Memorial Day Weekend (week 222)

There is nothing better than Memorial Day weekend in Southern California. Not only is it the start of summer time for us, but it is also the kick-off of all types of fun stuff. After our trips from San Diego and up the coast to San Luis Obispo, it was nice to spend the long weekend at home playing in our backyard and hanging-out with our pals.

Friday night was the kick-off of the 100 Days of Summer through the Parks Department. We all packed a picnic and went to Marina Vista Park for the bouncehouse and Journey Tribute Band. There were thousands of people (mostly kids), playing and dancing in the park. We had about four other families with us and got to eat big happy-faced cookies. It was a late night but we slept hard and work-up to a beautiful morning.

My obsessive focus of the week this week is "the game ball". While I am one of only two kids on the Dodgers yet to receive a game ball--I have a lot of confidence that with two games left I will be in line!

This weekend we didn't have a tee ball game, but it was sunny and warm so we had lots of backyard get-togethers, barbecue, and fun. Sunday morning, we all went for breakfast at the Pancake Store and I ate a ton of food. For some reason, the scrambled eggs always taste better at the Pancake Store than they do at home. Later, we went to brunch at Max and Lena's. We played basketball and sand box in the backyard and had a ton of fun. Christopher was worried that he was going to be left there (like daycare) and had a mean look on his face for most of the time but warmed-up just about the time that we were headed home.

In the evening, Jackson came over and we had a barbecue in the backyard. Jackson and I have reached a new point in our relationship...as the big kids..and spend a lot of time chasing, wrestling, and rolling with each other. As with Cousin Eli, it seems like we can have a lot more fun together and can stay occupied without fighting for hours if left to our own devices. We stayed-up to well-past 9:00 PM watching Care Bears (a huge favorite at the moment), and ate microwave popcorn. Christopher and Emma tried to hang but they ultimately crashed a few hours before we did...and our parents had to move us from the couch where we fell asleep in front of the tv. This was the first time we ever fell asleep when hanging-out together so the opportunity for sleep-overs may not be far off!

Memorial Day was a perfect one in Southern California and we spent the entire day outside. We all slept in a little late and took a long walk on the beach. Daddy and I played soccer with a little ball that we found and Christopher ran and explored until his legs started to cramp-up. He didn't even make it back to the car before falling asleep.