Our CA Vacation Chapter 2

Inara is napping and Shawn is doing yardwork, so I thought I'd try to finish the blog on our trip to CA. I'll do my best.

Our flight out was an adventure, as all flights with a child are. Inara had her own seat but hardly sat in it for more than 5 minutes at a time. She moved all around. "See out window" was an often heard quote from the little one. Thank goodness Shawn took the window seat, so she would crawl on him the most. Shawn also played Curious George on the new Netbook he bought specifically for the flight. She didn't seem all that interested. We both tried to get her to nap, but she kept resisting. The last 20 minutes of the flight were the roughest because she started getting cranky. Of course, she finally gave in and fell asleep just as we touched ground. Yes, the girl fell asleep when we landed. Figures. Poor Shawn had to do some stealth moving off the plane to avoid waking her. When we got to baggage claim, we were greeted with a big sign that said "Welcome home Tomlinsons" my mom was holding. So cute! I was so excited to see my parents. We got all our luggage and started getting into the car when Inara woke up. She started crying at first until she realized NeeNee and Pop were in the car too. Then she seemed pretty happy. That night for dinner mom made us homemade enchiladas and sopa. It was the perfect homecoming meal. Lisa and Kylie came over too. I can't believe how big Kylie is, but then again she is 3 1/2. Inara and Kylie spent a lot of time together while we were in CA. I'm so grateful for that. She gets to see her cousin Avery all the time, so I was hoping she'd get to build a friendship with Kylie too. Don't think she'll ever forget that spitfire now that she got to spend a week and a half with her. Later that night, Shawn drove up to Santa Maria to spend a few days with Mike & Nina and to see Erin, who has now relocated up there. Plus, Shawn got to be the first family member to meet Erin's new boyfriend. We were all excited to hear the scoop on the new guy, who has luckily passed the big brother test.

Friday, Mom, Mikey, Inara and I had to do some running around so I could get things ready for Sierra's baby shower on Saturday. Saturday, Mom and I went to Sierra's baby shower. It was so great to see Sierra and to be there to participate in this special day. I can't wait for her to have her baby girl. Auntie Marisa loves spoiling her nieces and nephews. I also got to see my other BFF Elizabeth and catch up with her.

After the shower, Shawn, Inara and I headed down to Foothill Ranch to have dinner with some old Blockbuster Video friends of ours. We probably haven't seen Scott and Jenna in 10 years, so it was a long overdue visit. Scott is now married and has a daughter who is 4 months older than Inara. Jenna is also married and has a 3 year old daughter. Funny that all of us had girls first. It was so easy to talk to them and their spouses as if no time had passed in our friendships. They are both great people, people I truly want to have in my life forever. I so hope we can all stay in touch and would love to have them out to CO to visit sometime.

Sunday night Erin came over to spend the night at my parents' house. It was great to see Erin and get to catch up with her.

Sunday was a lazy day in the morning with some much needed pool time. Erin stayed and had lunch with us, then headed back up to LA. Sunday night, Shawn and I got to go out without child in tow to have dinner with Toby, Tony, Katherine, Elizabeth, Tom & Diane, Jason and the infamous girlfriend Lilli. I was super excited to meet Jason's girlfriend. I can't believe they've been together for a year now, and we're just now meeting her considering Jason is like a brother to us. It felt like I've known her for a long time though since we've been talking on Facebook already. She's adorable. And I can tell Jason is really happy. We went out for a drink afterwards so we could talk some more. It was a much needed night of catching up.

Shawn had to work Monday through Thursday, so Inara and I got in a lot of visiting and family time during the week. We visited my Grandma Mary one day. It was so good to see her. She seemed to know who I was and was rather excited to see Inara, who didn't sit still for very long. It was a short visit, but a much needed one. We also got to spend some time with Grandma Di and Grandpa Tom, Jason's parents. They are such wonderful, special people. Inara even calls them Grandma and Grandpa. It's so cute. Diane had lots of toys for Inara to play with, and she wasn't shy with either one of them. She even gave Tom a hug good-bye, which is impressive considering she's usually a little scared of men. It was so good to chat with them. We didn't get to visit with them again during our trip like we had hoped as they had a death in the family. I wish we could have seen them one more time so I could have given Diane a big hug. I'm so sorry for their loss and wish them my deepest condolences.

One day we also got to see Sara McCarthy and her two daughters. Boy have they gotten big. I can't believe Stephanie is entering 1st grade already. Jeez, time flies. I haven't got to talk to Sara much since moving, so our short but sweet visit was long overdue.

We got to visit with lots of family too while we were there. My cousins Rob, Kelli and Alex flew in from WA the week we were in town, so we got to see them for the second time this year. I love getting to see them. They couldn't believe how much Inara has changed in the few months since we've last seen them. Trust me, I understand. The girl changes every day. My aunt Jeri and uncle Dave came into town as did my cousin Kim and her daughter Madison. There's always lots of laughter when they are around. I last saw Madison when she was just a few weeks old. I can't believe she just turned 1 year old. Yikes!!! I swear Inara may only have about an inch or two on Mady. She's so tall! It was so cute watching the girls play together, especially once Kylie got there too. We had all 3 girls playing in the pool. I'm sure Pop was in heaven seeing all the kids playing, just like we used to do at Nana & Paka's house back in the day when I was part of the kid squad. It's hilarious watching Kylie jump into the pool. One of the best quotes of the trip was whenever Kylie jumped into the pool (or anyone else for that matter), Inara would yell "Me too" because she wanted to jump off the diving board too. Sorry baby girl. Maybe next summer.

One night we got to go see our friend Jenna's house and spend some more time with her family. Her daughter Amelia and Inara really played well together, shocking since Inara can be very shy with new kids, but she really took to Amelia, and they seemed to have a great time. I loved that I got to spend this time with Jenna's daughter. Jenna meant a lot to me and now that we've reconnected, I hope we can further our friendship again. One reason I was really eager to go to Jenna's house is because she lives next door to the house I loved the most growing up, the one on Amy Street. This house meant so much to me growing up because it was the house Michael came home to, the house where Mom and I would water the backyard and see frogs jumping in the water fountain, the house where Pop and I would play Prices is Right and I would run down the hallway when dad would call my name as if I was the next contestant on the show, and it was the house with the LARGEST backyard of all the houses we ever lived in. I even specifically remember my cousin April and I having our Easter egg hunts in this backyard. Plus, it was the house I would walk to and from elementary school with my mom and Michael. I just love this house. What a small world that my friend Jenna would end up living right next door, and she knows the family that lives there, so we were able to walk through the house. Boy, they've done a lot of changes to it, but it's still the house I remember growing up, except now my old bedroom is the laundry room. Jacked. They've added on two new bedrooms, updated the master bathroom, and even added a family room and the backyard is STILL huge. It was cool to be able to walk through it and flashback to all my fond memories of it. Think I'll end this chapter of our vacation here. I still have so much more I want to write about, especially all the fun we had with my parents and Mikey. I'm sure all you are asking for a break for your eyes' sake, so until the next chapter I'll say good-bye for now.