CA trip highlights

… other than the new babies:

My mom hosted a family gathering on Saturday, and it was great to see my grandparents, some aunts and uncles, and have mostly everyone together.

We went to Great America to get a roller-coaster fix, we hadn’t been to any theme parks since before we were married. It was a good day, sunny but not too hot, and not crowded at all. The main flaw was that Flight Deck (previously known as Top Gun) and Invertigo, the two most popular and exciting roller coasters, were closed for the day. Boo. My favorite ride that we did go on was Survivor the Ride, where you sit facing out on a big rotating disk (with about 25 other people) and it travels on a swooping track while it turns. Lots O Fun.

We visited my brother and sister-in-law at their new house in Gilroy. It’s new, beautiful, and huge – you could fit our entire apartment into their master suite. What I really envied them for, though, is the closet space and the little office alcove. We brought pizza fixins and had a nice visit with them.

BN’s mom hosted a dinner with several of his siblings and their kids, in her beautiful backyard that she’s been working on landscaping the last few years. Lovely roses.

I went out for lunch with my freelancing partner IK (I do contract design work for her firm) and a fellow designer that I hadn’t met in person before, IL. I love the flexibility of working at home, and the opportunities available for working remotely, but it’s great to get some “face time” with the girls I spend so much time on the phone and email with!

I also met my friend FT for lunch, this was our first time meeting since I had moved out of state. We graduated together from the SJSU design program (9 years ago!) and had been in touch off and on, until recently when we re-connected on Facebook and became loyal readers of each others blogs. We had a wonderful time catching up on each others lives and talking about family, faith/philosophy, science, and even a bit of politics. I wish we lived near each other – FT would make a great next door neighbor.

I also visited two other dear friends. JI’s day took a downturn right after I arrived, but I was glad to at least see her for a little bit, and see how her boys are growing… so fast! I visited TS twice in one day – breakfast with her and the kids, and then some more intensive KT&T time in the evening, both of our husbands were away on camping trips.

BN got to go camping with my brother, his father-in-law and brother-in-law, my dad, and my little brother. The 6 of them had a great time, including BN’s first time sailing.

BN’s dad was also out of town for the weekend so I got to hang out on Saturday with BN’s stepmom. Lunch, a little bit of shopping, and she got a peep at my baby nephew too.

Because RC was on the camping trip I got to top-bunk-it in GC’s room. It’s been a long time since I shared a bunk bed with a sister! We got some good chat time in on this visit. I got a walk to the mall in with MA and HN, GC, MA and I played Taboo. HN and I did our best but it’s hard to beat a team of sisters who see each other every day and have so many inside jokes and shared experiences. Coonskin cap? “The King of the Wild Frontier wears this!”

Whew… It was a packed week and couple of weekends! More family time to look forward to when we go to Hawaii.