CA Family (Vacation Part 2)

Some of the best memories and moments of our trip were seeing all the family that we have in CA.  It was not only great being away as a family but also getting to spend time with my (Laura's) extended family that we don't get to see very often.  It's was special to not only see most of my extended family but also to introduce Gwendolyn to everyone.

One of my favorite visits was the day that we spent at my grandparent's house.   The health of both my grandparents has deteriorated lately and we were so delighted to be able to have the chance to go and visit them again.  We loved being able to introduce them to Gwendolyn and for Neal to get to see them. The smiles on their faces when we showed up with the kids was priceless and we could tell that our company was greatly appreciated and enjoyed.

Neal sat in the room with us all and watched the cuckoo clock for quite some time.  That clock is one of the biggest memories I have of visiting my grandparents.  It would always wake us up in the middle of the night and was always in the background of all our playtimes and movie watching when we would visit.  Neal was fascinated and overjoyed every time the bird would pop out.   

My Grandpa loved talking to the kids and my Grandma loved hearing us visit and tell her stories of what we have been doing over the last few years.  Gwendolyn wanted to sit as close to Grandma as possible and was always trying to reach out and grab her hand (or arm or anything).  My Grandma would get the biggest smile on her face each time Gwen would look at her.

It was an afternoon filled with lots of great stories, memories told about my Grandpa's old taxi driving days and about how he and Grandma met.   I will treasure our visit with them for a long time and hope that maybe we can see them again soon.

The rest of our trip was filled with visits to see other extended family and we had so much fun getting to see and catch-up with everyone.

We didn't get pictures with everyone but we sure did have fun mixing family visits with swimming, hiking, movie watching and of course Graduation!

Congrats Aunt the Bud! (Natalie)

She loves the water

Vasquez Rocks

Star Wars watching

Getting ready for the beach

A California Vacation - Part 1

At he beginning of this month we finally got to get away as a family on a much needed and anticipated family vacation.   Our destination was California and our plan for the trip was to have fun and relax with family.  It was a great trip filled with lots of family time, visiting with my (Laura's) extended family, celebrating Natalie's Graduation form College creating a family reunion with Tyler's family, and of course Disneyland!

We had a great start with a simple and easy flight cross country (even though it took all day).  The kids did great on the flight.  Gwendolyn was facinated with the TV's and so excited that she could touch the screen (something she never gets to play with at home).  During our layover in San Francisco this happened...

The only thing better then the baby napping on a long trip is having both kids nap.   The 3 hour time change was a bit of a challenge and we were so thankful that we planned to get to California a few days before all the graduation activities to allow us and the kids time to adjust.

We filled our first few days with small family trips and lots of time at "home" taking naps and getting acclimated to the time change.   One of our first activities was eating at In-N-Out.  You can't go to LA and not eat there, right?  Neal loved it, not so much because of the burger, but because he got his very own pop and a whole basket of fries.

We all loved being back at our old stomping grounds from our college years.  It was fun to be back to the place where Tyler and I met and to see some old friends and professors at the school.

We not only got to walk down memory lane but got to introduce Neal to something new that every little boy, or kid for that matter, longs to do...Go Karts!!   I'm pretty sure Tyler had just as much fun as Neal did on the go karts.  It was a great little taste of the fun that we would be having at Disneyland in the week to come...(more about Disneyland in another post).