California Trip

To celebrate Roger's (Blayne's dad) 70th birthday in style Jane (Blayne's mom) had been planning a surprise party for months. Our presence was to be a big part of that surprise. We'd thrown him off the scent by telling him he had a big present from us-- a trip to the World Soaring Master's with Blayne right after his bday. What Jane didn't plan on was Roger injuring himself and blowing all of her plans to get him out of the house. So, in a desperate move we told him Blayne was coming out to help him get ready for the trip they'd be making soon. So, as Roger picked Blayne up outside the San Diego airport Erin and I hid out inside with my parents (who'd scheduled a cross country vacation to be able to make it to the party). Then we spent the night at Ken and Marcie's (friends of Jane and Roger's). That's where this first shot is from. Erin loved the fountain. The only problem was that if I let her get near it she immediately splashed all over and completely drenched herself. A moment of glory-getting soaking wet here...

The next day it was Blayne's job to get him out of the house all day long so we could clear out the hangar and set it up for the party. Once we got the "all clear" we headed up to help set up. Thanks to a great crew of friends moving planes, setting up tables, decorating and helping to cook food everything came together beautifully!
And this is what surprise looks like! He was completely shocked to see over 100 people in the hangar celebrating his big day!
The dress code was "cowboy casual". Since we have nothing to fit that description Jane bought us both shirts to wear for the party. Here we are sporting our cowboy fashion.


Erin's always cute in gingham-this regular part of her wardrobe (from my mom) fit perfectly for the party. I love this shot of her and her daddy.
After Blayne and I sang a few songs, we had Roger come up and join us for a few songs. Then my folks came up and joined in. It was great fun. This was actually the closing song of the evening. Since I was recruited I got my mom up as well. It was so much fun to have both of our folks together. I'm so thankful they get on so well!
Here's Erin with her excessively proud grandparents. She just loves all of them! As I type this she's looking over my shoulder and saying all their names.

Here's Erin swinging with her "Pop"

Grandmother ventures down the slide with Erin. We had loads of fun at the playground there at Lake Riverside.
We also got to go the San Diego Wild Animal Park as Marcie's guests. We had a ball there. The gorillas were amazing and we actually witnessed feeding time for the lions which was incredible. I just loved the giraffes. And during a show we got to see a cheetah up close. It was a great treat to be there with Marci and her daughter Kim! We also got to meet up there with our Colorado friends, Phil and Relissa who just recently moved to San Diego. They were able to join us at the park and then headed up to Jane and Roger's with us for dinner so they could hang out with Blayne too. Blayne and Roger spent the day getting ready to leave on their trip to the soaring masters the next day. So here's our zoo group: Relissa & Phil in the ears, me holding a squirmy, un-happy Erin next to Marci, and up front that's Kim and Jane.
For those who don't know, Erin is obsessed with the Wiggles. And her favorite song is "Everybody clap, everybody sing...." Here we are singing before bed one night in Mom and Dad's room.

After Blayne and Roger left for their trip we had some wonderfully mellow days enjoying the pool and the lake and the playground before we headed back to Colorado. It was such wonderful trip.

For where this is incoherent, I'm sorry. It's very late (for me) and I thought it would be better to post pictures with some text that hopefully makes a little sense rather than to post nothing at all. I promise to post new video soon of Erin's alphabet and counting obsessions. It's hilarious! All our best to all of you.