Monday, August 31, 2009
Congrats Mr. & Mrs. Boyer
Thanks for the great 3 weeks!!!
We love you guys and we really do miss getting to spend time together like you do... you may not realize just how special it is to have such a strong support network so close... but I hope you do!
Hey... and if you want to visit Asia - we're in Taipei til mid-2010... so book now!!! Otherwise, we'll be in NZ later in the year for a while... hope to see you on this side of the planet!!!
Love you all!
Jen, Tony, Hunter & Helena
Saturday, August 29, 2009
Roughing It...
Here's a bit of my original blog about Leo Carrillo - with some added photos just for you family folks!!! Thanks for the great memories those few days!! My kids absolutely loved 'roughing it' with you guys! Thanks for making it easy for us to ease back into family life in CA - we loved hanging out with you!!!
Throughout my childhood we would finish off the summer with a bang - our annual family camping trip to the beach!!! I loved this week (and not only because my birthday usually landed during it and I could really ensure my tan stuck before school started)!!! Long days were spent bodyboarding, body surfing, taking naps in the sand with salt stuck to my shoulders, playing card games and hanging out til "the best time of the day" when the sun just started to lower and the breeze would turn just cool enough to make the trip up the hill more bearable. Of course, those were the days when I didn't have to prepare meals, the only person I had to bathe was myself and I could sleep in if those younger cousins didn't make too much ruckus!!! I guess those days are O-V-E-R!!! But... finally, after all these years, we did get to join the family for another one of those camping trips!!! This time, I went as a parent... and I still loved it!
We didn't get our usual place in San Clemente, we went north instead to Leo Carrillo State Park - where everything was a bit different, but still familiar enough. It was a great chance to hang out with my cousins and their kids... Hunter was surrounded by boys to learn from (read "push and be pushed by") and Helena got her share of cuddles and exploration time too. All in all - pretty much the way I remembered it - loaded with laughs!
Grandma's Tootsie pops in the afternoon (Hunter only had one - that I know of)....
walks to the candy store (Hunter got sand toys instead)...
special pancakes for breakfast...
as well as all the junkie, sugary stuff you never get to eat at home but for some reason we eat because "we're camping"...
service with a smile...
family devotions and the armor of God...
and plenty of time to just sit and chat around the campfire.
Yep, these are the familiar elements I associate with "camping" - the things that make it such a pleasant experience in my book.
This was the first time, though, that I watched what the kids did -
What I didn't see was Sean getting bonked in the face with a metal shovel... but he did... and the poor little guy had to get several stitches to contain it. I'm just glad it wasn't my son who was holding the shovel!!!
And nobody would've seen this one coming - ole David was bit in the leg by a dog - on a leash - while its owner was talking to the ranger... crazy!!! He and his nephew had some quality bonding time at the urgent care center where they both received stitches... after a couple of days they were both back to normal again... YIKES!!! Camping can be dangerous!!!
The kids all practiced sharing... Hunter being a major recipient of this practice.
We christened my parent's brand-new monster 'vacation home with closet'. It had two sections separated by a zipper door - as well as a little zip up 'closet' - pretty snazzy! Had our luggage allowance not been so tight already we would've been pretty tempted to purchase one of these babies for ourselves! Anyway - the kids and my mom slept in one room while Tony & I slept in the other. It worked out pretty well! And when dad came up for the night - they stayed elsewhere (though Hunter would've loved waking up to see Grandpa too).
and a beautiful tummy!!! Congratulations again, Emily & Dane!
Wednesday, August 26, 2009
Girl Cousin Christmas Dinner
A Bonefide Bonfire
Hunter and Helena tried to get as much time in with Great-Grandma while they could!!!
With everybody gathered together, they sang Happy Birthday... to me!!! Wow... what a treat!! We got to celebrate my birthday (a few hours early) with a bunch of my rellies at the beach! Growing up, we'd often be camping during my birthday so I was spoilt with attention (and the rest of the gang was spoilt with cake & brownies on the night) and had my favorite folks around me throughout the day! It's been a long time since I've been around for my birthday, let alone on the beach with the extended family... Thanks for making it special!!!
Look at that monster moon!!! I was struck again by how big the sky looks here in CA... mostly because the buildings aren't so tall and it's pretty darn flat. Most nights we could see the sunset and the beautiful pink, orange and purple clouds overhead; unlike Taipei where we usually just see buildings.