This year my dad would turn 70 and my grandmother would turn 90. Both in September, in fact only 10 days apart, and both of them live in California. So I knew I was going "home" to celebrate with them... But so much of me wasn't ready for this return trip to California- as it'd be the first time that I had gone back since my mom died. So I knew I wanted to sweeten the trip a little bit by spending a few days with Kristen. So I flew in and out of San Jose, spent 2 nights with her family, then drove to Fresno for 3 nights, then back to Kristen for 1 more night before flying home. And it turned out to be a wonderful trip!
I flew out on Wednesday morning- an early flight that I decided to just take an Uber to the airport for instead of inconveniencing Brian and making his day even longer that it already would be. I sat in the back of that Uber crying. The last time I'd flow to California was the day my mom died. I felt more than a little emotional going back now....
I flew on Frontier for the first time because the price was about half of what it usually is for me to get to California. I did my research before flying- thank goodness! So I knew ahead of time that my seat would not recline- like at all. And the tray tables are useless. Here is a pic I snapped of said useless tray table- useless because it was so tiny that my rather small book didn't even fit on it!
Proof that even though I was skipping school, I was doing my homework-
Kristen surprised me at the airport and we headed off to a long lunch together. I knew I had to take a picture of this gorgeous salad for Brian-
Then we headed over to pick up Wes from school and he and I had some (horrible) bonding time together-
We laid in bed, ate chips and watched people pay video games on YouTube. Needless to say, it is 30 minutes of my life I will never get back...
That evening I got to see Riley play volleyball, we went to sushi, and I was in bed before both kids! Jet lag sucks.
Friday morning we packed up to head to Monterey together for the night after we dropped the kids off at school! But first, the customary picture with my beautiful God daughter-
And then less than 60 minutes later we arrived in my happy place....
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I have so many precious memories in this condo- it's where Brian and I lived for 6 weeks when we first arrived in Monterey with Tate and were waiting on student housing to become available. Plus many weekend visits as a family of 4 when we last lived in California. But my last visit here was with my mom... it was the place we took her when the doctors told us there was no further treatment available and she told us she wanted to go to the beach. I knew exactly where we would go... It was an amazing couple of days here with my mom and sister.
Until I pulled in though, I had forgotten that I hadn't been back since- so I shed some tears and powered through, knowing that I could be "happy-sad" but that she'd never want me to be sad here...
Kristen and I were so excited to be spending a day together- just us- in Monterey! The last time the two of us got away was in 2011 for our 35th birthdays when we went to San Francisco for the night. This was long over due.
But first I had to knock out some homework, so I went to the front deck- where it was too sunny and hot. Then I went to the back deck- perfect. Yes, I felt a little like Goldie Locks.
And then we were off...
Man did we walk the town this day! We left the condo on foot about 11am. The only thing on our agenda was dinner at 7pm. When we were leaving, Kristen grabbed the gift certificate that her parents had left us for dinner- so generous of them- and I giggled a little bit, because dinner wasn't for 8 hours! I thought we'd go our for a bit, come back to the condo and nap, maybe sit on the beach and read for a bit...
NOPE! We ended up being out all day long and were almost late for our reservation!
From the condo we walked along the beach and ended up at Alvarado Street Brewery for lunch, then headed down to Cannery Row and spent a few hours at our old favorite- A Taste of Monterey wine bar, because you just can't beat the view-
We popped into a few shops and decided to walk back- again taking the beach route. When we got to the gate of the condo, I wondered what time it was? 6:57- no way! I'd bought some wine to take back to Brian- and I didn't have time to walk it up to the condo- so I ditched it behind a bush by the gate. No one would notice it and we'd grab it on our way home. So off we go in the opposite direction to another old favorite- the Monterey Fish House-
Wow, what an amazing day! And yes, I did remember to retrieve my wine... Time for sweats and some couch time.
Yup- sometimes I do wear 2 pairs of glasses!
So what.
How'd that Rombauer wine cork get in with those shells?
Friday morning I said good-bye to Kristen and headed over to CSUMB to sneak Kayla out of college-and take her back to Fresno with me for the birthday celebrations.
Lynn and Bob were so gracious to let me borrow a car for my trip to Fresno- and the only extra car that weekend was her Porche Boxster. Are you kidding me?!?!
