California Dreamin' - Part 1

Mark and I took some time to visit my parents in California for a little over a week.  My "cousin" Tami was getting married and I was hosting a bridal shower for my sister the next week so we were going to kill to birds with one stone, as they say.

I didn't take the other 2 boys because I didn't know if I can handle two bickering boys and a baby so decided to just take Mark with me.  In retrospect, I should've taken them all.  My parents would have loved to see all 3 of them together.

Day 1

We left for the airport Friday morning bright and early at 6am. This was what breakfast looked like that morning.  Mark did so well on the plane.  He played for most of the trip and fell asleep until we landed. 

Of course, we headed straight to my parents' donut shop! After a donut..or two, we decided to get healthier and had some cherries with Poh-Poh and Yee-Yee.

Then we helped Yee-Yee clean up.

We played with some of Yee-Yee's old Barbies.

Took a nap with our favorite "donut blankie."

My brother came over for dinner. Mark and Ben sort of played together.  Love that expression on Ben's face. And yes, Mark was in his PJs the whole day.

Day 2
On Saturday, we went to have breakfast at the donut shop and then over to my brothers house to hang out.  We decided to head out to the farmer's market, which is heads above what we have here.  The weather was awesome for strolling and food tasting.  And I didn't have to worry about getting bit by the stupid bugs.

That evening, we went downtown and had dinner with my sister.

Mark took this picture at dinner - a little blurry, but not bad or a 2 year-old.

Day 3
We walked over to my brother's house - about a 15-minute walk.  Ben and Mark played.  Sometimes well, other times? Not so much.

 But look how cute they are.  They were sharing something yummy to eat - maybe some melons?

That afternoon, we drove 3 hours to Sacramento for Tami and Chris' wedding. Oh my word it is HOT in Sacramento in July!  Still not as hot as Texas, but hot enough to give the groom's grandmother a heat stroke. And that actually happened.

The wedding was beautiful and the bride and groom looked very happy.

Mark, Owen and little Addy took to the dance floor and boogied down for hours! They took a quick break to eat and were back on the dance floor right after. It was hilarious.

I love this picture. It looks like they were doing some sort of choreographed routine, doesn't it? And I love how serious Owen looks.

It was so hot, the cake started to lean over to one side.

I told you I was serious about the heatstroke.  Paramedics came to attend to Chris' grandma in the middle of the reception.

Felicia dropped her sunglasses and was very sad that it broke.

More dancing picture.  This kid was serious about his dancing. 

Day 4
We slept in a little and went to Starbucks with my mom to get Mark his yogurt parfait and his chocolate milk.  On our way back from the wedding the night before, he had a huge meltdown because we stopped by Starbucks and didn't get him anything.  Huge. Epic. Meltdown. I felt so bad about losing my cool (and I totally lost it) that I promised him another Starbuck's trip in the morning.

Day 5
We spent the day running errands for Sandi's wedding - meeting with decorators and finalizing her cake order.  Then we met up with my brother and his family for dinner at one of my fave restaurants that we've been going to for over 20 years.