DAY ONE: No photos to prove it happened.
Why? Because I left one of my cameras on the plane - yep - MAJOR ugh. There is still hope that we will get it back, so cross your fingers. Anyway... We flew out the day of inauguration and we were actually able to watch the entire thing because we were fogged in for about 8 hours at SeaTac. Bentley was AMAZING! We had several people come up to us and say "I have seen you here all day with your baby and I can't believe she has not been crying" (or "I can't believe how good she is being!"). Bentley is quite the social butterfly, when we finally began to board the plane, she was talking it up and smiling to the passengers all the way down the aisle to our seats. She even received a little certificate documenting her first plane ride from Seattle to Las Vegas. Yep, Las Vegas. We had to switch planes in Vegas, so I love that it looks like Bentley's first plane ride ever is to Vegas... what kind of mother am I?
DAY TWO: Woke up in the OC and Bentley greeted her Great Nana and Papa with loads of smiles and noises. My sister-in-law came over and Bentley got to meet her new cousin Olivia who was born January 8.
Telling Great Nana a story
"Hi Olivia"
DAY THREE: We had a relaxing day of hanging out with Great Nana and Papa... well, everyone except Drew :) Drew donned Papa's work clothes (and Nana's belt) and got to work stripping the several layers of varnish on the front door. The day concluded with mandatory ice cream, jeopardy and wheel of fortune.
DAY FOUR: Bentley got to meet her Grandpa Hall for the first time at his home in Sun City. She was SO fascinated by him! Wide-eyed she just stared and stared at him (I think she liked his glasses). My grandmother Cleo passed away recently and my dad showed me all kinds of things he had saved. She had even saved all the letters I had written to her since I was little and the several I wrote to her from my college dorm. My favorite thing my dad showed me was a sketchbook my grandmother had filled with her fashion drawings in high school. They were seriously flawless, and amazing. Bullocks, a department store, at the time, actually hired her out of high school to create some designs for them.
DAY FIVE: We trucked on over to Venice Beach in "Blondie's Buick" to meet our friends, Colin and Shiho and their daughter Ame (just a little over a week older than Bentley). Both of us couples arrived in true "twinsie" style. Drew and colin were both wearing matching red sweatshirts and Shiho and I were in matching grey Uggs! Shiho got me to try these Mexican things called "Pappas"? (oh nuts, now I can't remember the name) anyway, they were super yummy and I finished it off with an Arizona Ice Tea. (What I just said is so my Grandma Blanche (Nana), to document and tell me everything she ate for the day - ha!) We watched the skateboarders along the boardwalk while we ate lunch. And then perused Colin and Shiho's old stomping grounds in Culver City and had to get some bubble tea - and oh Bentley wanted some for herself. She has a strong grip and with teething, bubble tea seemed to suit her. I love these photos. We then went into this fashion boutique - a favorite of Colin and Shihos - and while we were there, Bentley and Ame were facing each other. Bentley started doing this grunting growling thing to Ame, and wiggling her arms and legs, trying to communicate with her but little Ame's face started to scrunch up and she burst into tears. Bentley wasn't sure what was going on, she just wanted to talk to her little friend. This happened three more times.
Bentley also decided to take up piano later this day. She would pound on the piano a few times with both hands and then hold her hands there, listening to the "chord" and then sometimes continue with one hand or both. She was fascinated.
DAY SIX: Bentley finally got to meet her other cousins, Madelyn and Matthew and her uncle Matt. We met them at Centennial Farms in Orange. Bentley watched a milking of a cow (wait, doesn't she see that everyday? just kidding - no comments please. ;) ) and see a few llamas, pigs and experienced the texture of hay for the first time. Later that night we went to their home in Anaheim and my sister-in-law, Judy's mother was there. She is like the baby whisperer. Despite Bentley being super tired, Rosa had her laughing and giggling with her rapid Spanish. It was so cute to watch. Then Isabel came home (Judy's niece) and Bentley got to meet her too.
DAY SEVEN: It was time to go home today, so we made sure to finally pose for family portraits. She also took time to smell and feel the grass and loved the California oranges. We were super sad to go, and the week really did seem to fly by. Bentley did an amazing job on the plane on the way home too... I have no problem flying with her again :)
Time to fly home...
4 comments:
HI Guys! The pictures are awesome of the Cali family. The ones with dad look great Bentley is really taken by dad! WE ALL enjoyed looking at them and had such a great time with you guys. We wished we were closer and really enjoyed the time you spent with us. We loved meeting our bubbly little Bentley.
Great update! Love the pictures. I think the story about Ame is my favorite.
Don't worry about being a bad mommy - I have a picture from 1989 of my parents (who were just a few years younger than you are now) dressed up in black and white stripes, with a sign that says "Tijuana Jail". If you look closely, you can see two little blue eyes peeking out of the mass of black and white.
That's right. A fair picture of my parents and me in the Tijuana Jail.
Perhaps I should clarify, haha. By "fair picture" I mean that the picture is from the Puyallup Fair.
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