.5-iversary!

Monday, January 25th was our half-year anniversary. It was a delightful day, celebrated with a Teppan Yaki dinner in Visalia. It is true what they say...time flies when you're having fun. A unique experience for us both to be sure.

Sandy Eggo

This weekend presented a rare opportunity for an longer travel than usual. David and I headed out of Fogville Friday evening after work and headed south. We stopped more than midway to San Diego (in Buena Park) to sleep and get an early start on finishing the drive Saturday morning.
We made it to SD by 8:30am and had ourselves some breakfast down at Seaport Village. It was a beautiful view and we were amazed that just 24 hours before, we were at our foggy workplaces back home.
We trolled around for a bit and decided to take the USS Midway tour. This awe inspiring experience was well worth both the time and money. It is truly unbelievable for those of us that have never served, to see the way that others lived.
For lunch, we travelled over the Coronado Bridge to Coronado Island. After a filling lunch amongst the other tourists, we drove the Silver Strand and circled around to our hotel in National City. We pleasantly finished our evening, having checked into our hotel, at a local bar/restaurant where we had a filling meal, consumed some spirits, an watched some football with the locals.
Sunday was buzzing in San Diego. The Chargers had made the playoffs and a home game was slated for 1:30pm at Qualcomm Stadium. We, unfortunately, did not have tickets, but it was a cool experience to be among the buzz. So many jerseys, flags, and fans everywhere you looked. We did travel to within a mile of the stadium, but our destination was the Mission San Diego de Alcala.
The mission is a moving experience. It is so very old, despite its restorations. It feels very blessed just to be within it. It also allowed me some wonderful photographic opportunities. A particular memory I hold close to my heart, was to light a candle and kneel to pray at the alter with David. He is such a very kind soul, and I am sure that we shared our prayer of familial heath, longevity, and thankfulness.
In leaving San Diego, we had a particularly fun send off. We managed to be on the freeway right next to Qualcomm at 1:30pm. We had the game on the radio and just as we passed by, 4 F-18s out of Miramar Air Base did their flyby. Fireworks, plans, fans, and commentary....definitely gave us our final San Diego smile before we headed out on what turned out to be a very rainy drive home.

Borges Disney Adventure Part 1

This day was fabulous surprise for the kiddos.

At the end of Christmas vacation, the kids had gotten used to staying up late, sleeping in later, and lounging around in pajamas. This posed a problem with surprising the kids with a trip to the magic kingdom. How do we get them to go to sleep early, without telling them why. Our solution:

GRANDPARENTS

We told the kids that we were going to Bakersfield for breakfast before daddy had to go to work at 10am (I know...sounds ridiculous to an adult, but to a 10 year old, it is totally plausible...lol). They believed us and excitedly went off to bed at a reasonable time, ready to wake early in the morning for some family time.

4:30am came very early (moreso for the kids). However, it was a blast to tell them that daddy wasn't really going to work, we weren't really going to Bakersfield, and instead we were headed to DISNEYLAND.

****Blank Stares****

They didn't believe us!!! I swore to them that I would never use DL to tease them, but even still I don't think they really bought in until we passed Bako and headed up the grapevine. Then came the smiling faces, the excited questions, and the OMGs!!!

It was a beautiful day and thanks to the glorious Fast Passes...we had such a marvelous time. The kids rode absolutely EVERY roller coaster and at the end of the day, Anthony surprised us all when he actually asked to ride Space Mountain (up until now, Anthony would not get on anything even remotely close to a roller coaster). It was a huge day for all of us and some serious quality family time. I am so thankful for the blessings I have been given.