Palifornia

Day 23 - Thursday, July 26

Paul and Reuben sojourned to Arizona on Wednesday and Thursday.  Paul met with college friends and pastors and talked turkey.  Reuben was thrilled to go on a trip with Dad, just like Peter got to go on a trip to Turkey with Dad last fall.  In Reuben's five-year-old mind, Arizona is just as far as Turkey.  They had a fabulous time.  And so did I.  Parenting just two kids was ridiculously refreshing.  It didn't make sense at how easy it was and how little discipline needed administering.  Thank you to my sweet man for suggesting Reuben join him.

Peter, Charlie, and I did not do anything photo worthy this day.  Mailed some postcards, shopped for groceries, and swam I think.  Oo, and read a ton in our history book.  Because we like it.


Day 24 - Friday, July 27

Another full day in Orange County meeting with friends and pastors.

 Flying kites in downtown Long Beach as if that was a normal thing to do.

 My mom gave us these kites at the beginning of our trip and we've toted them about with us

just waiting to happen upon an open space and some wind.

 We found it on this small patch of grass surrounded by tall buildings.

 Reuben loved it.

I loved watching him run and run.

My true selfish thoughts were,

"Oh yeah, he's going to sleep well tonight.

Run, Reuben, Run."

 Later, we met with a college friend here.

Know this place?

It's our college campus.

Where Paul and I first met fifteen years ago next month.

Did you know I met his parents before I met him?

At a dinner for freshmen parents.

As a part of the orientation/welcome team, I went to this dinner and unknowingly sat next to his parents.

I met Paul another day in the cafeteria and when he said he was from Missouri I remembered that I had dinner with a couple from Missouri and they ended up being his parents, of course.

I showed Peter where the table was set up from that dinner.

He didn't care.

Paul went into the school library, found this Francis of Assisi book, and took its picture.

It changed his life back in 1997.

He went a little Francis crazy.
But I still managed to fall in love with him.

Day 25 - Saturday, July 28

We drove an hour and a half to take Paul to the airport, then drove an hour and a half back home.  The opposite of thrilling.  We were sad to see him go.  But, you know, one can't just stay in California forever.  Except maybe.

That evening my brother's family came over to swim and eat and be.  I don't have photos because they would look just like previous pictures of us eating, swimming, and being together.

But I did find these pictures on my camera.  And I'm guessing Peter would be thrilled to share them with you.

 This is a Lego Hero Factory Somethingorother

 And another one.

 And my semi-professional opinion is that this is a combo of the two.

 Mm, hmm

Thank you for watching.

Nalifornia

Day 21 -Tuesday, July 24

So I've gotten lost in watching the Olympics and have traded my blogging time for amazing feats of strength and ability time.  In which I watch and wish my body could such fantastic things.  Those syncronized divers... I can't get over how amazing they are.

So here's a brief recap of early last week...

Taco Tuesday at Rubios that we took to the beach.

Charlie, meet the fish taco.

Peter declared his love for them and I just remembered that I told him we go relive Taco Tuesday this week.
Like, tomorrow.

Ah.

Forgot to unzoom again.

Ah, I miss him.

Paul returned to our Eastern time zone a few days ago.

Here he is again.

I know they're all very similar pictures, but I don't want to delete him, you know?

Day 22 Wed, July 25

To a special park with Nicole, Brody, and Hallee where we met up with Nicole's brother and family.

Bro and Char getting into The Zone after playing at the park together.

A day at the park = success

Now back to men's gymnastics...  They're so strong.

Malifornia

Day 20 - Monday, July 23

Legoland!

We are so thankful for Rena's generosity in sharing her free Legoland passes with us.  We got to go to all three Legoland parks.  It was a wonderful, easy going day.

Reuben was old enough to drive a car...

Peter was old enough to drive a car...

And Charlie was old enough to sit in a stationary car.

Which was plenty thrilling for him.

Five is kind of an awkward number of people to go to a theme park.

You know, it's usually two to a seat and adults need to pair up with the children.

