Independence weekend continued...

After spending the morning with my family, Zach and I drove the girls to Simi Valley to spend time with the Romeo family. Uncle Matt and Aunt Cherie were hosting this weekend because we were all there to celebrate Caleb's first birthday. Yeah Caleb! But for the evening of the Fourth, we ate plenty of frozen lemonade, shaved ice and funnel cake while we waited for the fireworks that were actually pretty well coordinated with the music. Sydney, who normally likes fireworks, decided to empathize with Eleanor's distaste of the booming explosives. So Zach had both girls crying in his lap until they fell asleep. Which really, if it's that loud and scary how do you fall asleep?

The following day, Barb, Allison and myself left all the kiddies with the boys while we went to see Wicked. Yes, it was fabulous. I had heard that it was excellent, but after reading the book I had my doubts. The costumes were fun, the music was great and I found Miss Galinda the most entertaining. They had only included the good parts of the book and even gave it a happy ending, so what was there not to like? Seeing a show like that makes me a little more awe struck of the talents that some people possess. Let's see what am I good at? Dancing, singing? No, but I can sometimes pull together a pretty good tasting dinner. But let's not compare, shall we. So we came home and found the boys had functioned fine, entertaining themselves with the Wii and the kids with a quick trip to the park.

Sunday was the big party for the little man. We all had fun on the farm. It was this great little family establishment with a working orchard where there were pony and tractor rides, a petting zoo and when it came to birthday time, the most delicious chocolate cupcakes with a fudge filling and smooth chocolate icing. And while the food might have been my favorite, the girls loved the pony rides. Eleanor opted out on the first ride, but after seeing Alexis, Sydney and even Caleb have a great time, she didn't pass it up again. Daddy had to go back to work. So he flew out that night. The girls and I concluded our trip on Monday with a ten hour trip back up to Carson. It doesn't really take that long, but when you stop at the park to have lunch at then stop at June Lake to wet your tired tootsies, the time adds up quickly. The girls and I logged about 35 hours of driving time altogether from the start of it all, but it was fun spending so much many special moments with all of te family.

Beginning of Summer

This summer has been a busy one. Zach was called to work in Tahoe for a month, and the girls and I couldn't just sit at the house alone all day. So we drove down south.

We picked up Aunt Paige from Las Vegas and continued down to San Diego for about five days, where Zach's parents had rented a condo a block from Imperial Beach. We were able to play with Grandma Barbie and Grandpa, Aunt Allison and Uncle Andy and Alexis. Yes, most of our time was spent at the beach either playing in the sand, the ocean or meandering the coast in search of sand dollars. It was hard work, but the girls were glad to do it.

We returned to Vegas to stay for a week. We didn't do too much outside considering it was 113 outside. Eleanor was finally able to get a hold on walking. We stayed with Grandma Nezzie and Grandpa, so she also was really able to practice her stair climb and descent. Aunt Paige was a saint during the day, being very patient playing with her younger nieces. And Uncle Travis was the hero who braved the burning temperatures after coming home from working all day to playing with them on the trampoline and swing set in the evenings. I really did a whole lot of nothing which was fabulous. And we would hear from Zach in the evenings about how much fun he was having trying to dig eight foot holes through granite. But it wouldn't be long until he joined us on the third of July.

I wanted to relive our Independence Day tradition of sleeping on the trampoline the night before. And Aunt Kristen suggested we do the parade in the morning as well. So those who were around- G&G Davis, Kristen, Paige, Travis, Zach, myself and Sydney slept in one big lump through the night on the tramp. Eleanor slept inside (lucky dog). It wasn't too bad, though I did get a little concerned when in the very early morning I literally had to dig Sydney out from under me and some blankets. She was breathing still so all was well. We all started creeping inside around 5am. That put us behind in our other festivities, but once I started making some real racket in the kitchen getting breakfast started we were on a roll again. Derik and Zach raised the flag while Travis played the national anthem with his trumpet. Then Travis and Derik lit thirteen fire crackers commemorating the thirteen colonies, which was a down-sized replacement of what my dad used to do with homemade bombs. After saying the pledge, led by Paige, we decorated or modes of transportation for the parade. Great-grandma Knell was our Grand Marshall, riding in style on the back of Derik's truck. The rest of us rode bike's, wagons or walked the block around the neighborhood. We had three strangers on bikes join our little parade, most onlookers would honk or wave. I think Sydeny would have fallen asleep had it lasted much longer. She was still recovering from a late night. But when all was said and done, it was a great way to start the day.

Disney World

We had to pull to the side of the road for the picture of the Mickey transmission line. But that was the one picture Zach brought in to work to show the boys.

Sydney played hard all day until we took her to Small World. And can you really blame her for taking a snooze then?

We almost didn't get this picture because Zach was taking too long laughing at how frightened Eleanor was of Minnie.

A late update of Disney World. Sydney loved it all- the rides, the characters, the ice cream stands every fifty feet. Eleanor was a trooper. It only took her a day to adjust to the idea she wasn't going to be laid in a comfortable bed for nap and that the stroller would have to suffice. She like Sydney had fun on the rides and loved the frozen lemonade, but the characters she did not like at all. We all had a great time. Zach was even able to ride the coasters while the girls and I caught a paprade or two. Overall, the entire FL vacation was a huge success.