Emily's first Road Trip

After Christmas we took a 5 hour road trip up north to visit some friends and family who were in need of a visit. First stop: San Jose to see Grandma Suzanne, Pat and Cindy and Brian. We didn't get to spend as much time as we would have liked, but it was great to catch up with my Grandma. We got there just before sunset so we could all go for a nice long walk, and Owen could get out of the car and ride his new scooter to a local park. He really needed to get out and run! Next, we headed to San Ramon to see Grandpa Norm for dinner and stay the night. We had an amazing Italian dinner at Dad's favorite, Frankie, Johnny and Luigi's. Owen LOVES Grandpa Norm. (Partly because he feeds him so well I am sure!)

The next morning we relaxed in Norm's beautiful back yard while catching up with a cup of coffee. Owen ran around like crazy while I got lots of love from Emily : ) She is a Mommy's girl. When she sees me, she reaches out and wraps her arms around my neck and squeezes tight, while slobbering all over my face, practically eating my cheeks. Love it.

There's my favorite toothless grin. Owen's mouth is full of food as usual. Next day we headed to my home town, Vacaville. We stopped to see my high school friend Cristina for a few hours. Cristina is one of my favorite people who always leaves me smiling. In fact my cheeks usually hurt after seeing her because I am laughing so much. After seeing her cute house, we headed to lunch to what I thought was my favorite Mexican restaurant in Vacaville (Murrillos). However, it wasn't how I remembered unfortunately. But the company was good : )

After lunch we walked through the Nut Tree. This has changed completely since I was a kid. The whole time was so nostalgic for me. I missed Vacaville, it had been years since I had been there for a visit.

These are the Nut Tree rocking horses I remembered from my childhood. They make me happy : )

Sadly, it was raining, but we made the best of anyway. Thankfully Owen loves playing in the rain!

I also used to LOVE to play in these when I was a kid.

My Little Bunny In the midst of all the fun Owen was having in the rain, he accidentally slammed his little fingers in the door of the animal wall : ( I know Adam hates it when I take pictures of the kids crying, but it's part of life and I like to have pics of these too. Sorry Owen, you will be glad to have these when you are older. : ) After a quick jaunt through the Nut Tree we were back on the road to Walnut Creek to visit my oldest friend Amy, her husband Brian and their three sweet boys. We have known each other since preschool!Their new house is beautiful and spacious, we felt at home, and Owen certainly loved it since there were toys galore around after Christmas! The boys were all really sweet and welcoming to Owen. They just warm my heart.Owen and I spent a lot of time playing ping pong on their new table. Well, actually he spent a lot of time chasing the ping pong ball all over the house after I hit it to him. He's still a little young for that game!

Owen and Jack, Connor and Ben

Awe.Back to San Ramon for dinner with Grandpa Norm.

Emily loves to sit at the table with us when we are eating. She can't wait to eat lots of real food with utensils all by herself.The Next and last day we headed to Santa Clara to see My Grandma Pat and her husband Paul (who will be 95 this week!). It was a short visit as Grandma wasn't feeling great. But it was good to get some hugs from her and catch up a little bit before she had to lay down. We also got to see my Aunt Pat on her lunch break briefly which was nice. I hope we can all spend more time together again soon. But not looking forward to any more long drives with kids. Finally we made it home safe and sound. The drive home wasn't too bad and seemed a little faster than on the way there.

Emily looks like a little Pope here with her Papal hat and staff. Owen thought it was funny to put her hat on her head when we got home from our trip. It was pretty funny looking. Sorry Emily, you can delete this when you are a teenager. ; )