CA Trip July 2010

We went to California for about a week in the beginning of July. Our last trip (in March) was so we could see Charles' Grandpa. This trip was so we could see his OTHER Grandpa--Grandpa Socci. It had been a little over 5 years since we saw him last. (Way too long!) Jaden was just 1 year old, and so this was Grandpa's first time meeting Kaleb and Bradley.

Here we are at Gino's. Amber also came down for a visit. We always try to coordinate with Amber since she lives all the way across the country.

One day we went on a little family hike. It was good exercise. Like Bradley's ride?


Chuck sanded down 5 or 6 little walking sticks for the grandkids before we left.


Katee Jo was riding in style. :)


Can you find Big Forrest in this picture?


Here we are at our final destination. We had a picnic lunch, but we had to keep moving the table to keep up with the shade.


Here's poor Kaleb swatting at the many many many many bugs that fed upon us. Guess who forgot to bring bug spray.


Just cuz Bryan is cute.


Michelle was just a second too late in trying to prevent Katee's extreme backwash. :)


This is the designated "timeout" spot. If you fall you have to start your time over.


Oh, just kidding. Here's Brad Man taking off on his own.


It was hot, full of bugs and stickers, and really fun carrying 6 kids back up the hill... but it was exercise. You can't knock a good workout. :)

We always have tons of fun just chilling at Chuck and Sherrie's house with the fam. I really love their backyard. They have SHADE! Why don't we have shade at our house? Oh, cuz we don't have a nice big tree like this.

Here's Jaden being a monkey in the tree. He would find all the dead little twigs he could and break them off the tree. He and Forrest Jr. loved this game.


"One little Monkey swinging in the tree..."


The Tree Swing was a new addition this visit. Here's Melanie and Bryan.


Freeze tag was hilarious. No matter what he was doing right before getting tagged, Kaleb always froze in this position.


Hmmm, do you think maybe it's time to invest in a more spacious pool?


Oh, there we go!


Katee Jo-Jo looks like such the graceful ballerina with her toes pointed.


Man, this girl is cuh-yute!


Ah. Here come the Slip-n-Slide shots.
Jaden... (workin' it!)


Kaleb... (still too nervous to actually go on his belly)


Bradley... (eventually let Charles pull him across on his booty.)


Katee-Kates... (with a little push from her Daddy... no fear!)


Bry-Bry... (he's a maniac on this thing!)


Forrest Jr.... (a little pro.)


And here come the big boys...

Chuck... (He's looking good.)

Forrest... (Man I love this guy. Almost as much as I love Michelle's laugh)

Charles (His poor chest was red for days.)

And ok, yes. I did it too. I'm only posting this so my kids remember that I'm still young and fun, dangit!

Now we're all just relaxing in the evening...


Jaden playing catch with his Great-Grandpa.


Little Forrest tearin' it up with his perfect spiral.


Sherrie at her camera post. That's pretty much what her and I do all day, everyday. :) Aaaaand Your welcome.


Time for some football! It's Socci, Socci and Socci vs. Socci, Socci and Socci. Who will win?


Run Jade, run!


Hike!



And there's always fun on the playground.

Bradley looking for a finger to hold on his way down...




A little baseball...


and some T-ball... by swinging the bat by the wrong end... lol.


Forrest being a good sport and smiling for the camera...


And this was our last night. Lots of hugs and kisses for Grandma.




Along with some entertainment.



For your viewing pleasure, we have "Little House."

And "Jesus Wants me for a Sunbeam." Watch for Bradley's bobble-head action towards the end.

And the last sleep before the 12 hour drive back.


Here's Bradley thinking he's going to sleep on my bed.


He even tries to fake that he's asleep. Here he is "snoring away."


There we go. Hmmm. Kind of a tight fit these days. This may be our last time using a playpen. :(


It was a really great trip. Always nice to see family and get all the cousins together to play. Maybe after Chuck has recuperated from this month's visitors, we can start thinking about the next trip. Heh-heh. :)

Party Like it's 1999!

When graduating from High School, my parents gave each of my sisters and I a choice for our graduation present:
-a gorgeous Hope Chest that we could keep forever and and store sentimental things inside and maybe even pass down from generation to generation.
or
-a quick, weekend senior trip with friends and no adults, and when it was over it was over.
I'm pretty sure I was the only one of my siblings to choose the fleeting option. The rest of my sisters all have nice pieces of furniture.


