From my many instagram/blog posts, you may have guessed that we took a Gianino family vacation to Disneyworld. It was an awesome trip. Since we have been three years in a row, there has come to be a familiarity in the flow of the trip – sprinkled in with new unexpected magic. I love this tradition, and am thankful for the opportunity to spend vacation time together. Vacation time has a whole different rhythm, and it’s nice when we get to share it.
Everything was going well… until the last night when we took these pictures. Each year I take a few with the boys on the swing. Last year they jumped off and I got some good action photos. This year I asked if they were going to jump again. I gave it a one…. two…. three! And off they went. Everyone landed safely, but Brendan forgot to move out of the way, and the swing came back and bumped him in the head. I ran over and scooped up my boy. He was crying a little, but nothing out of the ordinary. As I held him in my arms, I heard one of the cousins say, “His head is bleeding!”. I reached up toward his head, and when I pulled my hand back it was covered in blood. First of all, he’s fine. Don’t take my lack of blogging as a sign of anything more serious. We were in the best possible place for this type of disaster – there were lifeguards and other trained folks at the ready to help us. And I say, “us” because Mommy started to get woozy. I passed the boy to more steady arms and tried very hard to get myself under control. All I could think about was making sure he was okay. So I stood back up proclaiming to my sister and mother-in-law who stayed back to help me that I was fine as I staggered back toward my son. As I walked my vision started narrowing and sounds got muffled and far away. I was going down. They sat me down somewhere and kept telling me Brendan was fine. Finally Grandma had the good idea to put Brendan in my arms. He told me himself that he was fine. But his red stained hair was not very reassuring. He wasn’t being rushed to the hospital, so I gradually got myself under control and we made it to our last dinner in time for the reservation. When all was said and done, it was a tiny little cut on his head. It healed within a week, and I learned that heads bleed profusely. I am not squeemish when it comes to blood. Not if it happens to be me who is bleeding, or someone on TV – but if it’s someone I love, and apparently particularly my son, I’m not such a hero. The family is getting a lot of mileage out of my weakness. I’m hoping I won’t have to practice or be tested too many times.
Okay, moving on.
We were long overdue for a Casler family vacation. We waffled between Disneyland and “the beach”, and finally we came up with the answer: Santa Cruz. It’s got beach, it’s got boardwalk, it’s got Grandma’s very favorite ice cream and my favorite bagel place. It’s only a 36 minute drive from Grandma and Grandpa’s house, but man – it feels like a world away. Rob had been there recently for a work conference (poor baby…) so he had a great hotel recommendation. We could hear the waves from our room (Grandpa’s very favorite), there was a nice heated pool (Santa Cruz waters are not exactly Hawaii waters…) and we had adjoining rooms so Brendan could wake Grandma and Grandpa up at the crack of dawn each morning. We were only there for a weekend, but there were so many highlights.
The beach: nobody in my family can get enough.
Daddy took a surf lesson. A Christmas present from last year… I don’t necessarily want to surf, but I’d like to be a surf Wife/Mother. I’m on my way. Both boys are pretty impressive.
That last man standing on the wave? That’s Daddy.
And then there was ice cream. Marianne’s Ice Cream in Santa Cruz has been around over 50 years. And now I know why. Grandma has done her best to keep this place in business and I plan on doing my part as well.
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We also went to the boardwalk. We had a nice view of the rides from our hotel room, but Brendan was even more excited about the beach. Until we got to the boardwalk… Of course he loved it. The arcade, the candy store (BEST salt water taffy!), the rides. And after Daddy, Brendan and I took a ride on the Pirate Ship, Grandma and Grandpa decided they needed a turn. Rob wasn’t so sure – but I was. Grandma in particular is a roller coaster junkie. We got to take up an entire row, and it’s one of the highlights of the trip for me.
Clearly we hadn’t packed in enough fun, so we also hit a “pick your own apples” orchard on the way home. My son is a farmer. That deserves a post of it’s own, so I’ll just leave it at that for now. But man, did we get some apples.
That is until some hoodlum decided to go into the NOT RIPE roped off section!! There’s one in every family…
I love family vacations. The only bummer is when they’re over and you realize you have to wait a looooong time until the next one. I also realize I miss writing about our adventures. I hope to be back before too long. But for now, good night!
Mom: more pics here! Scroll to the bottom.