California

We just got home last night from our big 8 day trip to CA. Lots of our family is there and we both grew up there so we never have a shortage of things to do while we're in town.

We flew in Saturday morning - discovering that Lexi gets air sick - and mostly just hung out in Tracy. We ran some quick errands and laid low at the Riddle's. Allen's Aunt Camille, Uncle Martin and Cousin Jenny were in town from Utah so we got to visit with them a bit before they made their way over to Brentwood to visit some other family. Brent and Laura came over with the kids and everyone played. Laura made a super cute church packet for her girls and gave Lexi her own. It has animals, colors and is all laminated so it's durable. It comes in a zip pack and uses Velcro to attach the parts. Lexi loves it. They also got her a beautiful church dress. I honestly can't remember what we did that evening....so we'll just move on.

Grandma and Poppa Riddle with Lexi

Sunday we went to church as usual. Lexi did pretty well. She played in nursery for the normal time and, as far as we know, did great. After church, we took naps and then went to Sacramento to visit Craig, Rachel and Nolan. We'd never been to their house before so it was great to see them in their element. Rachel made a great dinner and Lexi terrorized the place. Nolan is super cool and very happy. They have a turtle that comes to the door for snacks and Lexi got a kick out of him. After that, we went over to Rachel's parents home and had Nolan's one year birthday party. Brent, Laura and the kids and Robert and LaNell came too. The party was very cute. Rachel is very gifted in the area of creative works and with kids so it went smashingly. We took off around 7:30 p.m., got home at 8:30 p.m. and Lexi played in the yard for a while. We went to bed around 10 or so. Thank goodness Lexi sleeps like a champ most of the time so we all got a good night's rest.

Monday we spent the day with Brent and Laura and the kids at their place. They moved into a really cute house just down the street from the Riddle's. They made breakfast and then the kids played outside. They have their trampoline up and a swing set in the backyard. Everyone had a blast jumping and swinging. Laura's kids are pros, but poor Lexi just hasn't mastered the jumping idea just yet. Hannah was so cute with her and tried to teach her Ring Around the Roses, but Lexi kept skipping ahead to the "we all fall down" part and pulling Hannah over. Hannah also read to Lexi and taught her how to play with some of the toys. For 3 1/2, she is a fantastic teacher and friend. Because we knew we would be running the whole week, they were cool with just taking it easy. I had a hair appointment at 11 and Brent, Allen, Dani and Hannah went down to Brent's new Medical Supply location to check it out. I got done and met them to get lunch worked out. We went back to their place, lazed around, ate and let the kids nap. Laura had mentioned going out for dinner and had the brilliant idea to get babysitters for the kids. LaNell agreed to watch Lexi and Laura found someone for hers so we went to Texas Roadhouse and had steak. We went back to the house and hung out till about 10. While watching 4 kids is not "relaxing", it was a pretty laid back day and we all had a great time.

Hannah on the trampoline

Tuesday, we went to Concord to see my Dad and Grandpa. They have a nice yard with lots of trees, berries, flowers, birds and some squirrels. Lexi loved picking tangerines and throwing them down the hill. She gives high-5's to Grandpa V. really well and it makes both of them smile a lot. He's 94 and just starting to feel his age, though, so we're really grateful for each visit. Lexi helped Dad water some plants and pick plumbs. We went to lunch at Applebees and then to the park. We went to the same park last year but it was 102 degrees then so it was a quick visit. This year the weather was awesome so we played a lot more. There is a big lake with ducks and geese, too. We walked around and a goose swam right up to Lexi looking for some snacks. We went over to a beautiful rose garden that is at the park. Lexi loved pointing out the various colors and playing in the small fountain with running water. We went home where Lexi took a great nap and I snoozed while Allen and Dad yelled politics. We also learned that Lexi gets car sick, too. We went straight to Jenny and Jeremy Silcox's from there where we had dinner, the kids played and we hung out. We got home at around 10:45 or so.

Grandpa V. watering with Lexi

Rose Gardens at park

We went up to Rio Vista on Wednesday to visit LuAnn and her family. Gavin is already 3 months old and was very happy while we were there. Dallas played with Lexi and taught her how to ride the scooter outside. Terry made lunch and we got to talk for a bit. Lexi had a few melt downs and had started asking for us not to put her back in the car. Between Sunday and Wednesday, we had already spent about 6 hours driving and she was getting tired of that routine. Fortunately, LuAnn has had a 2 year old and was patient with Lexi's outbursts. We decided to stay for a 1/2 day since Lexi was tapped out, I was hitting my travel wall and they had just gotten home from a long vacation to Michigan. We got home and Allen let me take a nap while he and Lexi played. That night, we played an incredibly long game of Settles of Catain and hit the hay about midnight.

