We're so JAD!: JULY Family Vacation: California

I am so stoked that Jim is a teacher and has summertime off from work. I smell a TON of fun family adventures coming in our future. :) This year we decided to take three weeks to go visit the Packard gang. There was a BIG Packard Family Reunion (my dad and all his siblings and families) happening in Utah, so we decided we would first hit up California to visit with just my family, and then head to Utah with the rest of the gang for the reunion.
We took two days to drive out to Cali and got to stay overnight at Jim's good buddy from college, Scott Bunker, to break up the trip. (THANKS BUNKERS!) It's always good to see friends from the good ol' days. :)

The California part of our vacation was awesome. It's so much fun to just be able to hang out with family. Nowhere you need to go, nothing you need to do... just relax and have fun. And our fun included time at the beach, Legoland, BBQ & fireworks for the 4th of July, and lots and lots of pool time. :) We even managed to sneak in some dental appointments... and some fillings for Summer. Doh! Her first cavities. It was inevitable, I guess.

Okay, but here's my reality check from all the fun. We had a WAY scary experience on the 4th of July when we lost Dixie... in a crowd of several thousands of people... in the dark. The story goes like this:
On the 4th of July, we decided to go to a golf course at the Four Seasons Hotel & Resort to watch the fireworks. The hotel does their own firework display and the golf course is apparently a great place to watch them. We left plenty early to get a good spot on the course (Mom, Dad, Kristi... they've been there before and knew the ins and outs), laid out the blankets to sit on, put on glow necklaces to help keep track of munchkins (courtesy of Kristi... thanks Kris!), and then still had plenty of time to kill before dark and the fireworks show.
There were some hills (golf course sized) nearby with tons of kids playing on them and rolling down them, etc. Dixie wanted to go play, so we said that was fine. She would roll down the hill and then get up and wave to Jim, then go do it again. And then it happened.
She rolled down a big hill, which happened to go behind another hill that blocked our view of her (and vice versa). I was being distracted by our other kids and family, and I remember Jim asking me if I could see Dixie, but not really responding as I was taking a picture of Kristi's family, and not really being worried because she was good at always checking back in with us. But as the minutes went on and dusk was setting in and Jim still hadn't seen her pop up over the hill, he started getting more nervous. I started looking out over the hills and couldn't see her either. (The hills were probably about 70 yards away or so.)

My heart started beating faster as I realized it was starting to get dark and we were in a midst of thousands of people and we could not see our child. Jim and I headed over to the hills where she had been playing and started looking around. She was nowhere. Shoot.
"DIXIE! DIXIE!" No answer. Double shoot.
We went back to our group of people and recruited their help in combing the area (and remember... this is a golf course for Pete's sake. It's HUGE!) Kristi's in-laws (the Rondos) agreed to stay at our location to be a hub for communication and people to check in at, and the rest of us headed out in different directions to look for Dixie.
As I walked through the area, calling Dixie's name over and over, and staring into the masses that kept getting darker and darker, I started to have an all-out panic attack. I was praying so hard in my heart and muttering over and over "please" "please". Please let us find her. Please don't take her away from us. Please watch over her. Please guide me. Please.
I remember checking in with the group and having no news and then heading out again. By now it was actually dark. The fireworks would be starting soon and I had this sickly vision in my head of the fireworks ending and then the masses of people exiting the area and us still not having found Dixie and being left there in an empty field.
"DIXIE! DIXIE!!!" I was calling out relentlessly.

And then mercy.
"Who's name did you say?" a woman's voice asked behind me.
"Dixie," I answered... my heart too nervous to hope.
"She's with us," the woman said, and I nearly broke down on the spot. All I can remember saying is "Thank you" over and over while she told me of how Dixie had been walking around crying, calling out for Mom and Dad. This family group had seen her and brought her in to sit with them while they sent their own people out to look for Dixie's family. They had asked Dixie if she knew our phone numbers... which she did... and they had tried calling Jim's cell, which he had on him in his pocket, but he couldn't hear it ring or feel it vibrate while he was out searching. So they went out on a search for us. This woman was just walking around and listening. She said she figured we would be calling Dixie's name, so she was just listening for that. {Side note: I later found out that my mom had actually been looking right in the area where this group was located, but hadn't been calling out her name. She was just looking for Dixie's jacket and never saw her.}
I stopped by my group to let them know Dixie was found, and then I continued with this angel woman to her group where Dixie was sitting. I burst into silent tears (I didn't want her to see how scared I was) and just hugged her. The poor girl was crying and so frightened. I felt like the worst. mom. ever. But I was just so relieved to have her in my arms again.
I carried her all the way back to our group.

The fireworks were beautiful, and we oooed and ahhhhed, but really I just sat there, saying a million thank yous and prayers of gratitude that this had all ended well. I'm so thankful for that angel family that saw a child in need and didn't just think, "oh how sad", but did something about it. And they didn't just let Dixie sit with them (and give her food and comfort), but they actively went out and pursued us as well. I was actually looking in the complete opposite direction from where this group was, but because they had gone out themselves, and heard me calling, we were able to connect. I'm so thankful Heavenly Father answered my prayers and had mercy on me and my family.

And as for lessons learned? Jim and I talked about this over and over that night. 1. Make sure your kids know your phone numbers (I was so grateful Dixie did, and was proud she was able to remember them when she needed them), and 2. When your child is lost, carry your phone in your hand. I didn't even have mine with me (dumb! -although they hadn't tried to call it anyway), but this would have all ended a lot sooner had we heard the call to Jim's phone.

SO. Was that crazy enough? It was for me! I didn't even like re-living it to write it down. But I don't want to forget it either and the tender mercies that were shown to me, so that hopefully I will return the favor when I see someone else in need.

And on that note... here are some of our pictures of the actually FUN parts of our California adventures. :)

Tuckered out from the drive...