labor day at Great America

Labor Day weekend was NUTS. Tim had a bachelor party all weekend so I left him behind in Santa Barbara while I headed to the Bay Area with the bird and the dog for the weekend. Saturday was spent all day at the Delta in the boat, Sunday was spent at the Double Wedding Extravaganza.

Dev and Adri on the boat // Daisy loves the Delta!

For the actual day of Labor Day, though, we went to Great America, because we're patriotic like that (that, plus my mom had tickets that were going to expire and we could celebrate my brother's birthday early, since it was on Wednesday).

 It was Guest Appreciation weekend, which meant we got XXL t-shirts upon arriving and there were fireworks shows on Saturday and Sunday (that meant nothing to us since it was Monday, but still). It was not all that crowded, which surprised me being that it was a three-day weekend. We were able to ride the majority of the rides with less than a 5 minute wait.

It was close to a kajillion degrees outside when we got there, so the first thing we did was ride as many water rides as we could manage. There were a good number of them at Great America, so we got a good soaking. I made sure to ziploc bag my camera (I didn't bring the waterproof one with me because we LEFT THE CHARGER IN MAMMOTH), and my brother thought it was funny to shoot through the bag a few times.

Their rapids ride was probably the most fun water ride in and of itself (and we got SOAKED), but we had the most fun on the log ride. There were five of us there (my parents, my brother and Adri, and me), and we crammed all of us into the little log. It, ahem, wasn't made to hold that much weight, so it kept bottoming out. My brother and Dad also kept leaning one way or the other to make the little log canoe rock, and we almost capsized. TOO FUN!

There should be a weight limit on the log ride, but there isn't. We took full advantage.

The future Schultz couple thought the hot dog stand's name was funny and apropos.

Our dorky family, minus Tim, obviously. Missed you babe!

By the time lunch was over, though, the sun had snuck behind some ominous clouds and our choice to do all the water rides was slightly regretted.  We then remembered the free t-shirts I'd been toting in my backpacks so we changed! Ahem--in the middle of the park. We're dorks like that.

My parents on the gondola across the park

I thought this was hilarious. My brother (in the middle), mom (behind him), and I (in the very front right) all have the same face. Mine was staged, but theirs wasn't haha

Waiting in the longest line of the day, 15 minutes

Memorial Day Weekend 2013

SO Memorial Day weekend was fun.

You may remember that weekend almost two months ago when Tim and I packed up the family cabin and got ready to pass the keys on to some new owners. Well, long story short, (instagram friends may know this already!) the sale fell through, so Tim's mom is looking again for new buyers.

In the meantime, temporarily, the use of the cabin is ours again. Just in time for Memorial Day.

We headed up to Lake Nacimiento friday after work to soak up some rays and catch up with family (This of course means consuming TONS of food and wine, lake-style. Fire up the BBQ, baby!) There were about 24 of us up there at any one time, so it was quite the show.

The community up there hosts competitions on holiday weekends, to keep the little kids occupied. Year after year, the "big kids" (aka adults) all want in on the action as well. As you can imagine it's quite a bit more physical than the little kids..

Sunday afternoon, Tim's brother Bill, sister-in-law Kate, and 13-year-old twin nephews Liam and Colin joined us up at the cabin too. It was so fun! There was driving practice on the golf carts for the twins, water balloon fights, and of course just general horsing around. Those kids LOVE Uncle Tim!

Gusty winds kept us from actually doing any watersports (Memorial Day can be so unpredictable!) but we still managed to get some time in the boat with Bill and Kate and the boys.

While we were out riding, though, we had a little run-in....

Yep, we got pulled over! They were shooting what looked like a training movie, so pretty much everyone out on the water got pulled over for something minor and got "warnings" on tape. It freaked the twins out though! haha

uh, dad???!

We fished (and by "we" I mean the twins and Billy), sunbathed, swam, and caught up. Perfect weekend!

Colin caught a little catfish! Billy made him kiss it; gross!

Kate and I catching up and soaking in some vitamin D!

Their Doxie-uaua Louis. Cute little chubby guy!

How was your Memorial Day?

my partner in crime is a college graduate

Preschool graduation, circa 1996 maybe?

 Not much has changed.

My sweet not-so-little-anymore brother graduates from San Diego State University this weekend with a degree in Mechanical Engineering. I am so beyond proud of him.

Although he finished his degree in December and has had his diploma for months, the whole ceremony makes it so much more official, am I right?

Congratulations, Devo; we love you!

New York! Part 1

The short version: Our entire "first day" was spent in airports/traveling. Two flights cancelled due to mechanical difficulties, three airport transfers, two delayed planes... The long version is too boring to get into but needless to say we made it to NYC!!

Tim had found us a Midtown apartment through Air BNB, so we stayed there rather than at a hotel. Super cool!

 

Two really crappy, dark, "its 2AM and I've been traveling all day but want to document our room before we mess it all up" photos. Gotta do what you gotta do.

It was a third floor studio walkup on 39th and Park, just a few blocks from Grand Central Station. The apartment was cute, full of midcentury charm. You know, original crooked floors, minuscule and adorable kitchen, marble and wood everywhere. I kept having flashbacks to the Crooked Apartment in "How I Met Your Mother"...

Rest up for tomorrow's a big and full day!

See Part 2 Here!