Oceanside

Oceanside

What is all of this babbling? I think I should edit more but I thought that you might like the “right now” feeling of the passages I tried to write while I was still on vacation. I have just decided that I should never try to blog when I am at the end of a vacation. If you notice I am a bit sad in the below passages, in fact I think I state that in the first line. I kept trying to muster some good writing and happy feelings about the vacation that I was still enjoying but really I was just thinking about the fact that it was almost over.

“Well we are almost done with our family vacation and it makes me kind of sad. We have had such a nice time relaxing and going to the beach and now everyone is talking about packing up. I just don’t like that part of the vacation. I want to keep the fun and  party feeling that was happening to continue right until we throw everything back into our bags and fly out the door.

Aunt Pam taught Allie how to say “ahhhhhhh …” after taking a big long drink.

Babar (Barbara) went to Sea World with us and played with all of the cousins.

Jgdklbghbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbf n rn n n rf (Allison had a few things to say here. She is having a great time too!)

Tuesday - Arrival and Pot Luck.

Wednesday – Beach Day

Thursday – Sea World

Friday – Blogging, shopping, beach day, kite making!!!

Saturday – Leaving

I have tried to get this blog going but people keep coming and going, coming and going. It is really nice though because as I have mentioned I just don’t want to end the vacation. These gatherings just never last long enough. I thought it would help if I set up a list of days and what we did on those days but it just seemed so paltry. There are piles of homemade muffins, used glow bracelets and this week’s newspapers lying around the large farmhouse table, a testament to the fun we already enjoyed.

The boys are making kites! Uncle Tom brought blank white kites and very large sharpies. Gabriel has already broken out the green and made a MoneyMan!”

What is the point that I want to make on this blog? I love travel, vacations and family. If all three of those things come together then my world is pretty much exploding in rainbows and fairy dust. That was my week in Oceanside, imagine the meadow in Legend when Princess Lili and Jack meet the unicorns and you will understand the way I felt all week with my family. My Babykins was surrounded by cousins, aunts & uncles and a whole lot of Grandmas.  She enjoyed every minute of it. Twenty-one family members were able to spend three days frolicking in the sun and sand: Grandma Jean, Grandpa Bud, Jean, Mike, Yasuko, Tom, Pam, Sarah, Rhonda, John, Barbara, Sally, Katie, Julie, Robert, Gabriel, Xander, Emi, Terry, Allison, and me. Aunt GaGa, are you out there? Allie continues to find the SeaWorld picture and asks for GaGa, she is pointing to you Julie in the picture. On my phone when the slideshow scrolls through the vacation pictures she points and points and raises her eyebrows. A few days after we came home I took Allie to my Mom’s house before we went out to dinner and she cried when we started to walk out the door, she thought we were leaving and not just going to a restaurant. She liked the coming and goings just as much as I did. It is so great to spend time with everyone and as Karen Ashcraft used to say “We’re making memories!” I just love that.

When we got home Terry and I started reminiscing, kind of like the “moment of potential” but at the other end of fun, and he really enjoyed having access to all kinds of water activities. Spending almost an entire day boogie boarding with Xander and Gabriel was a highlight; he usually has to do that alone. Julie and I were very happy to have some time out in the salty blue Pacific with Barbara, Sally, Katie and Sarah while the babies splashed around with all of the rocks. Let’s just take a couple of moments to lament the amazing amount of  rocks littering the entire beach; poor Katie, her legs got into a fight with a some of them and sadly the rocks won. But good show Katie’s legs! I think it was some of the best beach time I have ever had because instead of packing everything back up into the car to get home it was just a quick walk to the condo and a shower.

The weather was just wonderful, breezy and cool with the sun peeking in and out of hazy summer clouds. Along with the water activities, there was shopping along Main Street, eating at Harbor Fish and Chips and drives along the coast to fill our few days with fun. There was a family Bonfire and Weenie Roast and a few of us went to Sea World. We watched the dolphins jump and swim with high diving actors dressed as birds and laughed as the Seals danced with the Stars.  We decorated kites, made dog tag necklaces and enjoyed homemade breakfasts lovingly prepared by Grandma Jean. One morning Tom, Sarah, Mom and I went to a yoga class at Pier View Yoga, the studio was located on the second floor and had impressive bay windows looking out toward the pier. The sea breeze blowing through the open windows brought the raucous calls of the seagulls and a salty tang to the air.

It was a magical week for me and hopefully for everyone else. When we got home Julie posted on Facebook a gorgeous picture of the view from her room stating “Missing vacation and everyone that went. Had such a great time.” and that pretty much sums it up. It was a beautiful place, a relaxing and enjoyable time with some really great people.

Enjoy yourselves. Enjoy your family. Enjoy magic filled valleys with unicorns!  

 

Idaho

Idaho

Our first trip to Idaho and it was a success! It was a whirlwind trip over four days driving from Garden Grove California to Jerome and Wendell Idaho. Allison was a trooper, handling the 13 hour drive with only a few frustrated outbursts.



We stopped at the McDonald's in Wells NV to take a break from driving and Allie had her first Happy Meal!



Terry, Allie and I went to Wendell Idaho for the Memorial of Terry’s Papa. It was a beautiful military ceremony performed gravesite at the Wendell Cemetery. There are events in our lives where ritual can cement the moment in time and memory, this was one of them. Each funeral or memorial I have attended has been just a little bit different, usually depending on the person whose life we were remembering. This memorial was no different brothers and sisters reminisced about the child he had been and friends spoke about the man he was, then the military rituals pulled the whole thing together showing the citizen that he was.  It was a beautiful sunny day as we said goodbye.

After the service we all headed to The Farm, an ancestral farm that has been passed down through the years from Terry’s Great Grandparents. The house is quaint with all of the charm that a farm can produce. There is a guest house that appropriately named the Cozy Cottage, an outdoor patio complete with a hanging bed and antique farm equipment found in the fields surrounding the house tacked up on the walls. Hamburgers were grilled and Iced Tea was made, we all sat around picnic tables’ setup in the front yard underneath shady tall trees.  Kids ran around chased by small happy dogs. There was a tire swing set up and all of the kids had turns flying through the air. Allie loved it!

The next day we all went to a local park set in the middle of corn fields and cow pastures, very different from the parks at home set in between houses and freeways. There we had another picnic with fresh fruit, meatballs and ambrosia salad. I just love ambrosia salad! The park was perfect for flying kites, just enough wind to keep them up but not too much to blow all the food away. A Pirate plane kite, Red Baron kite, and a Bomber kite flew through the air randomly attacking one another. As the food was getting put away the family genealogies came out, these volumes hold family histories going back hundreds of years. So many people and all of them connected, all of them family. As the afternoon wound down dogs and babies got tired and we all quietly slipped away, to homes and hotels.

After a few naps Terry and his cousins decided that they wanted to see a little bit more of the area, so three cars caravanned to the Shoshone Falls in Twin Falls ID, it is an impressive mass of water falling 245 feet over a rim 1000 feet wide. The viewing area for the falls faces west and we arrived in late afternoon. The sun was winking at us over the falls, it was a breathtaking vista.

Ending a great weekend with new family ties we slipped way early in the morning to start the long drive home. We had a wonderful time and hope to do it again soon.

Enjoy all the rituals and natural wonder around you … Right Now!