Okay here it is!

So I’ve decided to write about all the activity!! Simple breakdown with some viewing pleasure here and there thrown in.

Friday 7-08-05:
Late at Night – Drive to Bakersfield. Try to wake up Cassidy. Fail. Go to bed.

Saturday 7-9-05:
Day & Evening – My Aunt Carol’s wedding was beautiful. Just beautiful. I have to admit when Jarrett walked her to the arch I got a bit teary eyes. My aunt Carol deserves this. She is so happy and looked stunning and her new husband, Jerry, and his family all are so nice. All of us are happy for her. Her time to be treated like the amazing woman she is has come and I wish the two of them all the happiness in the world. 🙂

Unfortunately my camera ran out of batteries at the very end of the ceremony so I wasn’t able to get pictures of my family pretending like they know how to dance. (kidding, they all dance quite well ;))

Evening – We spent time in the coolness of Ambers house and caught up with her and the girls. Bakersfield is hot. Very hot.

Sunday 07-10-05:
Day – Drove to Oceanside.

Evening – Sushi. Mmmmmmm

After sushi we went to my dads boat to let the kids swim in the glowing harbor. The water would literally glow a bright green anytime anything in the water moved. Watching the kids jump off the dock into the water was great because the water three feet around them glowed bright enough to LIGHT UP the night. Now, granted the Red Tide is nasty and stinks and is very dangerous so we were constantly saying DON’T SWOLLOW THE NASTY GLOWING WATER. But it was still fun to watch. And so far none of the kids have grown an extra head or leg and no superhuman powers have revealed themselves. Perhaps if we’s let them drink the water… Anyway, no pics. Camera was not charged yet. I’m still kicking myself in the ass over that one.

After that the first of many glasses of red wine was consumed.

Monday 07-11-05:
Morning – BEACH!! Cassidy went farther into the water than she’s ever gone before. She was in waves up to her chest. Prior to his she’d go in to her ankles and that’s it. She was EXHAUSTED by the time we got home. She’s come up to where we were sitting panting from the work of fighting the waves. But she had a blast. And I owe a huge thanks to Finn because she was just trying to keep up with him and that has really put a huge dent in her fear of deeper water.

Evening – My step-sister Danielle had us over for a BBQ. It was a lot of fun. The kids had a blast playing and cooking smores. My dad BBQ’d us steaks the size of New York and then we sat around the fire lambasting The President and drinking more red wine. I think this night was the first night the tattoo idea came up. Her house is awsome and has a gigantic back yard. My favorite part being a huge fire pit perfect for gooey marshmellow goodness and sitting around to verbally bitch-slap our brilliant leader.

Tuesday 07-12-05:
Day& Evening – We went sailing on my dad’s boat. It was fun. There wasn’t a lot of wind but it was cool because it was the first time I’ve been on the boat and actually sailed instead of just motoring around. Ben took the helm for a bit and did a fantastic job. After we docked we had burgers and salad on the boat. It was just my dad, Cherie, Ben, Cassidy and myself and we all had a great time.

Wednesday 07-13-05:
Day – I actually spent most of the day sleeping because I had been fighting off a cold since Sunday. I had horrible sinus drainage and my throat was sore and all the activity was not allowing my body to heal. So while everybody went out shopping and to the beach I stayed home to get some rest. It helped, after that I started feeling much better and by the nexd day was pretty much back to normal.

Evening – We had Reid Family Taco’s. And our parents met for the first time!! That was great. We’ve been wanting them go get together for a long time and I’m glad that we were finally able to work it out. Everybody got along well and the dinner was a great success. And we had Taco’s. And they were smoothered in chili sause. And they were good. *drools a little* Oh yeah, my dad and Ben made Sangria… It was niiiiiice.

Thursday 07-14-05:
Morning – Breakfast with Ben’s parents. Yum. Cassidy went to see Fantastic 4 with the rest of the crew while we ate.
Evening – Watched Captian Ron. Cassidy spilled red wine on my dad’s white carpet. 🙁 I think we were able to get most of it out. Thanks goodness.

Friday 07-15-05:
All Day – Fishing!!! We had a good time. Well, Cassidy and Brenna got sea sick for about 1.5 hours but Dramamine and taking them into a jetty and out of the bigger rolling swells seemed to fix that. After that little bump the fun continued. Ben and I both caught one fish each but they had to be throw back. Mine was not a good eating fish and aparently Ben’s was poisonis… so I guess technically it wasn’t a good eating fish either. The kids caught the most and were having all the luck. Jordan even caught an EEL! It was cool looking but it got away and I don’t think we’d have kept it anyway.

Night – Tattoo’s. Danielle, Jennifer and I went and got our tattoo’s. I was originally planning on doing stars on my ankle but after talking to two of the artists it became clear that what I wanted was not going to be possible and look good. So Danielle suggested I get the lotus they were getting and I’m really glad I did. Danielle’s is on her right forearm, Jen’s is on her lower back and mine is on my ankle. It’s still a little scabed but as soon as it heals some and I can shave that spot again I’ll snap some pictures for ya. 🙂

Saturday & Sunday:
Disneyland. I’ve been posting for awhile so I’ll have to finish this up later and really, it deserves it’s own post because it was SO much fun. But you can see all the pictures of Disneyland on Saturday and California Adventure on Sunday. And once I’m done with Harry Potter I’ll go into details. 🙂

I want to say a HUGE thank you go my dad and Cherie for this vacation. It was absolutely the BEST vacation I’ve had in YEARS. All three of us had just a fantastic time. Thank you for letting the three if us stay with you ON TOP of the five people you already had there. And for all the fantastic food, and Disneyland and… just everything. It’s something we will remember and cherish for years to come. I love you both and thanks again. 🙂

And now, back to Harry Potter!!!