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month of glory: day 13

six flags magic mountain. i took this picture as our tram was pulling away at the end of the day. oops.

dear lisa, you are simply the best. we love you.

month of glory: day 12

day 12 kicked off with a trip to visit newborn amelia in the hospital. here she is at a wee 3 days old. babies are such a miracle!

the kids were so proud of themselves for being old enough to hold their cousin without any adult supervision. congratulations, joey & sarah!

we spent the afternoon in hollywood.

here they are comparing hands to shirley temple.

my cousin lisa got us some VIP tickets to el capitan to see mars needs moms. the movie didn't fare well in the press, but i thought it was so fun!

here we are at the old-fashioned disney soda shop next door killing some time before the show.

this is a rootbeer freeze. muy delicioso.

i used to love the walk of fame when i was younger. can't believe i'm old enough to bring my own children now. it's wild.

thank you, auntie lisa, for an amazing afternoon!

oh yes we did.

month of glory: day 11

month of glory: day 10

we woke up sunday morning in sierra madre- we are traveling animals! originally we had planned on meeting sarah & joey for brunch, but surprise! her water broke that morning and she went into labor. WELCOME, AMELIA! (i'll save that for another post). here we are enjoying froyo before brunch because the wait was too long - do you spy deanna & rylan?

cute little restaurant in south pasadena.

nothing like a little buttcrack in the morning.

it was the perfect day for kidspace museum- lots of sunshine and lots of breeze. what would've been even better is if we could've hopped over to the rosebowl flea market that was going on next door. someday!

month of glory: days 7-9

here we are in the 909. riverside, to be exact. my paternal cousins live there, and we went to spy on them for a few days. my little cousin stacey went to pâtissière school and now works at the cupcake shop at mission inn. we popped into her work one night and even got a surprise tour of the bakery. the cupcakes are delish!

here's sung. he used to live with us in portland and the kids absolutely adore him. he tells them funny stories about what it was like to live with their crazy selves and they die laughing.

the tops are cut off, dried, and crumbled to make topping, did you know that?

so proud of you, stace!!

hi, jina! i used to make jina brush my hair while we watched tv. i made her my hair-brushing slave and she loved it. now she is a voice coach and works with talented children. how times have changed.

have you heard of john's incredible pizza? it's pretty dang incredible.

one night stacey created this gorgeous homemade fruit tart and we had a chic flick fest. i am so spoiled, it's ridiculous.

thank you, sweet cousins, we love you.

ps. check out the awesome party we went to on the 9th. happy birthday, john & josh!

month of glory: days 4-6

after 3 days in vegas we parted ways with the maternal side of my fam and hit the road to cali in a trusty rental car (kia forte). first stop: my dad's house in apple valley.

there sure is a lot of water in this particular section of desert (answer: man-made lake)

my dad's office. he has promised to help me drop 20 pounds. when this happens i will let you know and give you his number. :)

since both my dad and stepmom work during the day, we had a lot of time to kill. that meant hours of aimless wandering at the local super target and lots of vitamin d consumption at a nearby playground.

we also hung out at the victor valley mall which is possibly the lamest mall ever. there were some shady characters hanging about, i was actually afraid at one point.

thank goodness for scandia!

and for three square meals a day of homecookin goodness. yum.

 

month of glory: days 1-3

we met the fam in vegas for a reunion long overdue. caleb was the only child at our last getaway and that means 2 things: (1) it's been that long and (2) i can see why people think 1 child is enough. just kidding.

creatures of terror.

miniature creatures of terror.

but i am powerless against this face.

the children left the pool only to pee, poo, and sleep and if i'm being honest, not even then!

aw, we miss you, daddy.

by the way, happy birthday, old man!

here's a picture of the house. it served us well.

here we are at gameworks on the strip.

dinner buffet @ the cosmopolitan

not a bad way to start off our vacay. dear family, i love you. love, sonia