Two nights with Logan and Lucas

I flew up to the Santa Cruz area for a day, then drove back to Chula Vista (500 miles) on Thursday with my daughter and her two sons, who will all stay with us for Christmas. I'll do the reverse after Christmas - drive up and fly back.

I flew to San Jose on Wednesday, getting in just after 11. My daughter, Lori, and her son Lucas, age 4, picked me up and we drove to the Santa Cruz area and picked up her 2-year old son, Logan, at his pre-school. We stopped to get lunch, and then drove to their home in the woods. The boys had swimming lessons after their naps, and we came back for dinner, playtime and bedtime. I got to put Logan to sleep, and read books and told three stories (he loves dinosaur stories and family stories) to Lucas before bedtime.

On Thursday, Lori had things to do in the morning - visit friends to exchange gifts, go to the store, stop at the school, have lunch, pack the car, etc. The four of us, with Annie the Aussie cattleherder aboard, left at about 1 PM. We stopped for a break in Paso Robles, and in Santa Maria, and ended up in Santa Barbara for dinner. While I walked the dog, Lori and the boys tried to find a fast-food restaurant for dinner. We ended up at a sit-down Chinese place, and ate, but it wasn't wonderful and the boys were antsy - Logan spilled his drink and needed a clothes change. We left there and drove to Chula Vista, stopping in Santa Monica and Long Beach for breaks. We got to Chula Vista at about 11:30 PM.

Today, the boys got up earlier than their mom, so I got them breakfast and entertained them until about 9:30. We took Annie for a walk, played tag in the yard, and had lunch before naptime. I slept for two hours, but Lucas didn't sleep at all. After naps, they played in the house, we went for another walk, played ball in the back yard, and watched videos. Logan bangs on his drum and sings his "mommy" song. Lucas runs and jumps everywhere. We forgot to kid-proof the house before they came, so they got into the M&M canister, the candy bowl, and found the pens and pencils before we could put them up. After dinner, their mom went out with friends, so I put Logan to bed at about 8 PM and Linda put Lucas down at 8:30. Hopefully, they'll sleep the night.

I fear that I picked up a cold over the last weekend, so I've been fighting fatigue, headaches, snuffy nose and coughs for three days. I hate when that happens!