Just call us the Grizwalds...

Every year our family tries to get away for a week

and go to CALIFORNIA!

And usually this trip means a very short and sweet
plane ride
from the Salty City
to those Golden Gates!
However this year was a little different...
Troy, Jaylyn, Hallie, Avery and I
DROVE to Cali...
And let me tell ya,
IT WAS BRUTAL!
Let me back up for a sec...just in case you caught that or didn't, Kasey was left out of the list of family members that went on this trip.
Why you ask?
Well she made the High School Volleyball team
and their first two games took place the very week of our trip. So she made the very sad but very good decision to stay home and play with her team!

And I only say sad because we missed her so very much! But I will also say I am so proud of her that she cared so much about her Volleyball, that she would give up a trip to Cali...

Okay, back to the road trip.....we thought it
would make it

easier for the kids, to break up the
ELEVEN HOUR DRIVE
to Cali by stopping in Vegas for a night...
So we hit Vegas hard,
trying to fit in all that we could in the few hours we had
to spend there~
and then it was off to Cali the next morning...
Now this is where the
BRUTAL
part comes into play!
The drive from Vegas to our Hotel in Orange County
took about 4 hours~it felt like 20!
Honestly I don't know why? But it was bad!
I was dying! The kids were dying!
And we were killing Troy

by complaining every five seconds!
I said, and I quote....
"I will NEVER drive to California AGAIN!"
end quote.
Once we were finally there, we dropped off our bags
and went to the airport
where we met up with the SMARTER half of our party
who FLEW there!
Nana, Papa, Ty, Nicco, Kandace, Jett, and baby Axyl...
(Kandace's husband Tyler couldn't make the trip and we missed him very much)

So here goes our trip in a NUT shell.
The first thing we did was eat at our favorite
restaurant in Cali...
~EL TORITO GRILL~
Not to be confused with El Toritos.

They are not the same restaurant.....very different in fact!
The above picture is of our whole party
after lunch.

Then we were off to Balboa Beach~
intending to do a little shopping, but the kids just wanted to play in the Pacific...
and really
who could blame them!

It was absolutely
BEAUTIFUL!

How darling is this pic!
It's probably my very favorite picture from
this trip!
After we convinced the kids that there would be more time at the beach
we walked around the shops
and we all chose the multi~million dollar houses we wanted
along the beach

I guess you could say we were

~CALIFORNIA DREAMIN~
Okay, that may have been a little cheesy

but it fit!

That night we celebrated Troys birthday at
BENIHANNAS...
It was delicious as always!
HAPPY BIRTHDAY MY LOVE!


continued....next post

Grizwalds part 2

The kids just had to have more time at

the Beach.

So the next day we spent it all there!

Only this time we were at Newport Beach...

Ty and Troy decided they just HAD to have

a skim board

so they went and bought one.

Which in most cases wouldn't be that big of a deal, but in this

case it is!

Let me break it down for ya...

First and formost, we don't LIVE by an Ocean.

Second, it was EXPENSIVE!

Third, it is now sitting in my home~USELESS! AND it

still has

SEX WAX on it!

And last but not least, Troy wants to drive to Cali again

so he can bring the board in the car!

I'm sure we can fly with it sweetie! NO MORE DRIVING!

I will say one good thing about that board~

They had a ton of fun on it

and Troy still has the SCABS to prove it...

Avery couldn't take another minute in the Sun

He was cooked!
What a cutie...

The next day we did

DISNEY...

It was an absolutely perfect day

for an amusement park!

NO FLASH PHOTOGRAPHY~PLEASE!

Honestly I didn't know when I took this picture

that we weren't suppose to take pics?

We were on the New
PIRATES of the CARIBBEAN ride

which is exactly like the old Pirates of the Caribbean ride

except for the addition of

Captain Jack Sparrow~here and there...

I love this ride as did Avery and Jett. Ty, however looks

like he REALLY LOVES this ride!