But, at Legoland it was perfect.

Peter was tall enough to ride by himself...

And then Paul and I could partner up with a Reuben...

...or a Charlie.

Cars, helicopters, planes, and now boats.

Charlie was barely tall enough to ride.

As in, we had to help him stand up straight under the height bar to convince the high school worker that Charlie was indeed 34 inches tall.

Peter and Reuben got to ride this one without us.

I originally got on this water-splashed boat,

but then I saw that they could ride alone, so I hopped off.

It was too late.  The seat of my pants was already wet.

But it could have been worse.

Here's Paul aiming a water gun at them.

Can you see them?

It wasn't hot enough to be comfortably wet, in my book.

 I need at least 85 degrees and no wind.

Lego Darth

Thanks to Granny for the stroller that allowed Charlie to sleep about two hours.

Charlie woke up just in time to go on this laser shooting ride.

Peter reported that Charlie hit 60 targets.

Peter hit over 500.

Funny guys.

Here's the water park.

It was cute and fun.

But still too cold for Paul and I to get in.

The boys were too excited to care.

Back to the main park for some brotherly team work.

Peter was disappointed that Reuben didn't want to go all the way to the top.

He looks a bit concerned here.

Then to the aquarium, which seemed a little random to have at Legoland.

But it was nice.

They had a great big tank with sharks and rays that was super neat.

Does a day at Legoland count as a school day?

Absolutely.

Science, PE, geography, art, driver's ed.

And there was that show about fire safety...

"You put the wet stuff on the hot stuff!"

The last attraction we participated in was a 4-D movie.

Thus the glasses.

Splendid day.  Not worth $400.

But if you know someone who knows someone,

totally worth it.

Lalifornia

Day 18 - Saturday, July 21

My parents hosted a grand extended family gathering, of which I have no pictures because I was busy making gimbop and talking with people.

But I do have a few shots from the preparty party at the pool with David's family.

 

 My one-year-old niece, Hallee, who just discovered walking,

kept walking into a misting fountain that she didn't notice until she was in it

and then she didn't know how to get out of it,

as water sprayed up her nose.

 I'm sad to say that we chuckled at her calamity.

 Reuben just has a lot of fun.

 Paul, my Dad, and my brother David

Charlie saw my Mom leaning against this wall

so he went over to lean too.

This must have been post party.

We stayed the night there, then went to church with them

and hung out together in the afternoon.

Family time.

It's why we're here.

Kalifornia

Day 17 some more - Thursday, July 19

After breakfast in Anaheim and lunch in Newport Beach, we had dinner in Laguna Beach.

Our main course was an ice cream bar.

Orange juice, seaweed, kettle chips, and bananas were served as secondary courses.

We stopped by Whole Foods on our way and everyone picked something.

It was fun and delicious.

The tide was out so we got to explore the tide pools.

This is me elegantly climbing on poky rocks with 22 pounds of extraness on my hip.

I did not fall down.

Self portrait by Paul.

Active learning by the rest of us.

We felt happy.

And Peter gets a sunburn on his lower back just about everyday.

You've probably been yearning to see a crab hiding behind an anenome.

If only Paul had been in this shot.

Preparing for my Olympic Gold dismount.

It hurt my foot,

thus I will be unable to compete in this year's Games.

Here's the seaweed I mentioned.

We're all fans.

I think this little squat is cute.

Very Asian.

And he's balancing atop a rock.

Charlie's been very brave by allowing the waves to rush over his feet.

So happy at the beach.

Although, he has declared that he is ready to return home to his stuffed dragon and his money.

Oops, a little too zoomed in.

But what nice teeth.

Here we are,

reliving the old days.

Running away from those scary waves.

Drying off to go home.

So there.

Our glorious day in Laguna Beach.

Not at the Main Beach.

That's way too public and crowded.

But my Great Aunt Phyllis was proposed to by her beau there.

His name was Paul too.

Somehow, back in the day, we found this little cove

and we like its secret, cozy ways.