Last Wednesday my brother and his family flew in for a visit. They are due to leave here in about 1 hour. I often wait until my extremely intelligent and witty sister-in-law blogs about the trip to save me the trouble. But I thought I would try to be impressive and get a very big head start!
In the last six days my children and their cousins have done more swimming than we have accomplished the entire summer. Sara, Zac, and Andrew (the big kids) took over the big pool while Thomas and Claire turned the spa into a baby pool. It was fabulous! Only a few times did we have to pry the "big kids" out of the spa to restore calm and peace. Luke happily climbed, fell, ate sand, fell, and played every day. Thankfully there were many other adults to keep an eye on that busy baby!
Friday we woke up early, put on our Be Good To People shirts and traveled to Sea World. It was so worth the early wake up call and the 2 hour drive to watch the looks of awe and joy on our kid's faces. Highlights on that trip were the water rides with wet shivering kids who could care less, Eric and Sara sitting 2 rows away from Shamu and getting completely drenched, a very witty Sea Lion show, Shamu necklaces for the kids, and Luke pointing and smiling at the Orca whales sailing out of the water.
Saturday was RoRo's 70th birthday. We had a yummy lunch at P.F. Changs, splashed the kids in the fountain at Victoria Gardens, drove 30 minutes to Yogurtland and came home for more swimming. After dinner we all gathered around to sing and celebrate RoRo. She was pretty excited when she opened up her present to find an ipad. Happy Birthday mom!
Sunday, after more swimming, Eric and I got to spend an evening out with Mark and Susan!! Kid. Free. We saw a movie then devoured a teppan dinner. So fun! I am officially declaring this tradition since we have now accomplished this task three times the last three visits. Well done us!
Monday we boarded a train (Butch's idea! I know. Shocking. Even to him!)to Olvera Street and enjoyed lunch and some shopping. Actually we browsed while slapping hands and voicing threats to the children who wanted to buy everything within reach. I am so glad we didn't come home with a mini guitar! Oh, and we had a celebrity encounter. Ed Begley, Jr. Cool!
Today the swimming stopped. Much to the disappointment of my children. They are currently asking to go swim tonight. I think we may give Butch and RoRo a well deserved break from the chaos. I'm sure as we speak Butch is caressing his spa and balancing chemicals that were surely thrown way off this weekend. Worth every minute!
P.S. Thank you my devoted readers that I didn't know existed. Stalk me anytime! ;)
