Fun Weekends, and California Part 3

After a short day of resting from our trip to CA, we went up north with Dave & Katie, Zac & Jill to visit Katie's family. They have a beautiful home with lots of land and an above ground pool, which we all enjoyed. Dave, Eric and I beat Zac, Jill and Bud (Katie's Dad) in pool volleyball... not that it really matters, I'm just sayin. :p After spending time in the pool, the boys shot target rifles.


They set up a target and also used inanimate objects such as bottles, cans, rotten peaches, Gabby & Sasha... just kidding.



They asked if I wanted to shoot one of the rifles, and of course I had to try it. Eric assured me that it wasn't dangerous and there was hardly any recoil. I didn't do too bad for my first time ever shooting a gun! I hit a soda can 30-40 yards away.

The female sharp shooters got a picture together:

This is Katie's family's sweet old black Lab, Ebie. She is 16 years old and still kicking. She's selectively deaf, has really bad hip dysplasia, and can't see real well, but you would hardly know it. She's as sweet as a Georgia peach.


We made sure the doggies watched from an enclosed area, so that they wouldn't accidentally take part in target practice.

Sasha:

Gabby:

This is Molly's whiney face. She was whining here because Katie was giving Ebie attention, which of course in unacceptable. She cracks me up!


After the shooting fun was over, Bud made a fire in the fire pit out back, and we enjoyed yummy fry pies and s'mores. Zac dared someone to make a "suicide fry pie" and due to my constant need to be the center of attention, I accepted. What is a suicide fry pie, you ask? It is a hot sandwhich cooked over an open fire, consisting of a morsel of every item from the spread of ingredients on the table. This included various chips, pretzels, Hershey's milk chocolate, Reese's peanut butter cups, marshmallows, mozzarella cheese, meat spaghetti sauce, pepperoni, and last but certainly not least, peanut butter and jam. It looked like this before I cooked it... I didn't take a picture of what it looked like after it was cooked, but it tasted disgusting. I took 3 bites as agreed, and I'm proud of it! Ew.


After that nastiness, I attempted 2 or 3 different times to make a normal fry pie, and burned every last one to a crisp. Katie helped me make a perfect one finally. Sigh. (My camera battery died after that last scrumptious picture, so I took the rest with my cell phone.)

Eric threw a round of corn hole, while
Dave told Molly to lay down for the 859th time. :)

Here are the last pics from California. Farah and I:

Audrey watching tv with aunt Kim!

Four generations: Great Grandma Porowski,
Grandma Porowski, me, and Audrey.

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! :)