Heavy on words

Okay, okay enough already...I know that I have not updated this blog since my vacation. There is a number of reasons for that...I FORGOT my camera at home and I am the mom of 4 kids who are just plain busy! So, Yes I have been a bad blogger.

So I will start with a run down of my trip....

Telling Liv that I was leaving on an airplane just did not work...she cried and cried because she wanted to go with her Papa and her cousin Jada to California ( we had been there in March) so I quickly changed the story...I told that I am going to go to the hospital and they are going to fix mommy again. Eyes wide she was okay with it and told me to have fun and she will be waiting when I get back. I know this may sound cruel to some of you but over the last 3 years I have had 4 surgeries. So at this point she was okay and could wrap her little mind around it.

Next, I had to make sure everything was ready for the other kids, Carter was leaving the nest to stay with a good friend and Mikey was staying with another family friend.

We left for the airport with even enough time to stop for a mocha. At this point it could not get any better!! A 2 hour trip to the airport with no kids in the truck was a vacation. The only whining was coming from me for the next 4 days!

Breezing our way through the airport. No huge car seats no over sized carry ons full of food, toys or colors. Just me ,my purse and a few gossip magazines. This time the Vrieling Family did not have 13 security containers or 5 pairs of shoes to take off..as I looked over I saw a large family ( of 5! ha ha) trying to navigate their way through security. I really did feel for them but a smile had descended upon my face a sign of pure relief that at this point in time I was KID FREE!! Whoo-Hoo!

We both slept on the plane, ordered a drink , took a nap and prepared to land in Sunny California! When we landed we walked calmly to the baggage claim with no kids in tow crying to go potty or get a drink. We smiled at each other as we got to the baggage area as to say...this is going to be fun and relaxing but we do miss our kids...what!! I was not thinking that! He might have been but I was smiling because I was not screaming at Olivia to stay off the baggage carousel or telling Matthew to quit pulling his sisters hair.

We made it to our destination and was greeted by Jeremy's wonderful cousins! I really need to share about just how close this family is. These cousins are still so close even though they are in their 30's. We see his California family more then we see mine who live in the big town of Ferndale. It is just amazing. The love they have for each other it such a blessing to all!

After having dinner with the California Family we left on Friday afternoon for Hollywood. We checked in at the hotel and then went to Saddle Ranch Bar for lunch. This is place where reality TV stars hang out...we did not know this at the time we just liked the prices and the atmosphere. We ate lunch then went back to the hotel. We met up with more family and then went back to Saddle ranch for dinner and drinks. The place was crowded...there had to have been 1500 people there. We found a table outside. When we where seated I noticed that Keisha from Big Brother 10 was sitting next to me. I Love big Brother and have watched all the seasons so of course I was star struck! At her table was Steven from Big Brother and the CBS producer for the show. We talked for most of the night. She even slipped and fell right next to Jeremy who had to lift her up. We did not see anymore famous people. Our hotel was next to the The Sky Bar and Johnny Depp Viper room but no big stars to report of. I don't think I would really notice anyone even if they did walk right me.

Saturday Morning we went downtown to see the Hollywood Stars. We decided to take a tour to see all the famous peoples houses. The tour was 2 hours and that did not give us enough time to be back in time for the wedding so we opted to take the 1 hour tour around town. It was my mom in law, aunt and Jeremy along with myself. When we started the tour I should have known that it was not going to take up to see the stars...our driver was CRAZY!! Everywhere he drove he would say look through the gates and you can see this..look way over there you can see the Church where Roy Rogers went to church for 3 years. Look over there and you can see the apartment where Julia Roberts lived in Pretty women. He was such a nut! Here's where it gets good. He proceeded to get on the FREEWAY in the TROLLEY! now keep in mind we are sitting on park benches with no sides on the trolley going down the freeway at 70 mph as he starts to tell us that we can see Capital records form the freeway! WHAT THE HECK!?? You are risking my life so I can see a large building from my seat!?? Scary! I looked over at Jeremy and told him if he dared tip the idiot I would be mad. After this I did not think it could go from bad to worse. He spent 25 minutes talking about Stucco houses. He was telling us that in California there was stucco houses on every street. All four sides to the houses where stucco. He then proceeded to sing " I am stuck on stucco and stucco is stuck on me" I was half irritated that Paid for this "Star Tour" and half laughing that I was not the only sucker who paid for this.

After that we went to the hotel to get ready for the wedding. What a stunning wedding that took place a the Wattles Mansion. It over looked the entire city. we had a wonderful meal and drinks. Of course after the wedding we went back to Saddle ranch where we shut down the place.

Sunday we checked out and went back to Kelly & David's ( Jeremy's cousins where we had been staying) to get ready to go to another cousins for dinner. On Monday we went to breakfast on the beach and played in the sand & water.

I started to miss the kids...I am happy to be home with the kids but I hate this weather here. The tree' are beautiful and as the seasons change I love it! It does not feel like fall in California.

They have pumpkin patches down there. They take put up huge tents in mall parking lots, throw sawdust down and put pumpkins all over...the kids get so excited! I wonder when they would think if they saw our pumpkin patches where pumpkins grow on vines!