Our trip to CA...the final chapter

I've been sorely lacking on the blog updates, so I am determined to sit down and write the final chapter of our adventures in CA.

I'm so grateful we got to see a lot of family on our trip. I took Inara one day to go see Grandma Mary. I'm not sure if she knew who I was, but she was in a very good mood that day and seemed happy to see us. She kept saying how cute Inara was. We also got to see my aunt Jeri and uncle Dave and spend some time with them, along with cousin Kim and her daughter Mady, who has gotten so big in the last year. I swear kids really do grow up way too fast! Cousins Rob, Kelli and Alex planned a trip to CA the same time we were there, so we got to see them again. I just adore Alex and am surprised to see that she's no longer the little flower girl from my wedding but a beautiful young woman. I'm so glad she got to hang out with us a few days since Inara sure loves playing with her. Of course, we got to hang out a lot with Lisa and Kylie too.

The Saturday before we left the fam went to the OC Fair: mom, pop, Mikey, Lisa, Kylie, Shawn, Inara, and I. We had so much fun watching the two girls play together. Inara, of course, enjoyed looking at the farm animals, but she really loved going on her first carnival rides. She went on a kiddie roller coaster, which she wasn't scared of. Yay baby girl! I even got Shawn to take her on a couple. It was funny to see him scrunched inside the kiddie seats. I felt bad that Kylie got scared a few times on the rides. I hope Inara never becomes the big chicken I am when it comes to amusement park rides. Inara did well the whole morning and didn't get cranky until after lunch, which is when Shawn finally threw down the gauntlet and said time to go.

Honestly, the best part of the trip to CA was playing in the pool with pop. I loved watching Kylie jump from the diving board. You can definitely tell how much she loves swimming with Pop. Inara was more adventurous than she's been in the past, probably because she was watching Kylie and wanted to be just like her. Hanging out at Pop's pool totally reminded me of my childhood and hanging out at Nana & Paka's house in the summer. Boy do I miss them. My parents' house is definitely the fun place for the family to get together and hang out. I know Inara really loved getting to spend time with my parents and still talks about all the things we did on vacation. Several times now she's asked if we can go to Mickey's house again with NeeNee, Pop, and Mikey. Guess we need to plan our next trip out to CA soon. :-)