Good-bye to El Camino and Good Friends

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We had a nice time at El Camino with our friends Chad and Lisa, Daniel and her husband and Arianna.  We had a really delicious dinner while filling them in on our adventure hoping to entice them to book a flight!



Lisa thought it would be fun to have the mariachi band sing to us in celebration of our move!  It was sweet fun!

...and of course the girls had to get some dancing in!  We did end up dragging the guys on the dance floor too!  Ryan does have the moves, I'll tell ya!  We had a wonderful and well needed evening with our good friends, and are hoping they will hold a spot on the dance floor for when we fly into town ;)

...at the Old Ball Game

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The majority would agree that Ryan is excited for a new ball game in San Diego.  He loves these great guys he has had a chance to play ball with, and will miss them.  But, I can vouch that he will not miss the lack of winning streak, and is looking forward to playing ball year round in sunny San Diego!   

We were so excited to spend the day with Grandpa Tom, Ryan's Dad and Grammy Kathy.  I was a little bummed I never got a picture of Grammy Kathy with Rowan.  Grammy Kathy was wearing one of her favorite sparkly necklaces that Rowan made for her two or three years ago.  Maybe I can get one this weekend at our going away potluck :)

We were lucky enough to capture Aunt Lynn for Ryan's last ball game here, and she managed to capture Merrick for a brief moment, long enough to get a big, huge smile out of both of them!

This playing season for Ryan consisting of one double header, which was definitely a memorable one.  Ryan's teammate and friend Rich and his son took a moment after the game to express what a pleasure it was playing with Ryan, and wish him well on his journey.  Goooooo Sky Hawks!

We had to throw in at least one more trip to Pizza Primo!  Photo courtesy of Kierce Janis!  We had a great time finishing the day with some pizza and great conversation.  We were lucky enough to be joined by my parents as well!  Cheers to a great Sunday!

Abracadabra

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...make all our extra "stuff" disappear!  Well, it wasn't that simple, but we are so glad the "stuff" is now gone, with the exception of a few things left by the side of the road.  When I hauled all of the leftovers from the sale to Goodwill in my Father-in-Laws trailor, boy did they look me and my stuff up and down!  They immediately started listing off the items they currently are not taking.  You know it, Christmas items were one of the items they are not accepting, and of course it seemed like half of the stuff I was donating were Christmas items.

Merrick wanted to wear his apron, just like his Mom!  He's definitely my pal!  He was just the heavenly child I needed during this boot camp of a sale!  He sure is a trooper!

So this tongue thing all started when I was trying to get a cute picture of Merrick with his Dad.  Ryan stuck his tongue out when Merrick wouldn't look at the camera, and he probably heard me comment on his Dads tongue, because I clicked a photo and just as the photo snapped, Merrick threw his head toward the camera with his tongue out!  This was a once in a lifetime photo, the timing was perfect!  

As if that wasn't enough tongue, Merrick figured it would only be fitting if we stuck out tongues out on purpose in our photo!  I know, too planned you might say.  We still had fun as you can see.  Merrick and I were getting a little loony and exhausted at this point :)  

It was a very long 6 days including the massively long set up day, three sale days and two clean up days.  I am not sure what I was thinking when I was planning to do all of this by my self in the amount of time I had allowed.  I am a little crazy like that ;)  Thankfully I had some unplanned help just show up, walk up my driveway, come from next door, etc., and boy was I grateful.  I do believe they were sent by God. 

Abracadabra, hocus pocus, now think of the drive to Cali and focus, focus focus :)

Surprise Dinner with Grandma Texas

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Grandma Texas was flown in just to have dinner with us!  LOL, just kidding :) she was in town for a special trip with family.  We felt soooo lucky that we were able to catch a dinner with her and Aunt Lynn before she flew home to Texas!  Ryan was not feeling well, so only Grandma could get a smile out of him like this!

