Summer 2011...The Beginning

We arrived in Oceanside, California June 5th after a nice sprint over from Texas.  We headed out on Friday evening, right smack in the middle of five o'clock traffic on the last day of school for the Texas educational system.  Fun stuff.  But Chris maneuvered our 30 feet of home away from home BEAUTIFULLY through all the crazy traffic and we managed to plug on all the way from Dallas to the big city of Odessa, Texas.  We managed to snag a room at the Best Western Garden Oasis of Odessa.  And what a fine establishment THAT place was!  I think they charged us extra for the rust (or red mold) that was growing on the ceiling above the shower, and for the sagging ceiling tiles.  And lets not forget the breakfast!  You know it's bad when my mainly only carb consuming Max will not touch the muffins because they are just that dry and crumbly.  The biscuits were the same way, and the gravy that looked like  a big vat of snot wasn't exactly selling the dry, crumbly biscuits either!  The bacon was too salty to eat and overall...well.  I guess I should not have expected much from a city in west Texas like Odessa.  Silly me.  Anyway.  We hit the road at a nice, reasonable hour the next morning feeling rested, clean (allbeit, slightly disturbed by the rust/mold presence in the shower), and ready to take on day two of driving.  And drive we did.  Arriving at 6:30 p.m. in Tucson, AZ, JUST in time to meet up with our dear friends, the Emch girls and surprise Clara's BFF Claire.  Here is the video capturing the moment Claire lays eyes on her best friend who is SUPPOSED to be far, far away!

Ahhh!  SUCH sweetness!  It just melts my heart every time these two get together after being so far apart!  We surprised Claire with a brief visit from Clara, but then got to surprise Clara as well because she had no idea that us mommies had arranged a sleepover for the two of them!  Oh, but they were excited!  I even had matching pjs for the two of them secretly packed away in Clara's bag!  Which, they obviously loved and enjoyed!  But before they could sleep over, there was pizza and wine and Sauce, followed by dessert at Frost!  Mmmm.  I have missed the gelato factor in Dallas!  They have gelato, but it's no Frost!  That's for sure!  We were all delighted to have cups of pure deliciousness!  Yummy!

The kids have been settling in nicely to the summer fun.  There are mornings on the beach, followed by afternoons by the pool.  Max is taking a surfing class from 9 to 1 every morning this week and is LOVING it!  He's learning lots and getting in tons of practice with tips from real live pro surfers.  He's also swimming with a swim team to keep in shape so that when we go back to Texas in August, he is ready to get on with the big swim stuff!  Here are some of the latest pictures!

Clara with Claire at Sauce!  

Sauce is just not complete unless you follow it up with Frost Gelato!  Yummy!!!!

Ah, our handsome (?) boys!  Can you believe their mother is a photographer?!!!

Almost to California!  Some of the inmates are starting to go stir crazy!  Yikes!


There are lots more pictures to come.  Internet is sketchy here and I've had a booger of a time getting these few up and posted!  But at least I got these up!  More to come soon!  Especially now that I know it's working!