Explanation for Two Week Blogging Absence

Ok, this family blog has been neglected for quite a while but, in my defense, we were on vacation. Plus, when I returned from vacation, I ended up needing a "vacation" from my vacation because I was tired. For two weeks I was indulged by having all kinds of assistance with Sam and Izzy B....the transition was hard, people...very hard. Anyhow, as I mentioned before, we spent two weeks visiting with friends and family. It was lots of fun. We had an opportunity to visit with folks we hadn't seen in over a year. Below are a few of the fun things we did with our favorite folks.

In an effort to prepare for our visit to Los Angeles, Isabella wore her sunglasses in expectation of the paparrazi:

One of our first stops was catching up with my old friends from Samohi....Sam was able to hang out with the Audet and Spriggs offspring....

The Zimon crew indulged moi in a visit to Islands. You cannot find an Islands restaurant in Northern California. For shame.

...not sure what was happening here but Charlotte and Sam were having a good old time...

Here, Nina Sandra indulges Izzy with her favorite drink at Chili's.

After a few days with my mom, we headed up to P-dale (that's Palmdale for those of you who are not cool) to my aunt's house. During our visit, Rey and Elan taught Sam how to appropriately apply sun block to one's body:


Tia Sonia came to visit us from Fullerton where she is getting her degree in opthomology....

We also went to Porto's, a Cuban bakery that been around for an eternity. We met up with family and here is Elan showing off his winning chocolate smile...

While there, we caught up with Bart, a good friend from high school:

More shenanigans occurred at my mom's place...there was swimming and....

Chicken fights! Elan and Rey lost. Every time. Never mind that I am significantly taller than Rey and that we are in the shallower part of the pool. They lost fair and square.

Papa would have been a good referee for the chicken fights but he was inside taking this picture:

Mama was doing the same thing...no wonder they are married:

The following picture is not my fault. Sam was running around the pool area and fell. This resulted in the following:

Below is Izzy with Abuelita, also know as "The Baby Whisperer"....whenever Abuelita is with her, she's a very happy gal.

My mom couldn't help herself....Can you tell she's Cuban? Anybody seen Celia Cruz?

Before our departure home, we spent one more day with Amanda and Kelli's kids at Seaside Lagoon in Redondo Beach.....


We also went by camp and introduced Isabella to our Tocaloma family....I've known these folks for twelve years. Crazy.


All in all, we had a great time! Thanks, Mamita, for letting us take over your house!