Xavier's First San Diego Trip

July 11th: Flew to SD with Xavier to introduce him to the family. We got in very late, but Grandma Gonzalez stayed up late to see us and her new grandson. Now there is someone to keep the family name.


July 12th: Family gathering with Tomas's family. Catherine, Corienne, Camille, Kyle, Jacob, Adeline, Andre, Nikki, Arya, Desiree, Pablo, Serina, her boyfriend, my mom, Shelly, Braden, and Terri came to visit. It was nice to visit and see the kids play. Serina made margaritas, Catherine and Grandma Gonzalez made food, Corienne brought dessert and while Tomas played with the kids, I caught up with Terri. It has been many years since I had seen her. She has an ever changing job and now does research to improve outcomes in stroke patients with a vascular cooling system. Cool! It was so nice of Shelly to hang out and bring by my mom and Terri. Braden is sooo cute and smart. It was weird to see the little pictures of Chad come alive in him. The last time I saw him was in the delivery room.
We stopped by at Chad's and dropped off the kids. Mom was so cute playing with her three (of 4) grand kids. I even got pictures of her on their riding toys. I was really impressed with Braden's ability to ride his motorcycle (with training wheels). Even on the rough dirt and up and down cement slabs. It was great to talk with Chad and hear about his new ideas. He always has a plan. Now I got to hear a little about his back yard design scheme. Several individual grills for guests to cook their own is a great idea, and I hope he gets the rest of the play yard items for the play yard that will be in view of the Bar/Grill area. If this doesn't work out, it will be because he has a better idea.
That night, Tomas and I got to see Michelle and meet some of her friends. We liked them a lot. No surprise.


July 13th: We had Xavier's Birthday party at Brad and Lisa's. What a perfect day, everything came together nicely. I was surprised to see all the people that helped bring food and set up. Brad and Lisa went above and beyond making it so nice, nothing needed to be done when I got there. Lisa ordered the cake for me and had the party theme placed on top. It had strawberry and lemon between the layers. Everyone liked it, but some of the kids said it looked a little like peanut butter and jelly. Many people came from afar and everyone saw Xavier for the first time. We had fun in the pool, catching up and taking pictures. Vava and my aunts got a little rowdy while taking the pictures in front of the house. Xavier was a little shy and clingy to mom, but went to Uncle Gene in the pool, spent some tome with his grandma and took two naps. He did not get cranky because he was able to sleep in the pack'n'play in the master bedroom. We did not have a good time to open presents, so we opened them later. TY cards are on the way. It was also nice to meet Ashley's baby and boyfriend and Berdine's new husband. It reminded me of the holidays I spent with family before moving away. Lots of chatter, lots of people and hugs, good food and leftovers. We are starting to have little kids again with all of the new great grand kids. My cousins grew up and are hardly recognizable. For a while there it was different with just adults and teenagers. Now they are graduating, getting married and starting lives of their own. Once again I did not recognize Barbara. I hope it is not too long before I get to visit again.


July 14th: After sleeping in, now to pack up and drive to Gene and Babette's. We went with mom, great idea. It is so nice having her around. We wanted to see our friends up there and did not want to go out to dinner, so we met at Gene and Babette's. It was so nice of them to host a last minute get-together. We enjoyed seeing Camille, Kyle, Jacob, Adeline, Eddie, Stephanie, Maya and Isaiah. The girls played well with Polly pocket. Arianna was given a lot from Chelsea that she saved from when she played with them. It is so nice to keep in touch with Eddie and Stephanie. We found we had much in common with the new children in our lives.

