Trip to California - Oct 2-10, 2009

Instead of breaking our trip up into several littel blogs by the activity, this is one huge blog :)

Tim and I went to So California in October for my fathers memorial service. My dad passed away last April and my mom decided to wait until all of us kids could make it out for the memorial service. It was a beautiful service and my dad really would have liked it. It was really a special way for family and friends to honor Tom Menasco. For my tribute to my father, vist my post from the month of May 2009.

Since we had come all this way and not to sure when we will make it back, we decided to take in some activities. Taryn and Dan were on their cross country drive with the boys. They planned to reach So Calif a day or two after we arrived. They made it the day after we landed and found a hotel suite for extended stay with a kitchen, livingroom and bedroom.

We stayed with my best friend Jenni and her family for the first couple of nights. Jenni picked us up at the airport in Orange County. We stopped by mom's real quick on the way for hugs and then headed out. We had an early morning flight so we needed to stop for lunch. We stopped at a Mexican place called Miguel's in Corona on the way to their home in Wildomar.

Tim and I outside in front of Miguel's fountain.

My best friend Jenni and I - so happy to see her again :)


Tim and I with the famous "Bob's Big Boy". We went with Jenni, her husband Tim and the kids for the all time favorite Big Boy Combo. It was as good as I remember. The next day we were honored to attend Jenni and her family's church. After service we had lunch and then Jenni drove us back to my mom's house in Santa Ana. We stayed there for the remainder of our trip.

The next few photos are of our trip to Disneyland. My friend Lisa met Tim and I there and had passes for us. What a great friend! She hung out with us for quite a bit, we all went on Space Mountain our favorite! And a couple other rides. Then Taryn and Dan met a friend of theirs who got them and Brayden into the parks. We met up with them and took Brayden with us so Taryn could show Dan the park some. This was Brayden's first time to D-land and I was thrilled to have him with me!

This is the first ride we took Bray on, It's A Small World. Here he is waiting in line watching the boats come around. I'm sure he had no clue that he was about to get on a boat himself.

Here he is sitting with Tim, he was really just taking it all in. He seemed amazed inside the ride and was all eyes.

Riding the Carousel in Fantasyland.

The Jungle Ride, one of my personal favorites.

Waiting for the Disneyland Train. Since he had just come to know Thomas the Tank Engine and watches the show religiously, this was a really big thing to Brayden.

Lightning McQueen! Brayden's most favorite thing ever. He looked and looked at this toy. We didn't buy it cause it was priced so high, but he was ok with that. He did end up getting a Disney Cars shirt tho.

After a few hours with Brayden, Taryn & Dan were ready to go home. Lisa had already left us earlier and Tim and I were ready to explore on our own. Our passes were good for Disneyland and Disney's California Adventure Park across the way.

Here we are in front of the big Mickey Pumpkin Display at the beginning of Main Street in the Disneyland Park

In front of Cindarella's Castle all lit up.

Disney's California Adventure Park - One of the huge Billboards inside.

They have huge letters that spell out "California" in front of the gates to the California Adventure Park. This was my queue to have my pic taken with the first letter of my name :)

We were only at the park for a little bit. We rode the roller coaster a couple of times, its really a blast. Then we ate dinner out on some pic-nic tables. It was nice and so was the weather.

Brayden in Great Grandma's backyard with his souvenirs. His Cars T-shirt and a colorful ball with all the Disney characters. I'd love to take him again. By the time I get the chance I'm sure Logan will be old enough too!

A couple days later we went to Huntington Beach Pier with my brother Tim and sister Maury. We had a great day, the weather was beautiful and it was relaxing.

Here is a shot of the pier. The building at the end is Ruby's Diner. Its a 50's style diner with burgers, malts, etc.

Someone had a little set up whirlygigs for sale.

My sister Maury, Me and my brother Tim. The three of us havn't been together since my dad's surprise 80th b-day party.

Tim and I on the pier, sun in our face so we are squinty. The water looks nice.

There is Ruby's Diner, our destination at the end of the pier.

Here we are at Ruby's having shakes and malts. This is our reward for our walk to the end.

Mr. Pelican was just waiting for a fish and his picture to be taken. I was able to get pretty close to him and he didn't seem to mind.

My brother Tim looking for Ariel...

My sister Maury had to dip her toes, the Pacific is much MUCH colder than the Gulf of Mexico is all I've got to say!

One afternoon we went with my brother and sister to the famous In-N-Out Burger joint. This was my Tim's first time. We thoroughly enjoyed our Double Double's...I'm ready for another!

Some relaxing time visiting with family at my mom's. Here she is with Brayden & Logan. Logan seems to be saying "what is so funny?".

Here I am with Logan...the happiest baby I have ever been around. Such a cutie!

Great Grandma with Logan. He's such a good boy and was soaking up the attention.

Our next adventure took us to Laguna Beach. We met our friends Chad & Marie at their home in Costa Mesa, just a hop from Huntington Beach. We drove up the coast on the Pacific Coast Hwy to Laguna.

PCH on the way to Laguna Beach

This is the old hotel "La Casa del Camino" built in 1929. We ate at the rooftop cafe.

The view from our table atop the hotel. The day was perfect, not too hot, not too cool.

Tim and Lorinda totally relaxed. It was so nice to spend time with good friends, beautiful weather and spectacular view.

Friends at lunch

This is a view of the rooftop cafe from the back side...I believe we sat at the 3rd umbrella from the left.

69 steps down to the sand and bluffs

Tim and Lorinda on the Bluffs of Laguna

The beautiful Pacific Ocean...and ending to our vacation.

We back to mom's for the night. Mom, my sister and brother had already left. Maury back to Oregon and my bro Tim back to Delaware. Mom went with Tim to visit for a couple weeks. So it was just us, Taryn & Dan and boys at the house. My son Bret and his girlfriend Jamie came over and we all had a great time that night.

Bright and early on the morning we were flying out. I was trying to soak up every last second with Brayden. This was a very hard day for me. I still miss them all terribly.

THE END