15 Pictures from California!

1.   Saturday morning I made it out for a run and overdressed for the 60 degree weather… which felt extremely nice after the winter runs at home lately.  It was windy and I wasn’t running through this loose dirt area (that felt like running in the sand) for a very long time but even doing it for a few minutes resulted in every muscle screaming at me.

2.  I wish cameras could accurately display how hard the hills we run are… I did a few of these long hills and they were hard but according to my camera this one looks easy;)

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3.  I could get very used to breakfast at Andrew’s grandparent’s house.

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4.  The kids got to work on their big wheel riding.  One of my VERY first memories of life was a day at preschool where we all brought our big wheels to class and had a race with them.  Maybe that is where my love for races all began?!

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5.  They also got to work on their bball skills.

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6.  I worked on my cheerleader skills on the slide.  Followed by a very competitive round of HORSE with Andrew afterwards.

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7.  A big plate of greens and chicken for lunch afterwards.

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8.  And of course a snack from one of their three candy drawers…   we need one of these at our house!

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9.  Andrew’s grandpa wanted us to watch this movie with him and it was SOOOOO good.

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10.  They were busy making cakes/hot chocolate/pizza with the toys in the house.

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11.  And then we had a very tough game of hide and go seek;)

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12.  Andrew has an aunt that lives about 30 minutes away from where we were staying and they invited us over for an amazing dinner.  Gotta love it when kids fall asleep for a nice nap at 6 pm;)  They have been waking up in the 5 o’clock a.m. hour since we got here which has also been super fun;)

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13.  Andrew’s aunt made us the best panini ever.  The sauce she used was TJ’s pumpkin bbq sauce and I need to go buy 5 bottles of that now.  It was so good.  There were also sweet potato fries and homemade apple sauce!

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14.  For the grande finale—>  HOMEMADE BLUEBERRY FRITTERS.  They were everything and more.  It’s going to be hard to eat a store bought fritter after having these.

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15.  And of course Brooke found a new dog bff.  She is the prettiest Akita with the softest coat… I think we need one of these too.

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What is one of your very first memories?

Do you ever run on the sand?  

What is the best part of your Sunday going to be?

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26 comments

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Looks like a great trip! Big Wheels are a ton of fun. Too bad I outgrew mine :) I have lots of great memories of running around in our backyard in the summer, and going in our pool. I would live in that thing all summer long.

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I’m the youngest of 4 and one of my earliest memories was when I could not say my Rs. My siblings would tell me to say nurse and purse and other impossible words just to torment me!

Honolulu marathon today! I am awake at 3:30 am and I’m not even running it due to knee injury. My husband is on the cycling team that escorts the wheelchair racers – they go out 5 minutes before the runners at 4:55. We are about a half mile from the start line and I can hear the crowd from here! I’m heading to Diamond Head to see them come through. Gingerbread pancakes at Cinnamon’s at the Ilikai when it’s over. (You definitely need to go to Cinnamon’s when you are here in January – try the Guava Chiffon pancakes, out of this world! I need to work on a must try food list for you…)

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I am so so sorry about your knee injury Kathy but I am so glad that you were able to be out there and cheer on everyone! I will HAVE to go to Cinnamon’s, THANK YOU for the food list. You are the greatest! Now I’m craving those pancakes! Hahaha yep, my older sibling tormented me too! I guess it is there job?!

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I remember my hot wheels! I had the strawberry shortcake hot wheels, I used to love it and it was so cute. I miss the 80’s! lol

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Okay, that is the hot wheels that I always wanted. That is awesome and that was such a good time!

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My mom always made our birthday cakes and I remember wanting a mickey mouse cake and she made it for me. I think I was 2 or 3. I have before and it was hard. Not a lot of sand in Waco, Tx but a ton of hills. Today the kids have a Christmas choir program at church and we get to pray over 12 ministries our church is giving back to this Christmas.

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The best part of my Sunday will be decorating gingerbread houses with the two older kids. Sadly, the rest of the day I’ll be preparing to go back to work tomorrow, maternity leave is over :(. I have this fear that the baby will think the nanny is his mother since she will be with him for 11-13 hours each day while I am at work…this is the first time I have ever had a full-time nanny. When my older son was a baby he went to daycare starting at 8 weeks and somehow knowing he would have two or three caretakers in daycare kept me from worrying that he would “forget” who his mother was.

