Summer trip to California

We arrived early Wednesday morning after a smooth couple of flights from Ohio. I had no more than an hour and a half of sleep, so I slept on the plane out of sheer exhaustion. Audrey slept too, which made everything fairly easy. This was her first plane ride, and she did great!

Kim looks great after only 2 hours of sleep!

There were other of Audrey's firsts that followed shortly thereafter.
Among them, her first time in the pool:


And to the Pacific Ocean:

Despite how she may look in some of the pics,

she is quite happy and enjoying it all immensely.

On Friday night we went to the Orange County Fair, which was a blast. Audrey slept through most of it, despite lots of noise going on around her. That's my girl! :) We visited the livestock and animal area, which brought back a lot of memories for me. Little known fact about me: I was in 4-H for many years as a child. One of my main activities was raising and showing rabbits at the fair each year. Here is Dad following the rules...


This poor angora goat was a loving little guy who wanted attention.
Those horns were fascinating:


Kim and I rode the Skyride a few times.
It was cool to see the fair from up high.



At one point, giant apes attempted a hostile takeover:

And I hoped I wouldn't lose my flip flops.
That is something I'd do.


The Skyride was neat at night. I was excited about it, as you can see.
(Taken with my cell phone):



What exactly makes Australian battered potatoes... Australian!?


There was a tent dedicated solely to Rockband, where people would perform in front of the surrounding crowd. I thought it was a sweet idea. If Eric were there, he probably would have loved to try it!

We also saw the photos and paintings that Dad
had exhibited at the fair. They were very good.

I especially love the painting of the girl with the blue scarf.

We also watched an asian acrobatic team do stunts.
They were really good!

Audrey woke up shortly before we went home.
Such a happy little girl!

Kim, Mom and I after a fun time at the fair.


Audrey and her Grandpa Porowski!

To top off a great weekend, we went to beautiful Laguna Beach this afternoon:




There will be more pictures to come. After all, there are still 4 days left of our trip to Southern California! I miss Eric terribly and I can tell that Audrey does as well... hopefully we can make it that long! :)