Every family has their drama. Or at least that’s what I hear, or maybe that’s what I hope. Otherwise, maybe it is just me! I was thinking of the line from the old T.V. show, Family Ties, “and there ain’t no nothing we can’t love each other through”. I feel like my parents shielded me from the dynamics of the family when I was younger which I am so grateful. And then you grow up and start seeing things for yourself. Suddenly, things don’t seem so picture perfect any more. But there also becomes a sense of ownership, that now these relationships are up to me to maintain, not my parents. And I think Brian and I have done a pretty good job of doing so. Family dynamics can truly drive you mad at times and even so we decided we wanted to move back for them! Being close to the relatives was an important factor in why we moved back here. The babysitting is free and a flight to Arizona is a lot cheaper from California than from Germany! We have been hanging out with fam lately and I just thought I’d give a shout out to the ones who gave us life!
My mom and sister have been awesome about making the trip to SoCal to see us, and a few weeks ago we decided to go and see them. A quick email went out that we’d be in town and would be staying at The Pointe Hilton and what do you know, 43 people showed up! Talk about fun times! We cruised down the lazy river and hung out in the pool because that’s about all you can do when the temperature is above 110. We skied and hung out on the boat at Lake Pleasant one day and made it up to Prescott for a jazz concert on the lawn of the old courthouse.
Staying cool in the tub, lake and pool.
And then, since it had been a whole 3 weeks since they’d seen us, my mom and Mike came and camped with us at Crystal Cove while Brian did his first triathlon. No photos of Brian and the big race, but how adorable is this one of Piper wearing Brian’s swim cap?
I thought to myself, I think I could to this tri. It was a beautiful course and it is a short race 1/2 mile swim, 12 mile bike, and 3 mile run. Well, I thought I could do the race until I was swimming, okay more like playing in the water when I looked at the next wave about to break and there was a massive black silouhette of a fish-like creature. I knew it wasn’t a shark, but it was big enough to bite my foot off if it wanted to. It was at least 4 feet in this clear wave which was about 6 feet away from where I was standing. You never saw me run so fast on to shore in my life. Mike saw it and had his arms stretched out telling me how big it was, a confirmation that I wasn’t crazy. It turned out to be a seal, but an unexpected swim with a seal is still freaky! So, needless to say the thought of a half mile ocean swim seems out of the question at the moment.
Catalina Island
And if that wasn’t enough fun for one fam, this past weekend we headed twenty-six miles across the sea where Santa Catalina was waiting for me (and hundreds of others who were herded off the boat). The island was very cute and had a European feel to it with all of the houses built into the hills. It was Brian’s parents 34th anniversary and I guess after that many years they don’t need to celebrate alone. We hiked to the not-so-impressive botanical gardens, ate ice cream, and strolled the miniature streets of the city. Check out these miniature vehicles.
This little golf cart said "PATROL" on the side and it was a tow truck!
"Honey I shrunk the FedEx truck!"
I have experienced being thousands of miles away from the ones who don’t need or want to be paid to watch your kids, so now I can truly appreciate what it is like to be close to my family. It is so much fun seeing the kids with their cousins and knowing that we can go and make a trip to see our relatives whenever we feel it has been too long. So despite the quirks of those people that we didn’t choose to be in our lives, there ain’t no nothing that could tear this thing call family apart.
And just to be fair, I know that I have my own quirks that can be annoying and frustrating at times. So here they are (at least the ones I am aware of): I am often times too honest, but don’t realize it until after the fact (if I ever realize it), I am a stickler when it comes to my kids’ schedule which sometimes makes me not so flexible, I am forgetful and disorganized but I have an amazing long term memory which is also bad when I bring up things from the past. Just to name a few 🙂
Perfect Piece of Time 