This fall, the question came up of whether or not to attend DH's family reunion in California. The answer was pretty easy to find (based on various circumstances) = nope, we're not going to make it this year.
Then, the day before the reunion, everything got a bit crazy. It looked something like this:
DH at 8:00 a.m. - "Hmm. Maybe I should have made that reunion after all. I'll see if the 8yo and I could possibly hitch a ride with my parents.
DH at 8:15 a.m. - "Yup, we're good to go. But on second thought, I think we all really ought to go. Let's get packing!"
Thus, two (okay, three) hours later, we were all packed into the car and headed for California. How's that for snappy packing?
Our trip was super-short - in Saturday evening, out Monday morning. It was super-fast and gave us time to attend the reunion, but not much else. The only additional thing we made time for was driving by my grandmother's old house, but her house is located - charmingly! - in one of the worst areas of one of the worst cities in Southern California. Not only were we not able to take pictures, we couldn't even stop driving for a brief moment to look. It was just too dangerous - at 10:00 a.m. on a Sunday morning, no less. So much for romantic memories of Grandma's place!
On the way back, we made time - of course! - for a quick stop at Hadley's, without which a trip to California is never complete. I dared to take a bite (or two) of their famous date shake (mmmm), but no more - I didn't want to pay for the sugar in how I'd feel the next day!
I actually learned some really valuable, permanent, life-changing lessons on this trip, and I'd love to share them with you. Unfortunately, they are on a subject that is strictly non-bloggable, so you all will just have to benefit from my experience by osmosis. Sound good?
The boys had a marvelous time - not only did they get to spend time with Grandma and Grandpa and their favorite (and only!) auntie, but they got to spend massive amounts of time swimming. Surprisingly for Phoenicians, we almost never go swimming, so they were in heaven.
Let's just call that vacation, because that's the closest thing we're going to get this year!
How fun!!! I'm originally from So. Cal.--born and raised there. It IS frustrating how dangerous some places have become.
ReplyDeleteOh, very cool! Whereabouts did you grow up? (Only if you feel comfortable sharing that in a public space.) I too was born and raised in SoCal - didn't leave till I was 22 (Riverside area).
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