California Trip, Part 2

Audrey and my trip to So Cal is coming to a close. We have had a really fun and memorable time! However, we both miss Daddy very much, and I look forward to getting back into a normal daily routine. It is amazing how quite comfortable we get with the routines that shape our lives. We have spent this week visiting with old friends, swimming in the pool, and taking long, enjoyable walks. Here are pictures! Click for big versions. (I will add a picture of Farah and I later... I had an issue with my camera and I can't retrieve the pic until I get back to Ohio.)

Christine Williams made this beautiful quilt for Audrey. It was so nice to visit with Christine after not seeing her for many years!

Grandma Porowski getting some Audrey time in:

Mom at Starbucks!

We went for a long walk on Balboa Island on Tuesday night. I have always loved Balboa, and it was beautiful as always. If you've walked around the entire island, you've seen this statue of liberty on one of the private docks. We had to get a picture! Not sure what my hair is doing...

Here is the Tale of the Whale restaurant and the fun zone on Balboa Penninsula opposite the island. I wish I had a better camera!

We have a red eye flight home tonight. Hopefully Audrey will sleep right through! I'm signing off now to go swimming in the pool for the last time before finishing my packing. See you all back in Ohio!

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! :)

Audrey the Gerber Baby

Not that the resemblance is uncanny, but I think Audrey looks a little like the Gerber baby! What do you think? Well, I think she's the cuter one anyhow.


We leave for California at 6:15am tomorrow morning. Don't get me started about how early I have to be up tomorrow. Matter of fact, I am dozing off just thinking about it. The trip is well worth the early flight, and we're going to have a wonderful time! I'll post pictures as soon as I can. Now back to the hectic preparations!

Audrey meets her Great Grandma Porowski and Great Aunt Anne

My birthday was last weekend. What a wonderful weekend it was! My Grandma Porowski was visiting my Aunt Anne in Chicago, and they drove up to see us. We spent a lovely day talking, eating, sightseeing around old Westerville, and getting to know one another better. Audrey liked them both right away. Grandma fed her, sang to her, and they were fast friends from the start!




We went to one of my very favorite restaurants for lunch: Mimi's Cafe! My cobb salad and honey oat bran muffin were glorious.


We ended the day with a nice dinner with Eric's parents at our house.

Yes, that is spit up on my arm. There are a few things that regularly adorn our clothing these days, and that is one of them. I'm sure you can guess the other.



Audrey and I will get to see Grandma again in a few weeks, as we are going to California for a week at the beginning of August! My sister Kim will be here for a few days before that, and I absolutely can't wait to see her.

Audrey's Film Debut, and more.

As I mentioned in my last post, Audrey has a starring role in this weekend's church announcements video, produced by none other than our small group. I love our small group to pieces! Here is Audrey's commercial (not unlike the initial baby e-trade commercial), narrated by yours truly! No babies were harmed in the making of this film.

Here is the entire video in two parts, as it was too big to post as one clip. I took out the long Promise Keepers promo, also. Thanks to Dave for all of the technical and editing work! Aaron stars as the news anchor, with Jason as the weatherman and Eric as sports caster! Ah.. these guys crack me up. This whole project is hysterical. Enjoy!

Part One:

Part Two:

Fun with church announcements

Our church usually does announcements for upcoming events in video form that can be watched on the side screens in during services. For a month or so this summer they've asked for volunteers to make the videos, probably to give the tech team a break and see what kinds of funny things people come up with. We've seen clever and funny film styles, and some just plain strange. Our small group volunteered to do it this week, so we got together Monday and Tuesday to brainstorm and film. I won't give away the theme or the antics we have prepared, but I will say that even Audrey has a starring role! (A member's a member, no matter how small! ha) Hopefully I can get copies or snippets of the videos (Audrey's at least) to post here. Meanwhile, here are a few pictures from our get togethers this week.

Eric waiting for Audrey's part

Aaron is only being filmed from the waist up... :p

Can you tell which room the humans are in?

Jason flashing gang signs. :p

Beau being his sweet, calm self.

Cassie and Loulea time

Watching Wipeout, of course.
(What happened to Laura's head?! I'm so sorry Laura!!)

Molly supervising from the couch.

New Banner!

Why is it that I am often most creative very late in the day (or very early)?! Who knows, but I have always been that way. I finished my new banner last night at around 2:30am... it's not like I need more excuses to stay up all night, right?! Sigh. I had a lot of fun with this one though. I started with a picture of Laguna Beach that my dad took several years ago:

Then I added clouds (which was super fun) and text:

And then tweaked the colors a bit for the final version. Plus I spent forever adding brushes and fonts to my wanna-be photoshop program called GIMP. So fun!

Maybe one day I'll get a creative streak in the middle of the day like normal people. :)