So here are a few pictures of that awesome senior trip. Our last real get-together before going our separate ways. We stayed at a nice hotel on the beach in Santa Monica, shopped the Promenade, went out to eat and just had so much fun being by ourselves with no curfew!

Here we are, thinking we are so cool holding the unopened drinks from the mini-bar.


Throughout the years, although we have grown apart, we at least have tried to get together around Christmas when it is most likely that the 4 of us are in town at the same time. This is Christmas of 2005. Crystal wasn't able to make it, but she is actually on the phone in the picture.


So now it's 2010, and eleven years later. Crystal (our loyal shepherd) had the idea to gather together for a kind of "senior trip" reunion. At first I didn't think it could happen with all of us being in different locations, and 7 kids between us to make arrangement for. I was very surprised it all came together. I was planning a trip to CA in July, so it was amazing that it worked out for everyone else that same weekend.


Mara got us a great deal on a posh Hotel in West Hollywood. We had 2 days to spend together and it was so much fun.


We started by visiting another friend from High School, Nathan. He's part-owner of a vintage clothes store there in W. Hollywood and he was also Crystal's date for Prom our senior year.


Then we checked into the hotel...






Went to California Pizza Kitchen for lunch...




And then Crystal got all sentimental on us and it made things really awkward.


Just kidding. She was laughing so hard that she started choking and so her eyes were all watery.

We also walked up and down Melrose where Mara and I really had to hold back on buying a "totally worth it" $3000 top. Not. That place is crazy.


We did stop at some Mexican restaurant for dinner, and then found a cute little bakery to have dessert.



I ordered a cookie with ice cream on top. This is what they brought out.


After a few minutes of awkwardly forking my food, a server came out and said, "Oh, sorry, our freezer is broke, but it's still good!" And then walked away. Gross. But you know me, never one for contention. A pushover, if you will. (Unless it has to do with my kids. Then I become a big ol' Mama bear.) So luckily I had Jessica there to straighten things out for me. :)








We had plans to go to a comedy club later that night, but when we went back to the hotel to get ready, we were all too tired. Yeah... guess we're not 17 anymore. But it was good because we got more time to catch up and also reminisce.


We busted out my old High School albums and laughed at how Crystal looks the exact same but with bangs.


As we talked about cheerleading, each of us, at our own time, busted a move that we somehow remembered. I love Mara's cheesy smile.



Jessica always remembers the most. It's crazy! I think this was the "Peter Piper" dance. I was so lost.


And someone tell me why Crystal can still do this?!


The next morning we checked out of our hotel, but not before getting one more group shot before Mara had to leave.


We went to IHOP for breakfast where we started remembering a few basketball cheers. I think this was "Traaaaaaaveling."


We had to say goodbye to Mara after that because we were going to Magic Mountain. Apparently it's a bad idea to go if you are pregnant. But just for old time's sake we busted out a Half right there in the parking lot. Yeah. We still got it. I have it on video if you don't believe me. :)


So the 3 of us went to Magic Mountain. I hadn't been there since High School, and it was crazy how many new rides there were. We were there about 9 hours and got on 6 rides: Colossus (to break us in a little), Goliath (I will never let my kids ride that one!), Scream (not bad), X2 (freaking awesome, minus the head bang I got at the end) Tatsu (totally my new favorite), and then Viper (cuz there was no line.) It was bloody hot the whole time... except for the sudden downpour we had during dinner.


It really was so much fun catching up with these girls. I love them. I never realized how lucky I was to have found such awesome friends. Here is a brief update of all of us as of July 2010:
-3 moms
-1 pregger
-7 kids (all boys)
-1 Seven-ish week old embryo
-3 weddings
-1 divorce
-1 mission
-2 elementary school teachers
-1 massage therapist
-1 undergrad student
-1 4th year medical student taking a hiatus for research and to earn a Master's
-1 future social worker
-3 in CA
-1 in UT
-1 moving to Maryland

Anyway, it was a blast. Thanks Crystal for getting us all together again, and thanks Charles for making it possible for me to go. :)