family fun week

last weekend was spent with laurie and her family who were in town for a little vacation. on friday night, the freemans, the donahoos, and i headed to angels stadium for the annual 'mormon night'.  as far as i'm concerned, there isn't a bad seat in a baseball stadium, and sitting in the nosebleeds gives you a little more freedom to watch the game...or not.  since we were surrounded by members from mick and jenny's ward, we found ourselves in animated conversations as often as we were actually watching the game.  and by the time we arrived (in the second inning) the angels were already down 5-0, so we didn't have much hope of it being a good game.

boy were we wrong!

in the 4th or 5th inning, the angels scored a bases loaded home run, and with the addition of one other run, they started closing in on the texas rangers.

we spent the rest of the game enjoying each other's company and cheering on the angels, who, by the way, ended up winning the game.

following the win, we stayed for a little while to watch the friday night fireworks, before deciding to beat the crowds and head for the hills (or the cars, as it were).

i had a little knee incident on the stairs, but was able to eventually walk it out.  and, bonus, i discovered that the stadium staff is both conscientious and kind, as they witnessed my fumble and made every effort to ensure that i was okay, and capable of supporting my own weight.

the following morning, the knee was a bit stiffer than usual, but not so stiff as to keep me from the day's activities.

i headed to the donahoos, and the freemans met us there. then we began our caravan to the beach!

cute family, huh?  they're mine!

the beach of the day was 'little corona', which, ironically was the first beach i visited (with the donahoos) after moving to california -- and i hadn't been there since.  little corona is a nickname for part of the corona del mar beachfront, and it offers some gorgeous scenery.  largely as a result of my physical limitations, we parked down below rather than walking down the very steep road to the beach...and i was also appreciative that we had ended up at a 'short beach'.  by that i mean that the distance between the pavement (parking lot, road, or boardwalk) to the water, is short.  some of the beaches here, huntington and newport, for instance are very 'wide', and i knew that the loose sand could present a bit of a challenge.

the beach was already buzzing, but we found a great spot to make camp, and after a quick clothing change, we headed down the beach to take some family photos of the freemans. a few waves, a knee twist, and many photos later, it was time to get down to the business of playing.

the kids showed us adults how it was done!

we spent hours enjoying the sun and surf and conversation before deciding it was time to head out.

before dinner we stopped at the hotel to rinse off with a dip in the pool, and i ran home for a quick shower before returning to the donahoos for a yummy taco dinner. sadly, after dinner it was time to say goodbye to the freemans.

i've decided that it's so much better when the family comes to visit ME.  okay, they didn't come to visit me, so much, as just take a vacation, but i like it when they come here because i get to spend actual quality time, rather than trying to catch up with everyone in the course of one dinner.  we definitely made the most of our time and i was sorry to see them go!