We had a great time as a family but overall the place that we stayed, and the city of Oceanside in general, were very trashy. We were sorta counting down the days until it was time to leave. I guess all the trips can't be the best and at least we know never to go back!
By far the worst thing about the place (besides the local bums and the fact that people were actually living there for 3-6 months), was the train that ran behind the campsite at all hours of the day.
Mila is so excited to turn four and has been counting down since the first of August. She's been to a couple of birthday parties and is so sad that she's not four yet. I keep telling her it will be her turn soon but she just can't wait.
Look how much of a big kid she looks in this video. She's still very reserved but it also coming out of her shell and loves to try new things, even if they're a little bit scary. Afterwards she's always so proud of herself.
She loves helping out in the kitchen and is actually very good with the stove, understanding it's hot and not trying to do too much. Even though every thing takes longer when she's helping it's so nice to be doing it together.
Nellie has started to become more independent, if that's even possible. The second she learned how to say "no" she wants to do everything herself and her first instinct is to say "no" even if she means yes!
Do you want to eat dinner? No.
Time for a bath. No.
Let's change your diaper. No.
Do you want me to move so you can play with that? No.
She is definitely an attention seeker and loves to be the center of attention. It's not hard to do, though, because she is cute as a button.
She loves Teletubbies and talking to you in jibberish as if you know what she's saying. This month she has started saying "hot," "ow," "down," "done" and many more.
She is still getting into anything and everything and climbing places where she doesn't belong (or even fit).
She definitely keeps me on my toes and drives me absolutely insane at times but then she will snuggles up to me and gives me kisses and then I forget why I was irritated in the first place. She is a definite daddy's girls and gets SO excited whenever he walks into the room, even if he only left two minutes ago.
We ended the month with another RV trip, this time to Santa Paula, CA, where we stayed at the Ventura KOA. This place was AMAZING. It's nestled in the Los Padres National Forest above Ventura, CA and it was SO green and lush and absolutely quiet.
After we settled in to our spot we drove down into downtown Santa Paula (population: 30k) for dinner at a local pizza place.
The campsite was pretty large but it was fairly empty for the week that we were there. One of the craziest things was the flock of peacocks that roamed wild through the area. They were obviously not scared of people but they probably weren't used to little firecrackers like Nellie chasing them around, calling them doggies, so we had to keep an eye on her.
The first day we drove about 35min up into the mountains to Ojai and stopped at Friend's Ranch for some oranges. I was really hoping that we would be able to tour the ranch but they said they only do that in the Spring. Instead we picked up some oranges and then drove back into downtown Ojai.
We went to the most amazing park there; if it weren't so far away I would literally drive there (I would even drive an hour!) to go there again. It had so much fun stuff for the girls and was very shaded (a must because it was 90 degrees while we were there).
After the park we had lunch before heading back to camp.
After nap time we spent the afternoon at the pool and then at this large jumping pillow, it was so fun!
The next day we drove about 30min into Ventura and visted the harbor, the pier and their downtown.
There was an arcade in the harbor that both Mila and Robert loved and Mila was so excited with all of the tickets she won so she could "buy" all kinds of
Glow stick movie night in the trailer:
We were actually supposed to leave on Thursday but ended up loving the place so much we stayed an extra day. The final day we mixed it up and went swimming in the morning. Mila swam about half the length of the pool by herself and is getting so confident in the water. It's so fun watching her swim.
Even Nellie loved the pool and would jump off the edge (from sitting) to Robert or I on her own.
After naptime we drove 45min into Santa Barbara for happy hour at Enterprise Fish Co. The seafood was so yummy and we made it out of there before Nellie had a complete meltdown (but not before she climbed on the table 82 times).
That night we did smores in the campfire. The girls had an amazing, and very messy, time.
Such a great trip and I can't wait to go back!
