California Dreamin....

Palm trees, water, sand, and roller coasters, only in Cali

After a couple weeks of anticipation, Anne and the boys arrived safely in California. The trip was pretty uneventful besides 5 or 6 trips to the airplane toilet with Kaleb, who did not sleep on the 9 hour flight until landing. There was also some protest from Ezekiel as to staying in the same seat that long and, well, by the end, we made sure the man sitting at the end of our four seat row that had moved there before we sat down thinking he would have more room, rethink that choice on future flights.

Hello California!

Upon landing, we were greeted by Nanna, Pappa, Aunties Rachelle and April and Cousins Joshy, Javon, Trin, Lele, and Nico. Kaleb couldn't be more excited, in fact he probably felt like it was a dream since it was the middle of the night on his body, and Zeekie treated it like a dream, trying to go back to sleep in his stroller despite the best efforts of his cousins to get him to wake up. The traditional 'welcome to California' In 'n Out hamburger was the next stop. We took it to go and ate at 'Home Again'. It wasn't long after that we all were fast asleep, and not long after that awake again. The jet lag 4:30 waking time lasted over half the trip. The good thing about Nanna and Pappa's guest room is that it has a TV and satelite. There must be other kids awake at 4:30 AM in California because there were plenty of cartoon choices at that hour for the boys, and Mommy was able to lay down another hour until it was time to go downstairs to watch cartoons. One of the first things Kaleb noticed about the cartoons is that all the cartoons that he knows from the TV here (they are the same but dubbed in German) speak English in California.

Cousin's dinner

Of course, the best part of California is visiting with family, and we had lots of fun doing that. In fact, it wasn't long before Kaleb, when he would get tired of being out and about would ask to "go back to California", which turned out to be his name for Nanna and Pappa's house. Make no mistake, visiting family also included some extra special trips to Sea World with big Cousin Kyla, and Disneyland (of course). There was touring all the new stores that have been built in Chino Hills since our last visit. This tour should become less as the years go, there cannot be much more room even in Chino Hills for another shopping center, however there always seems to be space for a new Starbucks!

The boys took full advantage of the weather, playing outside whenever they got the chance. Auntie April made that possible with many trips to the parks of Chino Hills. We got to know, "Zip line park", "Duck Park", "Our Park", and I think a couple more that I can't remember. If those names are unfamiliar to you Chino Hillites, they of course are not the real names but affectionate toddler names that are much easier to remember based on the best and favorite thing ever at each park.

Fun, Fun, Fun!


Of all the adventures, there was none so news worthy as the wild fires. We could see the smoke from Nanna and Pappa's house and we didn't have to drive too far to see the flames on the hills. The sight of the planes that drop the red stuff (that is the techinical name for the stuff they drop to put out the fires and has a red color) was enough to get all the boys excited and as long as the fires chose to keep away from the house, then it was a great adventure. This adventure was one that was fun to tell about when back in Germany because many of the Germans had heard of the fires on their news but thought that we couldn't have been to near as California is so big. Even our Pediatrician and Kaleb's Kindergarten teachers had said they thought of us when they saw the news.

Speaking of Kindergarten, another adventure for Kaleb was his visits to Javon's preschool, Chino Hills Christian Preschool. The teachers were a little worriied that he wouldn't have enough time to adjust, but they were put at ease when he walked right in the first day and started to play without looking back to say 'goodbye'. He had a lot of fun and when asked, his favorite thing was playing with the cars.

Our trip was crowned with Thanksgiving. It was small and quiet. the Turkey was delicious, as well as all the sides. The table was beautiful, and it made a great ending to a great trip.

mmmmmm!

Well, we didn't make it to the beach, or even into Orange County for that matter (once for a haircut, and once to visit Auntie Gina). We didn't get to visit some friends and family that we normally do, and we didn't make it to Taco Nazo. Please forgive us if you were one of those family or friends we didn't get to see. I won't make any excuses except that 3 weeks for us in California is really to short to do all we would like.

By the end of 3 weeks, we were all ready to be reunited with the other half of our family. Kaleb even started asking to go 'back to Germany' after talking with Daddy and Karis one night. The man at the end of our row on the trip home had a much better flight then the one on the way there, the boys slept most the time. Upon arrival we went directly to Oma and Opa's for a second Thanksgiving. It also served well to keep us awake. During jet lag I always swear I will not make that trip again for a long time, at least not with kids. Then I realize, kind of like labor, time fades the memory of physical discomfort enough to cause us to got through self inflicted physical torture sooner then later for the rewards that wait on the other side.

We had a great time, the only thing missing was Karis and Daddy. Lord willing, the next trip can be a family one. God Bless...

PS We also had some very fun days with Coronel Aunties, Uncles and cousins, including one wild and crazy overnight, but I have no pics, if you guys do (Aunties) please send us some.