Thursday Allen, Brent, Craig and Robert went to Point Reyes. Allen loves to hike and backpack and as you all know, our efforts to get into the wilderness have been less than successful. Besides, I always tell him if I'm going to be climbing mountains it's gonna be on the back of a horse. I know he was really looking forward to spending the day with his brothers and dad and getting in some good hike time. They left early in the morning and hiked 11 miles in one day! Three of those miles were in sand. There was fog all day, but they all got sunburned! They went out to the Elk Preserve and got some good shots of a few herds. After finishing the hike, they investigated some tide pools and tinkered around on the beach. They left at 5 p.m., but didn't get home until after 10 because of 4th of July traffic coming from the Bay Area.

We usually head to the outlet mall in Tracy for a morning since they have Carter's, OshKosh and Gap there. Since the guys were gone, Thursday was the perfect day for this. Laura, Jenny, LaNell and I went without kids! Tyler came but since he's only 3 months, he really doesn't count because he's happy to sleep and eat most of the time (I'm sure Jenny would say he counts since she is the one who had to get him ready, load him up, feed him and placate him - so sorry Jenny). Lexi was all excited to play with Dallin and Lauren, but when we showed up she started saying, "No play!?!". She cried for a little and as soon as I left, was great (or so the babysitter said...). We had a really good time, bought way too much and had lunch at Olive Garden. That evening, Lexi and I went to Dunlop's for BBQ and to visit. Lexi was fried, but did all right. LuAnn and her clan were there and even though wrangling Lexi seemed to take more time than anything else, I really enjoyed my time there. We got home around 9:30 or so and waited up for Allen.


The 4th was spent doing the usual Tracy celebratory stuff. Allen had mentioned going down at 6 a.m. to see the balloons lift off, but after their uber hike the day before, decided just to hit the parade. We met up with the family and their friends to watch the parade around 8:30. Lexi had been getting a little overwhelmed by all of the weekly activities (she started saying, "No car?" whenever we would start getting ready) so she hung out with Allen and I most of the time. She enjoyed seeing the dancers, animals, and fire trucks. She loves suckers and got a few of those, too. After the parade, we went over to the park to the booths. We ran into some friends there and the kids played on the playground. My favorite BBQ guy was there so I had a chicken sandwich at 10 a.m. We had decided we would take really good naps that day so went went home and all slept for a few hours. After napping, we went to the Silcox party for a bit. We didn't swim there since we had been invited out to Reich's. We did see lots of old acquaintances and friends and enjoyed catching up. We then went to Reich's and the kids swam for a while before Harold made tri-tip, linguisa and lots of sides. After dinner, we ran home and changed and then went to the park. Since Brent and Laura so graciously go earlier than the rest of us, we already had a huge spot saved with lots of blankets. Lexi ran all over and played with anyone who would look at her. Allen tossed the football around with his friends. Lots of people we know go to the stadium for the fireworks so we always spend a couple of hours chatting and eating candy before the actual fireworks. This year, they had some entertainment in the form of a drag queen who sang to us. After she (he?) was done, a local band came out. They played some fun songs, but were so loud we were screaming at eachother to talk. The fireworks were great and Lexi really liked telling us what color they were. We got home around 10:30 and went to Brent and Laura's to hang out with them and Craig and Rachel for a while. We finally got to bed around 1 a.m.

Nolan at the fireworks.

Saturday morning Allen and Craig went to Brent's new store to help move. Aunt Rachel took Nolan and Lexi in a wagon ride. Lexi LOVES Aunt Rachel. She learned how to say her name in about 1/2 an hour and never stopped. I told Rachel that if Lexi asked for her when we got home, I'd be sending her a box with Lexi in it. Laura came over with the kids since Brent stayed behind to wrap up as much as possible and we were all at the Riddle's. We all crashed (well, I had to do my hair so I spent forever getting that done while Allen and Lexi rested a bit) and made sure we took good naps since we had family pictures at 3 p.m. My dad and Grandpa were able to come over, too, so we got a 4 generation shot. Allen's Uncle Howard came over for a while (he lives in San Fransisco). We celebrated Ben's birthday with cupcakes and presents. The boys (the adult boys, I should say) played games on the lawn until dark.

Lexi and Nolan in the wagon.

Sunday we went to church, but left right after sacrament to go to the open house for Tyler Silcox. He was blessed during church and we wanted to visit a bit before getting ready to head to the airport. We spent, like, 20 minutes there and ran home to visit with Brent and Laura and the kids before we had to get Lexi down and packed. Lexi took a good nap and we went to Dunlop's to return the car they let us borrow and visit for a little before we actually left for Oakland. We got wise and gave Lexi dramamine for the flight home. She slept from take off until we woke her when we landed. We got home around 11:30 p.m. Whew, what a week!