Just two minutes ago, Jason was telling me that he has decided that March Madness is more exciting than the football playoffs, which would normally be surpring since he's such a huge college football fan, but with all the changes in the playoffs that he doesn't apprciate, and the fact that Nebraska just beat Vanderbilt last night in a very close March Madness game, this makes perfect sence.
Fortunately, or unfortunately, this post isn't about basketball, but about the beginning of the month of March in my life.
I took off a day of work on the 6th, and flew to LA to celebrate my step-mom Mary Lou's 80th birthday with my siblings and all 4 step-siblings. Some of their children were able to attend, too. It had been a very long time since I'd seen many of them, and the ones who were able to go are now all young adults. It was so fun talking with them about their lives and jobs as adults.
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| Catching up! |
I got to pick citrus fruit from my dad's orchard, and soak in some California sun in their yard, though that particular weekend wasn't hot and was actually pretty windy. Either way, the weather was much better than in MI! It was nice to be able to visit with siblings/stepsiblings a little at a time as they all arrived, as well as with my dad and Mary Lou, my aunt Karen, and uncle Bill.
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| Every type of fruit is growing in my dad's orchard. (From r to l: Cara mandarin, naval orange, Valencia orange, red grapefruit, white grapefruit, avocado, lemon) |
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| This one was left out of the previous pic, a tangelo. |
Karina, Derek, and I shared a hotel room when they arrived on my second night. We had way too much fun at our adult sibling slumber party! The next morning, we all worked out in the hotel gym together before our dad picked us up (we didn't rent a car because of the cost, and we had to pay to park at our hotel). He took us to see our childhood home, which he had built with his dad about 50 years ago, with the input of my mom for their future dream home. Since my grandpa was in the construction business and built many homes, some of which my dad owns and manages, my dad still rents out this home of ours, and it is currently unoccupied as he renovates it. This is the first time I have seen inside it since I was about 8 or 9. It's a pretty awesome layout with fantastic storage areas. The yard is tiny, but what do you expect in Woodland Hills, CA?
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| We still love the skylight in the hallway. |
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| Master bedroom. One of the closets. |
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| The vanity: discussing what to do with the light fixtures here. |
We continued down memory lane as our dad dropped us off at Western Bagel, a childhood tradition of walking with our mom to get the best bagels of all time. We got extras to enjoy later, before dropping off our dad at his home, so we could finish our workout with a hike in the hills. We walked for hours and almost got lost on our way back while trying to take a shortcut. Luckily, we made it back in time to shower and get to my dad's house in time for the big party.
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| Bagels! |
My step-brother, Bryan, and his wife, Gina, planned the party. They catered Chipotle, prepared a cute birthday video recorded by all the grandkids, and played a trivia game about Grandma Mary Lou. Kevin's wife, Toby, made a beautiful cake, and we ended the event with group pictures, the real birthday gift for Grandma Mary Lou.
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| Zach, from Vermont, and Grandma Mary Lou, ready for the video. |
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| Cake time! |
After some more visiting, we parted ways. Karina, Derek, and I met up at Bryan and Gina's Airbnb later for a post-party party. Derek and I stayed up way too late for our very early flights home, and the fact that the time changed that night. I didn't even want to think about the lack of sleep I got!
We all made it safely back and somehow caught up on our sleep, though I actually don't know if I really did, since a few days later, my next March adventure began...
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