It's hard to believe, but it had been three years since our last family vacation.
THREE YEARS!
Can you believe that? (I think it had something to do with all of the travel we experienced for Survivor the previous 3-4 years. We were just kind of "spent." Translation = Dawn/mom came home SPENT and just couldn't drum up the enthusiasm to get on another plane, train, or automobile.)
At any rate, my point!
We did it! We broke our "No Summer Vacation" streak and went to California last week.
And I'm so glad we did: it was a BLAST!
We were able to visit family, spend time at the beach, swim, shop, eat way too much, and see a lot of LA attractions (including World-Famous Traffic!).
This vacation reminded me why I love traveling: you get to experience new places AND gain a greater appreciation for your own life/home.
PS: Thanks to our family for hosting us and helping us have a great summer vacation.
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| Dave-man at Huntington Beach. |
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| Lu boogie-boarding for the first time in her life! She was great, too. |
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| Jr, Zu, Papaya, and our cousin D boogie-boarding at Huntington Beach (on a gorgeous day). |
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| More boogie-boarding. |
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| Zu and Jr heading out for their 5th hour of boogie-boarding. They LOVED it. |
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| More Lu. |
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| Bam let us know Jr fell fast asleep once we left the beach and headed home. (So funny. He was exhausted.) |
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| Bam collected hundreds of shells during low-tide. |
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| It was an awesome day for collecting shells. |
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| Roadtripping through Los Angeles (in a TON of traffic, PS). |
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| Shopping in Venice--after swimming at the beach. (With cousins.) |
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| Playing card games with the cousins (and their dog, Jack). |
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| Lunch in Venice. |
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| Shopping at Olvera Street in LA--across the street from Union Train Station. (We took the yellow line there. Way cool.) |
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| Shopping for jackets on Olvera Street. |
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| Jr gets a luchador mask. |
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| My brother and his son shopping. (Best purchase: A Dodgers shirt in Spanish, "Los Doyers.") |
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| Jr and cousin K shop. |
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| Olvera Street with Jr, K, my dad (L front), my brother (R front), and Dave-man! |
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| Lunch at Olvera Street. |
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| Union Train Station. |
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| Zu at my mom's hair shop. |
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| Papaya getting her hair done by her Aunt (with cousin K) there. |
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| Lu getting her hair done, too! |
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| K and Lu after hair appointments. |
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| K and Papaya after hair. |
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| Funnel cakes at the Street Fair. |
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| Hot Dog Dinner at Gpa's house. |
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| Visiting Dave's brother and his family--we love and miss them a TON! |
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| Dave and his brother lived in the same home as college guys. And they had a ping pong table IN their home back then, so ping-pong is their go-to game whenever they meet up. |
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| Dave challenged our nephew J--he's a quadruplet. For reals! |
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| Playing volleyball (passback) in 100+ degree weather and humidity. |
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| More volleyball. |
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| Bam v. cousin J. |
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| Dave, his brother, and all of the kids. With the dog, Nut-Nut (Nutmeg). Dave thought it looked like a team pic, so Pat (brother) added the trophy. So funny. |
