

Death Valley: Lowest, Hottest, Driest. Death Valley currently holds the record for the hottest temperature ever recorded: 134 degrees F, in 1913. It is the driest place in the U.S with less than 2 inches of rainfall annually. It is also home to the lowest point in the U.S--Badwater basin boasts an elevation of 279 feet BELOW Sea Level.

That little white sign up there marks where sea level is.

The path of salt leading to miles and miles of salt flats.

salt formations on the ground

I am no stranger to deserts. I've always lived in a desert (even if people try to grow Kentucky blue grass like they live in, well, Kentucky) But this place is other worldly. Like, Tatooine. Literally, they filmed Star Wars here. Death Valley is the largest national park outside of Alaska, it is about the size of the state of New Hampshire.

Tips for visiting: Don't come in the summer, make sure you've got plenty of gas, don't come in the summer, wear sunscreen, come in the winter, drink lots of water, and don't come in the summer.
Tragically, due to the last minute nature of the trip, we forgot to bring our camera charger and the battery died. I am forced to rely on phone photos from here on out, which I hate doing when the environment around me deserves so much better.

Awesome sandstone!

Paul and Laszlo loved playing on the sand dunes. Laszlo dug with a little shovel and buried his feet, Paul liked climbing and trying to slide down the big hills.

Artist's Drive was my favorite, the photos don't capture all the color variance. Pale green, pink, lavender, orange, deep red, all in one little spot. This place has some weird geology and chemistry going on that I am not qualified to explain, but the effects speak for themselves. It's the best 8 miles of road in the whole park!

Sadly the green veins don't show very well in a photo taken at noon.

D.V.R.R.: Death Valley Rail Road

And with that we headed to Thanksgiving dinner with our Phillips and Jones family. This year we are grateful to have a home, grateful for our diverse and beautiful world, and grateful to have loved ones with whom we can share it.