January Volleyball

 Benjamin’s team had another tournament that I could go to so we turned this one into a girls trip. Emma and my mom came with and we went nonstop. 

First off was shopping at the outlets in Barstow. We made out great with some awesome deals. Then to skip out on some traffic we stopped to go see a movie. We went to the new mean girls and walked out. I had no idea it was a musical and it was horrible. I’ve never walked out of a movie before and still can’t believe how bad it was. 

Before the first day of games we went shopping at some wholesale stores and oh my the deals we found. We had giant bags and were so excited that we kept going. Which was a lot since we were in downtown LA by skid row. We got into it though and hit up those street vendors. Still can’t believe the deals we got! We all made out with amazing scores and had the best time. 

Volleyball till late at night. We surprised Benjamin he had no idea my mom was coming to watch him too. It was wonderful. I was only able to make it to two tournaments because they were all in different states so it was so fun having more supporters for him. He has grown so much and is getting so talented. Can’t wait to keep watching him. Emma was so excited she saw the actress Peyton Elizabeth Lee who was the star in a few of her own Disney shows. Peyton was a doll and so kind chatting with Emma and taking a picture.

We went to Newport Beach and got to go to our favorite farmers market and donut shop. We went down to the water and could have stayed all day, but didn’t have near enough time. We headed to Downtown Disney where I also wish we would have had more time and actually in the parks lol. I’ll take what I can get though. We turned our Disney walks on and got our favorite treats and shopping. Emma scored and got herself a Messi Jersey which put her on cloud 9! Love seeing her happy face. 

For how many times Benjamin has been in California he has not been to the beach once this season. I gave him the choice to head home or go to the beach and the beach it was. We went to Venice beach which was the closest. The kids all got in and swam. The weather was pretty nice for January. I wasn’t even cold watching just enjoying the sun and sand. Emma was on fire finding all the most amazing seashells. She found full connected shells and three full sand dollars. Which is perfect since grandma got her a sand dollar necklace as a momentum for the trip. The kids all wanted to stay longer, but school and work the next day so we ended our trip in California traffic heading home. 

I’m so grateful for the trip and time spent bonding and laughing with Emma and my mom. We did not sit down for a single meal. We went hard from 7 am to midnight every day. Thank you to our awesome Uncle Richard and Aunt Sheryl for letting us crash at their home. Can’t wait for next time.