Cali Trip 2007

I think we did more this week in California than we have in the last 4 years worth of vacations we've taken! It was such a blast and we can't wait for next year now that we are making it an annual trip! We took so many pictures that it is impossible to put all of them up but I will try to put the best ones up keeping in mind the family ones for Mom & Dad to see! To sort of recap our week, we arrived Sunday evening and Gloria had salad and sandwiches waiting for us. We couldn't believe how perfect the weather was in San Diego! Warm (but not too hot) during the day with zero humidity and cool at night ... every day it was like this!

Anyway, starting on Monday we went to the Naval Station in San Diego and toured the Midway Aircraft Carrier which Ramon particularly enjoyed. We took some fun pictures and really enjoyed our time in the city. That night, we hung out at my brother Scott's house with his wife Ruth and their 3 kids. Their youngest son, Thomas, is one day younger than Chase so it was so fun to see them together and take pictures! Not to mention Lauren, 5 & Emmi, almost 3 are absolute dolls! We loved hanging out and talking and laughing all night!

Tuesday we went to the San Diego Zoo and despite the fact that it was the hottest day of the week (almost in the 90's!), Chase did very well and we got to see almost everything at the zoo which is quite an accomplishment considering the size of this place! Unless you take the bus, it would take most people a day to see 1/2 the animals, its so big!

Wednesday Gloria watched Chase for us while we enjoyed a day at Universal Studios Hollywood. We took the studio tour where you get to see all the Hollywood sets for different movies and TV shows. We even went down Wisteria Lane for all you Desperate Housewives fans! I loved it! There was also the set from War of the Worlds left up of the Boeing jet that crashed in the neighborhood scene ... it was amazing! Why I didn't manage pictures of those I don't know. I think we took video of that instead. Anyway, we rode The Mummy Ride 3 times and Jurassic park twice. The park was not crowded at all and we took advantage! It was such a fun day!

Thursday we drove up to L.A. and visited The Walk of Fame in Hollywood where I of course had to get a picture next to Britney Spears’ star and then we headed over to Beverly Hills and walked down Rodeo Drive. I found an alligator bag at Coach that I absolutely loved then looked at the price tag and it was $20,000! Only on Rodeo Drive! It was so fun to "pretend" shop though. That evening we had dinner at Walt & Shellie's house with Grandpa Don & Grandma Myrna. It was great to see them.

Friday was more relaxed after our week of craziness. We went to the beach for a little while but it was a little too chilly so we headed back to the hotel and caught some rays by the pool. Chase enjoyed his little floatie in the pool and even fell aslep in the shade next to Dad while we laid out! After showering and getting ready we headed back over to Scott & Ruth's and enjoyed some yummy Chicken Thai Noodles that Ruth made and played Yahtzee and watched Nacho Libre (my new favorite movie) and stayed over there until 2 a.m.

Saturday we had lunch with Gloria and then the girls (Gloria, her sister Deb and Deb's daughter Kaitlyn) went to some thrift stores and hung around downtown Escondido while Ramon watched Chase for me! That night Deb made meatloaf and mashed potatoes (one of Ramon's favorite meals) and we celebrated Mother's Day and exchanged gifts and ate cake before leaving early Sunday morning to come home! We really had so much fun and we can't wait 'til next year!