I’m jealous of your morning run! I got out yesterday for my first walk/jog interval without the baby stroller and even though I am so out of shape and it was 30 degrees out, it felt great!

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That fritter!!!!!

And as much as I loved all these faces within the pictures, simply seeing the sunshine, grass, sidewalks, shorts, bare feet and the like ~ lifted me to another happy place. ;-) Vacations are awesome for that!

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I’m jealous of your endless adventures and free time.

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I think my earliest memory is watching my grandpa build us a swingset in the backyard. I couldn’t have been more than five. He was great at building things. We had nine kids in our family, and he built us a huge banquet style dining table, and long benches that had storage inside. We used to hide our vegetables there. I hadn’t thought of this in a long time, so thanks for the memory!

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What a lovely weekend so far! I <3 that Brooke loves every dog equally.

My "friends" made me run the first leg of the Beach to Bay relay in Corpus Christi. R-U-D-E.

I think one of my very first memories is hanging out with my Memaw (that's southern/Texan for "Grandma") and her cat. I don't remember the cat liking me very much… eep.

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I always wanted a Big Wheels as a kid! I was always excited when a friend let me use one of theirs.

Looks like you guys had a great day with family.

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Um … Can you have Andrew’s aunt do a guest post and share that blueberry fritter recipe?!? Good work! :)

Best part of my Sunday is going to be relaxing at home while it’s SNOWING outside! This week (and this weekend) has been so busy and I’m so excited to curl up on the couch this afternoon with some hot tea and some trash TV while the snow falls beautifully outside!

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RIGHT!?!?! I couldn’t stop watching her make them… she is a professional! She cooks amazing food and she is a run… we get along great ha. I am SO glad you got to have a relaxing day and enjoy the snow!

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My earliest memory was riding a tricycle around a track with my dad as he ran laps. My mom says I was 2.

That fritter looks sooooo good, and I love the kids on their Big Wheels in BARE FEET! They must be loving the warm weather! :)

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I remember getting lost in the hallway when I had to go to the bathroom at night. *earliest memory* I have and very indicative of my future life.
Also I love big wheels. And I don’t run on sand yet. But next week I will. #fridaymoving

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That fritter looks amazing.

I am with Brooke on dogs – so many to love.

I wanted strawberry cake for my third birthday and my mom made vanilla. Neither of us or my dad liked vanilla so I don’t know why she made that. (It probably had chocolate frosting, though). I got a strawberry cake every year after, as well as a chocolate ice cream roll.

I occasionally run on the hard packed sand during the summer.

We decorated the tree today.

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Janae, you seriously lucked out in the in-law department!! I could get used to visits to sunny southern CA and amazing eats!!

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I really lucked out all around somehow!! Thanks Michelle! I hope you had an amazing weekend!

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I have a memory of riding my big wheel at my grandparents. It was a “General Lee” like the car on Dukes of Hazzard…………..hot item in 1987 I am sure!

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SUGAR DADDIES?! OMG! Sadly, I can only eat Sugar BABIES now because I’m afraid of pulling fillings out of my teeth(and I’ll do ANYTHING to avoid unnecessary dentist visits!), but Sugar Babies are pretty darned good, too :)

Having a candy drawer is such a “grandma/grandpa” thing, and I LOVE it! :)

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I remember on my birthday in kindergarten I brought cupcakes in for the class I couldn’t reach my teachers desk so I placed one on her chair. She didn’t see it and sat on it. Oopsie!
Had the best day with my niece yesterday. We went to six flags great adventure to get season passes for next year and went on a few rides while we were there even though it was 33 degrees. Then we went shopping.

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Oh. My. Word. That blueberry fritter!! She wouldn’t want to share the recipe, would she? Oh yum!!!

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The best part of my Sunday was putting up our tree while watching White Christmas. We do this every year, but this was the first one with our new addition. He followed me around in his walker “helping” while I strung the lights. Then he found a stocking and some bubble wrap, so he was all set. :O)

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That homemade fritter looks amazing. These people are your people. I just wish they were my people now too. Ha!

Big wheels and Teddy Ruxpin is my childhood. Do you remember him?

Okay. After catching up on your blog posts, we need a hang out/lunch date stat…maybe before you have to leave again? Please :)

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All that food looks soo amazing!

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