July 15th: Disneyland! We got ready in no rush, but we had to make a pit stop at Mervyn's for shoes. Mom helped so much in caring for the kids. The shoes I brought were not right for my outfit. We still got there in good time and met Chad, Shelly and Braden there. It was nice and hot, but not too terrible. Arianna got a pirate hat (no surprise). Xavier slept in the stroller while we went to Dumbo and The Tea Cup rides. Braden and Arianna kept mom busy. Later we checked out the New innovations exhibit and Xavier liked playing with the water. He even got his face wet in the kitchen exhibit and loved it. Tomas showed us the Utube video of the segway fall. They were letting people try them out. To me, it was just tv screens everywhere and projectors of videos. Who needs that stimulation? Whatever. Then in tomorrow land, we went on the Matterhorn. It seemed jerkier than when we were kids. Braden was scared of Darth Vader on the stage, but after the Car track, Arianna watched the whole show. She was shy, but wanted to learn how to use the light saber too. While Xavier was napping we split up and I went shopping while the rest went on the boat in Frontier land. We then met up for ice cream and checked out the Haunted House. Arianna was not scared. It was not appropriate, for the little boys though, so they hung out with Shelly and Vava. The Pirates of the Caribbean was fun for all. Xavier really liked it. Arianna wanted all of the pirate stuff in the store, so she could play pirates with Zoe at home. Toon land was next and maybe not our favorite after the longest line ever for Rodger Rabbit. We finished up with dinner at the Pirates of the Caribbean ride. It was nice once Xavier was asleep. Sorry everybody that was trying to have a nice meal. It was getting late and after the Fantasmic show, a little shopping and off to bed at Gene and Babette's for some very tired tourists.

July 16th: Take it easy day. Sleeping in and packing up. Nice continental breakfast from our hostess, Babette. We hit up In-n-Out on the way back to SD. It was Wednesday family dinner day in Old Town. So all we had to do was get back and be ready for this. Tomas had work to do, so he tried to fine Internet. Not really available in Ramona. I went with him to do my reading and took a nap, I was so tired. The kids stayed with my mom and were ready to go when we picked them up for the dinner. Tommy's restaurant, Casa Guadalajara, was amazing. The carnitas were fabulous. I finally got to see Maggie, Angela's daughter. Yeah, she is little. She did choke on a chip (like Xavier does) and needed the baby Heimlich. It was the first time I did it and to my surprise, it worked. Jana, Johnathan, Catherine, Andre, Arya, Desiree, Pablo, Grandma Gonzalez, Corienne, Giselle, Cloe, Michelle, Jeremy, Chandler, Jeremy Jr. and Isabella were there too. It was like old times at Casa de Pico. Chloe got along with Arianna, and also hard to recognize. She is taller than her mom.

July 17th: Beach Day. Yeah, I get to see Robbie! I haven't seen him in years. Tomas, Arianna and I went first to pick up Robbie and Chloe from all over west and south SD. Then we met up with Shelly, Vava, Braden and Xavier at the beach in Del Mar. It was a little overcast, but did not keep the kids out of the water. Xavier made friends with the sand. His second introduction. The first was at the Baylor exhibit at the Fort Worth Zoo. He did like it and played with Braden in a sand hole. Arianna played with Chloe and Tomas made a sandcastle with Arianna. I got some time away with Tomas for a walk on the beach. I picked up some rocks for my guest bathroom. Our day ended with burritos at the Del Mar taco shop Tomas and I went to before we were dating. Bean, cheese and rice is perfection. Also a nice view of the estuary. We had to drop off Chloe and Robbie. Hopefully it will not be so long before we meet up again. At least we have cell phones and texting. This night was for going out with the adults to a brewery, but all were tired and we picked up the kids at Vava Ray's. Her and Andy have done so much to the house, but it still feels the same. Xavier even discovered the sugar in the kitchen sugar jar. It is the same one I used to dip ice cubes into when I was single digits.

July 18th: Just enough time to pack up and get to the airport. Tomas had to meet with guys from work in Sorrento Valley. I gave Xavier lunch at the nearby food court and Arianna helped. Arianna had to help at the airport pushing the stroller and did great, except she ran into the side of the escalator at full speed. Her and Xavier were alright. He didn't even cry. We got home late, but we still stopped at for Thai food at about 10:30pm. Once at home, showers and bed. Good thing we had the weekend to recover for extra naps.

July 19th: Tomas unpacked and watched the kids while I slept. I later put the stuff away with Arianna as a helper. We were pretty lazy and I took another nap. It felt so good. Tomas is and has been such a great help.