Back in October we were able to head out to California to visit our families. My parents and little brother live out there, and Jason also has a brother and sister there too. Since Jason gets a week off for fall break, we figured it would be a good time for a trip.
We also planned this trip so that we could be able to see my "little" brother Nathan march bagpipes for his senior year of high school. Marching band is something I did all 4 years of high school, so it has a special place in my heart. I really wanted to see Nathan march one more time before he graduates, and it was so fun!
We drove out on a Saturday and got into Fairfield around 8pm. Considering we were traveling with 2 little ones, things went better than they could have. (And that was including 2 blowouts, and a 40 minute scream fest as we left the sierras.)
Marley was so sweet to her sister in the car. Whenever Kenzie started fussing, Marley would talk to her and try to make her laugh by making silly faces or singing a song. She is really the sweetest big sister. So we treated her to some cinnamon twists...
The next day was Sunday, and we got to go to the ward I (sort of) grew up in. (I grew up in 5th ward, then got moved to 1st ward in high school, then 5th ward was dissolved and 1st ward is now mostly full of 5th ward people.) It was great seeing lots of familiar faces!
After church we had a big family dinner with all my aunts and uncles and cousins that live in the area. Some of them I hadn't seen in over 2 years, so it was really lots of fun! And I got to play lots of Scum with my cousins, which made the whole trip worth it.
Monday we headed to Apple Hill, which is such a fun place! It was a bit of a drive, but so worth it when we got to have caramel apples, fritters, and pie! I also got some salt dough ornaments from a stand that we've been buying from for over 20 years. I love family traditions! After a long day in the car, we came back to grandma's house and played with Uncle Nathan's old trains.
Tuesday we went to visit some Fairfield staples. We took a tour of the Jelly Belly factory, and then had lunch at Joe's Buffet. I also got to go through some boxes of old stuff from the garage, and it was fun reliving old memories...but I mostly threw away crap I couldn't believe I had saved all these years.
Wednesday we drove in to the city to visit Jason's siblings Heather and Mason. It was quite a drive to get to where they live, filled with lots of traffic, but we had lots of fun visiting them. We don't get to see them very often, so its always a treat! They took us to lunch at our favorite place, BJ's, and we had our ultimate favorite dessert...Pazookies!! We hung out for a bit, then had to say goodbye so we could beat traffic.
Once we got back to Fairfield, my mom and brother watched the girls for us so Jason and I could go out to dinner just the two of us. That hasn't happened in a LONG time, and after so much time in the car with the kids we REALLY needed a break! We went to Chevy's to enjoy some flautas, and they were delicious!
Thursday we had a slow day and mostly relaxed at my parents house. We brought lunch to my mom at her school and ate with her during her release time. When her kids came back from lunch we went with mom inside her classroom so they could meet Marley and Kenzie. They were all really happy to meet the girls, and thought they were really cute. Marley brought the house down when she decided to sing the ABC's for everyone and all the 4th graders clapped and cheered. It made Marley so happy, she sang it to them one more time.
Friday we met up with a dear friend for lunch at Round Table for the buffet. I was so happy we got to meet up with Zuleyma! We were such good friends in high school, it was great to catch up. It was also great to have some of our favorite pizza too.
Saturday was the Del Oro band review. We got to see Nathan march his bagpipes, and Marley had so much fun watching every band go by. She kept exclaiming, "INSTRUMENTS!!" The weather was kind of cold and rainy, so we didn't stick around for awards and drove home early. We stopped for In-n-Out in Davis (it always tastes better in California!) and then took the girls home for naps.
We had such a great visit with my family, it was sad to leave! Both the girls had SO much fun getting to spend time with everyone.
Thursday we had a slow day and mostly relaxed at my parents house. We brought lunch to my mom at her school and ate with her during her release time. When her kids came back from lunch we went with mom inside her classroom so they could meet Marley and Kenzie. They were all really happy to meet the girls, and thought they were really cute. Marley brought the house down when she decided to sing the ABC's for everyone and all the 4th graders clapped and cheered. It made Marley so happy, she sang it to them one more time.
We can't wait to have them all come out here for Christmas!!
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