Aunt Lynn wanted to kids to decide where we were to meet for dinner.  I wasn't surprised when they chose the Chinese Buffet, I don't think their Dad or Aunt Lynn was either ;)

 Thank you Aunt Lynn for spoiling us!!!  We all had such a great time chatting over some yummy food.  We are definitely cherishing our time with the people we love!  ...right Rowan?  btw- I love this picture :)

Swampy but Sunny Field Day

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When Merrick and I got to the very fun field day, we found Rowan playing with one her of her best friends, Maddie.  Actually, its hard to tell who is closer with Maddie, Rowan or Merrick.  Maddie and Merrick are pretty much inseparable when they get together.  She is so good with him.

After visiting with Rowan for a bit, Merrick and I decided to find Kierce.  I wasn't surprised to find her near her bestie Thalia.  I was lucky enough to snap a picture quickly while she was taking a break from running a relay.  My girls are so lucky to have such good friends!

I think Kierce was in a posing mood for the camera, lucky for me :)

Rowan is so lucky to have my very wise friend Linda in her class for the second year in a row.  She is an aid for one child in the classroom,  yet is such a blessing to not only Rowan but all of the children.  She is an inspiration to all she comes in contact with.  Thank you Linda for blessing Rowan (and me), I know she (and I) will miss you and her teacher!

From all of the rain we received over the past few weeks, the grassy area behind the school was water logged, but that didn't stop anyone from having a blast!  As you can see rain and shine, lots of fun and activity was had!

Memorial Day Parade...so we though

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We set out for a parade, but we were surprised and had to chuckle when I realized we were two days late for the downtown Toledo Parade.  But, there was a silver lining on this sunny beautifull day.  The kids and I took a relaxing walk by the Maumee River, and after calling Dad to tell him the news about missing the parade, he reminded us of the Bodies Revealed exhibit at the Imagination Station Science Center.  We were so lucky that they happened to be open on this fine Memorial Day!

On our way to the science center, a police car comes driving by while I am in my photographer mode.  Before you know it, the officer is insisting to take the photo so that I could get in the picture with the kids!  The kids thought the police was so sweet and thoughtful to offer to do this.  I think they loved to see the softer side of a police, since they usually notice a police when their car is speeding by with the lights flashing!

The kids enjoyed our walk over to the Imagination Station.  We are so excited that we can use our membership, at the science center at Balboa Park in San Diego.  

When we finally made it to our destination, all of the kids were thrilled to get into the exhibit, to see what the fuss was all about.

The girls and I were in heaven learning about the human body.  Rowan and Kierce were so interested in every exhibit, and wanted to read all of the information plaques.  I could definitely take the girls to another similar exhibit sometime, to spend more time learning about our bodies.  Merrick...

...on the other hand, well, he couldn't wait to move on to the tree house to play!  He tried his best to be patient at the exhibit, but as soon as we exited, he was off!  He was happy as could be once we reached the free-play area!

As we were leaving, the kids were so happy to have gotten away from all the hustle and bustle that our move has brought.  ...and so was I.

Marci's Camper

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The kids and I took a break from all the packing and moving sale prep to spend a day at Marci's camper.  It was so nice to spend the day with four of my best friends:  Candi, Marci, Julie...

and Velma with a mouth full of watermelon ;)  She's so adorable!

Merrick had a blast swinging, and absolutely loved wading in the water too!

If you asked the kids their favorite thing about visiting Marci and Ralph at their camper, I am thinking they was all say hands down the merry-go-round.  The best part is watching the adults try to make this old rusty thing go faster than a tortoise!

Someone brought these silly side burns and mustache set.  Julie??  It didn't surprise me to see that Kierce had got a hold of them!  ...very cute Kierce!  The best was when my friend Candi put the fake eyebrows on!  

Thank you so much Marci for planning a very special day with our best friends before our family sets off on our journey.  This is a day I will cherish in my memory banks forever, and am looking forward to many more days just like this one.