I am heading to the San Jose, CA area within the next couple of weeks with my parents. We are going to see some family members that we have not seen in over 30 years! This is my first trip out to CA so I'm uber excited to go. Best thing is that I have to pay zippo for the trip. My parents covered my flight costs since I'm going as a favor to them (they need a chaperone when they travel as they don't understand airports at all). We'll be staying with family so that covers lodging. I'll just spend a bit for souvenirs to bring back to the fam.

I am also hoping to have a nice small and simple vacation to the beach at the end of July. My in-laws wanted us to go with them but honestly, the chaos of vacationing with that whole side of the family is just not mine or DH's cup of tea. They are so "not us" when it comes to how to vacation, you know what I mean? We are simple and realistic, but they want all the bells and whistles (like only staying where the kitchen has granite countertops!) So, bless DH for telling his mom that we just can't go with all 11 of them again this year. I look forward to just DH and me taking our girls ourselves to stay in some modest hotel and enjoying simple family time without the roo-rah of fancy (and stupid) details.