It definitely gave me some cool aunt points, as Kyra put this pic on her Snapchat right after I arrived-
I loved being stuck in a tiny car with Kayla for 3 hours! It was such sweet conversation and time spent with her- a true highlight of my trip.
When we got into town we met up with my sister, dad and gram for lunch- and then Ambra and I got party planning! The plan was that we would have a surprise 90th birthday party for my gram tomorrow! We had lots of stops to make, and began decorating the club house at her complex where we would have the party- until the manager kicked us out because it got dark. Ugh. Old people.
Since my last trip to Fresno, Ambra has done a complete renovation of her house- inside and out. It was great just sitting and catching up in the new backyard- complete with pool and tiny house now!
Kyra was at work, so we had Brooklyn. I'm not a fan of 3 yr olds- except this one! She is an absolute delight to be around-
Saturday morning we were back at the errand running and decorating early again, because it was party day! And it was perfect....
These were the centerpieces that I had made- all 3 sides had different facts about the day and year she was born-
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My dad took my gram out shopping for a bit before the party, and called to say he was on his way- thankfully. Here's everyone waiting to yell surprise-
And the moment she walked in-
She was so shocked and confused- and when it sunk in, she was delighted!
I found an amazing Sweet Adeline acapella group to perform big band and war time songs, many of which she sang along every word to!
My dad gave a very touching speech-
Btw- that was only the 5th birthday cake she's ever had in 90 years... My gram grew up in the foster care system, and birthdays weren't something that she got to celebrate. Then over the years, her children and grandchildren have lived hours away from her- mostly in different states- so again, her birthdays didn't get celebrated.
Jake and Kyra-
All in all, over 20 of her friends were there, along with her son, two granddaughters, 3 great grandchildren and her great-great granddaughter. It was an amazing day- one that she will continue to talk about in the months- and years- to come.
Sometimes I can find beauty in Fresno- as the sun set to my right over the farms-
The moon was rising to my left-
And then Sunday we celebrated my dad-
But barely. He only wanted Ambra and I, and he would only agree to a local lunch with us. He was not thrilled with turning 70. But he is thrilled with his new birthday present he bought for himself last week-
It's a Dodge Charger Hellcat, apparently the fastest car in America currently. The speedometer goes up to 200mph- and when he drove us to lunch, we got up to 124 mph. I felt like I was on an amusement park ride- not the back seat of my senior citizen father's car!
We had a wonderful 3 hour lunch with my dad and he spent most of the time reminiscing back to the "good old days," which is exactly how he wanted to bring in his 70th year- his two daughters and a hell of a lot of great memories. I was touched to get this email from him that evening-
Sunday night was more family time at Ambra's. Mick cooked up a feast, my gram came over and so did Jake's long-time girlfriend Jessica. But mostly, I just wanted to spend more time with this little cutie-
She is amazing. And I repeatedly told Kyra that. Kyra- now only 20, works 30 hrs a week, and started college this fall- is raising a great kid.
Funny story- Sunday night no one was crazy about having to drive my gram the 40 minutes each way to get her home, so I thought- let's put her in an Uber! She is 90- and was totally fine with it! When she got home and called us she was raving about what a wonderful experience it was. I love her zest for life...
Monday morning I drove back to Morgan Hill and returned the Porsche to Lynn's. While I waited for Kristen to pick me up, I sat for a minute and just soaked in the amazing view from their yard-
We grabbed lunch with Lynn- who'd just come back from Tahoe early to see me. The love this family has for mine- and vise versa- is heavenly sent. We spent the rest of the day just all being together. The kids came and went, with and without friends, we got take out dinner, enjoyed a nice bottle of wine, and just were together. It was wonderful. At some point Wes and Riley got a hold of my phone-
Kristen and I grabbed some coffees, and went for a great walk in a beautiful park where I felt like I was walking through the fields in Germany again- with the cows! And then some more time with Lynn! We met up with her for breakfast-
And then the airport drop-off. Boo.
Wow was that an amazing trip! Full of family and friends, new memories, good tears, and lots of laughs. The only bad part? My flight was delayed for 4 hours. Damn Frontier! Oh well, at least I had some time to do my homework since I skipped 3 days of school to be here.
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