To California and Back Again

Wow it's been a while. So I just got back from my 3 week vacation to Fresno, California. I had a great trip. Despite what Mom or Melissa say, I really did enjoy myself. I had to borrow this picture from Melissa's blog because...I don't have a camera!

The kids were great. I was an instant hit with Zoe who loves to play Barbies (a favorite past time of mine). I brought a few of my barbies and kens and Aunt Denise was nice enough to buy another Barbie and some beautiful barbie clothes for my trip down there.
Highlights with Zoe:

--Playing Barbies a lot. It was really fun to be dramatic with Zoe. The Villain was always "Joe." He wasn't evil; he was just kinda dumb. He already had a girlfriend (Lily) but when the most beautiful girl came to town (Isabel) he would try really really hard to win her over. Usually with disastrous results (including being turned to a dinosaur by Lily's mom, the evil witch).

--Going to meet her 1st grade teacher. I was mostly entertaining the other two kids, but I kept an eye on Zoe talking with her teacher. I was so happily surprised at how much Zoe knew. It was really great to see that. (Melissa and I said to each other after that meeting--I wanna go back to first grade!)

--Watching her swim! She is a little dolphin. Diving and swimming under water! She was great!

Liam took a little time to warm up to me. But Once Mom Sam got hims some Lego's and I made some things with him, he also liked me.
Highlights with Liam:

--Every morning I got up, and I was still in my pajamas. My sleeping shirt is a black shirt with the batman symbol on it. I would come to the kitchen and he would ask, "Why do you always wear that shirt?"

--Playing with Lego's. It brought me back to the times where Richard and I would spend hours building. I taught him a few of my favorite things to build. He was SO good near the end of my trip. He made a really cool truck/rocket all by himself! It was great.

--Watching him learn how to swim. He nearly drowned one time and instead of being freaked out, he wanted to learn to swim. So Melissa is still teaching him, but he has made some really good progress.

Then there is Lydia. Well, I'm not quite sure what to make of her. She can be absolutely sweet one moment and then a very scary child the next.
Highlights with Lydia:
--We had a glaring match and then I smiled suddenly and she grinned right back at me.

--We were swimming one day and she started swimming close to me making biting noises and saying "I'm a shark!"

--One day I was talking to Melissa and I told her "I'm afraid of Lydia." Then Melissa turned to Lydia and said, "Did you hear that? Buzz is afraid of you because you are mean to her sometimes." Lydia responded, "I not scary! I nice!" So Melissa said, "Go give Buzz a hug." And I got a great big hug from her.

Great Kids.

I also had a great time with Melissa. She and I watched Brian Regan (a stand-up comic that I love), The Office, Some MST3K, and she introduced me to a new show called Flight of the Conchords. It is hilarious. Not for everyone in the family, but a really great show. It's basically about these two New Zealand dudes that are in New York struggling to get their band (Flight of the Conchords) off the ground. They have great music and every episode has one or two songs that they write and perform. It's really hilarious. So Thanks to Melissa. (Their names are Jemaine and Bret. Jemaine is the one with glasses--I think he is handsome. And Bret is really cute.)

I met some of Melissa's nice friends. The 2nd to last day we went with some of them to a nice restaurant for a really amazing dessert. Melissa and I also made some great desserts while I was there, including "Muddy Buddies" (Rice chex covered with chocolate, peanut butter, and powdered sugar).

I had fun watching Melissa and Travis speculate on who the new bishop would be. They found out that they were getting a new bishop and Melissa and Travis talked a lot about it. It was funny.

Also the third to last day Travis was nice enough to watch the kids and Melissa and I went and had a girl's night out. We went to an awesome Thai restaurant. Then (after a minor delay--they had to go to a surprise meeting with the Stake President--Travis got released and that's all) we went miniature golfing. I had never been before. It was so funny and fun. I loved spending time with Melissa.

Travis and I spent a few nights watching the Olympics together. They (M&T) usually went to bed early, but Travis sometimes stayed up later and we watched the Olympics. There were some exciting moments. Especially with Michael Phelps. He's amazing.

Anyway. I really had a good time. It was really a "vacation from my problems." I really love the Turleys and I'm so grateful that I got to spend time with them.