We headed out to California with the skiddos in tow. When passing through Indio we always go through the area where there are all the windmills to generate electricity. We never realized just how many were there until the skiddos kept saying, “there’s more, there’s more.” LOL

As we get close to the southern Orange County border this is our welcome:

We mainly went to see hubby’s dad, who was sent home from a nursing home to basically live out his life in the comfort of his own home. He is doing remarkably well considering they will not do the dialysis that he would need because his kidneys are beginning to fail. So, it may not be too long.

We arrived at Kevo’s house Friday afternoon. Kevo lives in a million dollar home. He is renting and got a great deal. You see the builder built the homes and could not sell any of them, so Kevo’s girlfriend struck a deal to be able to rent. He is very fortunate. The home is very nice except that you only have about 2 feet on each side that buffer you from the neighbor. And the noise is tremendous. Of course we live on acreage and barely hear any neighbor dogs, so any noise would be a lot to us.

Friday afternoon Pookie Pie and her son, our grandson MLR came over. This is my little smart-alecky cutie grandson.

The skiddos had a super time with MLR.

Then that night Boo, son #4, and his girlfriend came by to visit us. Then Mattress, son #1 and his girlfriend came by to visit to let us know his plans. He had a Yamaha motorcycle that he had to ride to get mileage (Yamaha pays him to test ride), so he would be doing that on the weekend. Here is the bike:

Saturday morning Mattress, Kevo, PookiePie, MLR and the skiddos and us went to see hubby’s dad. In order to not have to take too many cars, Kevo and Mattress rode the motorcycles. We asked Pookie if she wanted to ride with Mattress and she screamed “YES” and Mattress said, “It sounds like she doesn’t want to”… haha, ok you had to be there to get the full funnyness of it. Mattress and Pookie:

Kevo's Harley Davidson:

Anyway, the visit with hubby’s dad....…

Way back when he was a young man, he served as a Merchant Marine in southern Calif. He served on a ship called the SS Lane Victory. So we got on the net to see if we could get something from/about that ship. It would have taken too long, so we asked Kevo, son #2 to see what he could do. He went up to San Pedro on Thursday to check out the gift shop… he got there at 2:45 and even though they were not to close until 3pm, they still would not let him in. He went back on Friday morning and was able to get a book, a picture and a DVD about the ship and its history. THANK YOU KEVO! When we got to his house Kevo gave him the gifts and he just lit up like a child when he saw the picture and book. We sat there and watched the DVD with him. He was sooo happy which in turn made us all happy for him.

Then Saturday afternoon it was beach time. Kevo’s girlfriend Diz got to come with us with their dog… the skiddos had the bestest time.

J is not so sure about the water and Pookie is trying to get him to go in: He eventually got to the point where he was soaked of course.

That night I insisted on having Potato Cheese soup from Marie Callenders for dinner because we don’t have a Marie Callenders here. Mmm, mmm, mmm. Then finally a nice restful evening.

We hit the Denny's Sunday morning... MLR wearing uncle Kevo's hat and R doing what he tends to do best... digging deep for that bugger... LOL

Then it was time to set out for the park with the skiddos, PookiePie, MLR, Kevo and us. We went to a park that was just a flat grassy area way back when I was in junior high and high school. I used to walk through this park to get to school.

J was so cute, he would not let anyone carry his little tractor up the hill, he never stopped until he got it to the top either.

J thought the ducks were going to attack him:






I was amazed at this park. They had added some great landscaping, a skateboard park, a doggy park, duck pond and more. What a change from when I was a kid.

That night we had plans to hit Don Jose’s Mexican restaurant with Mattress, JDrums,/ son #3, Kevo and Diz, PookiePie, MLR and skiddos and us. We always hit the places to eat that we miss having the food from because they don’t have those restaurants here at home… LOL

It was a grand time and we got to see every kid at least once. My heart is happy to know how terribly blessed that I am ,beyond anyone’s dreams, to have the family I do.

Next on the agenda for Calif kids will be in August. We are going to be putting a round pen and we need to do heavy tractor work. So, Mattress and Kevo has volunteered to come on out and help. I have to start a list and draw out some plans of all the things I want to accomplish when we have the tractor. We rent a huge John Deere about 3 times a year to do the heavy duty yard work.

We raised the kids in first a 3 bedroom home (which was lost to a fire and we were only renting (more in another blog about this), then a 2^nd 3 bedroom home one block from the previous home, then a huge 5 bedroom home (just in the next tract from the previous house), all only 3 miles from the beach. I loved taking the kids to the beach, before they put a cost to being able to go there, unless I drove up the coast, parked about 3 blocks out and walked down the side of a sand filled hill to get there.

So, we would plant our blankets, our shade, the towels and our bags of toys and settle in for a day of fun. FUN I say! I start my routine…. counting…1,2,3,4,5,6. ok, I see them all. I spread out the toys…. 1,2,3,4,5,6.. ok, I see them all. I grab the baby strength SPF60 sun screen and yell at each kid to get them gathered and slathered. Then off they go toward the water. 1,2,3,4,5,6.. ok I see them all. I watch the 2 oldest as they venture further out than I want them to go. But I let them. Again 1,2,3,4,5,6. ok I see them all. And to think I made it through an hour of fun by then. By the end of my day, I am reminded how much the kids loved doing this by listening to their conversations about bragging rights of what they all got to do. Back home, I spray them off outside and they hurry in, change and are into the living room to watch tv. I spend the next hour emptying up the family vehicle of wet towels and all, then broom out what sand I can.

I would not be surprised if my husband would ask me the next day about what I was “counting” in my sleep. Haha!

I would not trade those days for anything.