Cali Trip 2014

The girls and I had a fun-filled spring break vacation to California to visit our family! It was Gigi's 74th birthday, and we were so happy to get to spend it with her and see Grammie, Nonna and Grandpa to boot! Here are a few highlights of our visit:

"Higher Higher!"

Auntie Annie hung out with us during our visit and the girls just couldn't get enough of her attention ;) We had lovely chats and caught up on some sister time!

 Picked an orange off the tree in Grammie's backyard. Girls ate it and said, "Kinda sweet, but really sour!"

We ate dinner one night at Bill Lee's in Bakersfield, a Chinese restaurant that is practically a family tradition. Both sides of our family (J's and ours) would go to either Rice Bowl or Bill Lee's, which are strangely on the same street and climb into a big, cozy, dark booth and eat the best Chow Mein or Pork Fried Rice ever. As a little girl, one of the fondest memories I had was eating out with my grandparents and drinking the tea they served in little tea cups. Tea party... how cool! We cooled it down with ice cubes and of course, it was drowned with sugar. We got to share the memory this trip with my little girls...

 They loved it ;)

We had a lovely dinner at Black Angus for Gigi's birthday, and feasted on Champagne Cake (her favorite) and strawberry ice cream at her house afterwards. Madison and Lindsay got to meet Gigi's newest baby, a tiny white poodle named "Baby". Madison adored her!

Happy Birthday Gigi!! 

Madison decided Grandpa Joe was her best buddy, and she stuck to him like glue ;)

Lindsay colored a card for Gigi, and gave her a full explanation of her artwork...

Present time! We got Gigi a garden themed gift this year, and it had lots of fun things for puttering in the garden like a hat, knee pad and garden flags!

We love you Gigi!! So happy we got to spend your birthday with you!

The girls swam in the little pool in Grammie's backyard, which was a big change from the 40 degree weather we left back in NJ.

Someone thought bathing suits were optional... Skinny Dipping!

Movie Star! Lulu picked out these sun glasses and said, "These glasses have sparkles like Nonna's!!"

My little fairy princess... Aren't those roses fabulous?!

The second half of the trip we spent with Carol aka Nonna and Grandpa Jerry! The girls remembered from last year that Grandpa liked Frosted Flakes. One a couple of months ago in the grocery store, they saw them and had to get them. When we found out we were going to Bakersfield , Lindsay said, "When we see Grandpa, let's eat Frosted Flakes together!!"

Madison's cracking herself up. 

The girls got to spend some quality time with cousin Katarina playing in the backyard at Nonna's. The girls ate Popsicles and had a bath! 

Playing outside... hooray for no mosquitoes!

Having a snack outside on the porch at Nonna's...

Nonna took the girls to CALM (California Animal Living Museum) a small zoo with animals indigenous to Kern County. They had a choo choo train the girl rode, a park (see Lulu below) and tons of animals like snakes, bears and mountain lions.

We had dinner at Benji's with Nonna and Grandpa, and it was super delicious! The girls loved Basque food, especially the french bread and soup with beans. The girls were sad to leave California, and told me as soon as we were back in NJ that they wanted to go back, except they wanted Daddy to come with them. They sure did missed their Daddy, and I missed him too! It was a wonderful trip with the most beautiful weather, and we are so, so grateful to spend time with our family :) Love you!!