Monday, July 21, 2008

Butterflies, Beaches and Bollywood

We had a great time visiting the Birds in California. I have to admit I was slightly apprehensive to drive there without Jared. But we arrived without problem. Getting home was another story, I'll get to that later.



It was wonderful to spend time with Malea and her family. We took the kids to the Natural History Museum, got lost walking the beautiful streets of San Marino, played at the beach, ate Armenian chicken, shopped, stayed up until the wee hours of the morning, and watched Bride and Prejudice-a Bollywood take on the classic. (I highly recommend it). Here are a few pictures of our adventures.



The Fabric District









LA Traffic




Natural History Museum











Manhattan Beach-Yep...Still cold in July...

I have always considered myself a beach person. HOWEVER it is very conditional-like over 80 degrees outside air and water temperature. It was in the 60's that day-Okay maybe it reached low 70's for short spurts. The kids didn't mind though. :) We saw dolphins too!





We had a great time! Our drive home went relatively smooth. We stopped at a rest stop in the middle of hell (somewhere between Indio and Blythe). The temp read 117 degrees. A desert wasteland. The bathrooms were clean-but the flies were horrid. Yuck Yuck Yuck. I was so afraid of overheating that I drove without AC for about 20 miles. Thankfully everything was fine until....................Tempe. Then without warning the Suburban's engine just cut out. This happened to us in Utah too. This is how it went. Driving in heavy traffic at 80 miles per hour then car loses power-then I put it into Neutral trying to cross into the far right lane (at a descending speed, and turn the ignition hoping it will start again. I had to do this about 20 times. I got off the freeway and put more gas in (it was down to only half a tank) and drove home the rest of the way without problem.


I will miss Malea and her family, but it is nice to be home. My schedule is filling up again with photo sessions. The kids start school in a couple weeks :( and I start classes again at the end of August.


Saturday we painted Hannah's room, and I took engagement pictures.



3 comments:

dhillman said...

Looks like a good time was had by all! Except Jared! :) He is a good guy, like the one I married. He let me go off and have fun too!
I wish I had figured out that you were gone, before you were back, and I could have fed him or something. I have been too involved in my own world.
I can't wait to see Scot and Julie do for their invite.
No more trips planned? Just getting everyone ready for the school routine!

Me said...

Sounds like you had a great time. The beach sounds like a grand idea. The announcement pictures are really cute. Have you not seen "Bride and Prejudice" before? We actually have it and enjoy it tremendously, especially "de cobra dance." I will talk with you later.

Anonymous said...

It looks like you had so much fun. Hannah is so cute and Sadie has grown a lot since I saw her last.I liked Bride and Prejudice too. I saw it 2 summers ago at the Bellistons. See you guys soon.

-Kat