When the Maddos Came (Thursday & Friday)

On Thursday, Amber really wanted to go downtown to see the Hollywood Stars.  We've never been sightseeing downtown, so I didn't really know what to expect.  Never again.  It was crowded, dirty, and every five steps we were bombarded by people trying to get us to take a tour of Hollywood Homes.  At one point when we were stopped for a minute, a salesman waltzed right up to me and my stroller, cigarette in hand, and began his shpeal.  I was so mad!  Trying to be polite, I said, "I'm going to back up, because she's just a baby and you're smoking!"  Realizing his mistake, he walked away.  I guess my mama bear came out and scared him off.

We did see a few interesting stars, like Walt Disney,

 the Beatles, Elvis Presley,

 and looky here, I found my star! 

Too bad my foot got in the way and covered up my entire name.

We saw Lu's star too, but those pesky feet of ours just kept getting in the way of our pictures.

 Oh yeah, and Zach wanted to pose for me.

On Friday, we ventured out to Chino Hills State Park.  It was the first time Raquel had gone on a hike and I wasn't sure how she'd feel about it.  She hated her baby carrier for sure, but after joustling around for a bit, she fell asleep.

That night, we ate out at Applebee's, where Raquel got her first restaurant dinner.  She ordered a hamburger that I pretty much had to eat for her.

Afterwards, we tried to get the kids to burn off some energy at the park.  It was cold, so a certain someone had to get all bundled up and was pretty unhappy about it.  Oh yeah, and Raquel had to get bundled too.  (At least she didn't make a fuss like her daddy...or maybe she did.)

When the Maddos Came (Wednesday)

Wednesday was Zachary's birthday!  We spent the morning at the park so he could try out his new set of wheels.  While at the park, Raquel and I were walking around the pond with Zach and Emma.  We were enjoying the turtles when a rough-looking teenager walked up with a bag.  He started dumping something out of bag.  Those "somethings" were tiny baby turtles.  When he heard Emma and Zach adoring the turtles, he turned to me and said, "I don't want these anymore.  Do you want one before I dump them all into the pond?"  I felt so bad for the little guys.  I hope they survived! 

Later that day, we went back down to the pool.  And THEN we headed off for a birthday dinner surprise called, Chuck E. Cheese.  Everything about the place I thought was a rip-off, but the kids were in H.E.A.V.E.N!

Even the grown-ups got in on the action.

Raquelita was MESMORIZED by the lights.

And so was her daddy.

It really made our night when the restaurant mascot stopped by for a photo op.  It was Raquel's first picture with a giant animal.



When the Maddos Came (Tues)

What do you do when you're on vacay in SoCal?  Go to the beach, of course!  I'm not going to lie and say I wasn't anxious about the long drive down with Raquel in my car, but luckily, I had a babysitter in the backseat to keep "baby Ra Ra" company.  Raquel and Emma had such fun together!

We went to Seal Beach and started out by checking out the pier.  Zachary and I had to keep a careful eye out for scalywag pirates.  And look, Zachary found their pirate house right at the end of the pier.  Those scalywags!

 This was Raquelita's first experience with beach bum life.  She liked it!

Raquel couldn't contain herself and had an absolute ball.  (Like how we spread out over a one mile radius?)

 Like all moms, I wondered how my baby woman would take to the sand.  She liked it, aka she didn't cry.

 She also liked el agua de the ocean, despite it's frigid temperature.

Raquel and I left before the Maddo's, so Raquel had no back seat buddy.  I think it was one of THE WORST drives of my life.  Traffic was like a garbage can, Raquel was crying, I had a headache.  It was miserable.

When the Maddos Came (Sun-Mon)

My twin sister, Amber, and her family came to visit us for a whole week!  Raquel was finally able to meet more of her cousins, which was pretty exciting.

 Raquel was a little bashful about everyone holding her, and made her sentiments known.

 We all got and gave big hugs all around.  Ps...check out Luis's frilly apron.

On Monday, we headed to a nearby park, followed by "pizza & pool," a Ferguson family vacation staple.

By the end of the day, we were so tired we fell asleep in our pizza...

...or wherever.