A quick stop in Toon~town (Nicco's favorite!)

Me, Jay, Hallie, Nicco...

And what would a trip to Disneyland be without meeting

Mickey Mouse himself?

It would be the norm for us. Usually the line to meet the mouse is

sooooooo long

we don't usually wait!

But this day, we walked right into see him

and therefore we got a picture with Mickey...
I heart the land of Disney!

From L.A. to Burbank....

We spent the next day with Leno.

And it was COLD and very fun!

By cold I mean inside the studio~ Jay likes it nice and cold

and cold it was!

Jamie Lee Curtis was the "Big Star"

She was pretty funny and she looked great! She's really come a long way, considering the fact that her mom was PSYCHO!!!
(GET IT?)

Okay I'll leave the jokes to Leno!

The other star was some ex~football player

and I can't remember his name?

He was ok....he didn't get much air time and he was

a little dry.

I also can't remember the name of the musical guest?

But anyway, even thought the guest list

was a little weak

it was still so much fun to see how it all works.

And my S.I.L. Kandace

was chosen to go down to the stage, before the show started and sing!

She was AWESOME
and she got a Tonight show hat...

To be Continued...next post

Grizwalds part 3

CONTINUED...

After Leno, we headed to the hills of

HOLLYWOOD

I have many times been to Cali and have driven down Hollywood Boulevard

but I have never actually gotten out of the car and walked

along the stars...

And it almost didn't happen this trip.

We were all so tired and really just wanted to get back to the

Hotel to sleep.

But we decided to just get out of the cars for a sec

and take a few pics...

and let me tell ya, it was well worth it! It was an absolute

RIOT!!!

Troy and Papa stayed in the cars so they didn't have to try to park.

And just as I was getting out of our car, I looked over at Troy and this huge face was looking at me...hence the above pick.

So I lay down in front of Sharron Stones star and this crazy

marijuana guy comes behind me

and Kandace, who is taking the picture, cuts of the star

and captures the leaf guy!

And sweet little Hallie is a

BIG and by big I mean HUGE

fan of Michael Jackson...

Well I should say she's a huge fan of his music...I don't think she really knows

what to think of him as a person?

But the music she LOVES!
So needless to say, she was thrilled to pose by his star!!!

The last day in Cali was Avery's 4th birthday

HAPPY BIRTHDAY BABY!

So we got him his first Rolex..............

Okay, maybe he didn't get a Rolex ~YET~
But he did get toys and clothes

and he was just as happy with that!

And then we ate one more time at

El Torito Grill

and it was even better than the first!

So the trip was over for the SMARTER half of our party, as they

effortlessly boarded a plane~

we said our good~byes

and we, the not as smart half spent the next

TWO FREAKIN HOURS

in a parking lot~oh I mean FREEWAY in L.A.

So the once 4 hour drive from Cali to Vegas

turned into a 6 hour drive

from Cali to Vegas...

Yes we were DYING!!!

NEVER again will I drive to California!
Anyway, we again found ourselves in Vegas and figured we would

make the most of it, so we walked

through a few Hotels on the strip until we could take no more....slept for a few hours, walked the strip again in the morning and then headed

HOME SWEET HOME

Zoo...

Yesterday, Troy and I decided to take our little baby

Avery to the Zoo...

It was an absolutely PERFECT day
for the Zoo.
It was almost like we had the whole place to ourselves...
The white Alligator was Avery's very favorite animal.
The girl that was there, telling us about him
said that Avery and him had a lot in common
because they each have a mutated gene
that causes the Alligator to be white
and Avery's hair to be RED...


When we first came in the gates to the Zoo,
the greeter gave Avery a map
of the Zoo and honestly
he didn't put it down.
He directed us through the whole place and
had a marvelous time doing it!



It was really a great day
just the three of us
It's usually six of us, so I think a little just Avery time
was much needed...