4th of July Vacation recap

We have just started to recover from our week of family fun with both the Gelle and Campos reunions. This is how it all went down:

July 1:

Our family is all packed and ready for our flight down to Long Beach. We leave the house at around 10:30, grab a bite to eat, and head to the long term parking area. We got all of our things and start waiting for the bus. For some reason the bus is taking extremely long and we get to the check in desk with 30 mins to board. The Jet Blu guy gets on his walkie talkie and reports he has a family of runners and asks to hold the plane. We had to check 1 bag and it had all of our supplies for Sophie and Emma in it (food, diapers, bottles) and we wouldn't be able to pick it up until the next day by 9:30 a.m. We ran through security and got on the plane. We were just thankful we didn't miss our flight. We were met by the 3 Ignacio boys and head off to Roscoe's to eat a well desired dinner. It was delicious! We ordered 1/2 a chicken and 3 waffles for our whole family to share. I think Albert ate 2/3 waffles and Eden ate 1. I think I got a bite in there somewhere, lol. After dinner we headed over to see (Tita) Nikki in action at Jamba Juice. We got there at the perfect time as an order for 300 smoothies came in. She still made time to make us a smoothie and a quick hug! Next we headed to Target to grab all of the things we had to leave behind in our checked bag. We got to the Ignacio's house around 9:30 and off to sleep.

July 2:

Albert got up super early and took care of Sophie. He also got to catch a news story his old friend from High school was covering. Mommy made us a yummy breakfast and Emma showed her true Campos colors by eating Campos style! Nikki, Inay, and Mama showed up and it was off to San Diego we go! We arrived at Uncle Pol's house and family started trickling in all day. Later on some of the cousins and us headed to a nearby beach and had some fun hanging out. We got back and Emma and Eden got reacquainted with their cousin Felix (3 years old) and had a blast. We got to bed at a decent hour because tomorrow was the much awaited San Diego Zoo day!

July 3:

Weeks before this vacation my mom had rented a behind the scenes movie about the San Diego Zoo for Emma to watch. Emma watched this everyday leading up to the trip. Emma got dressed like her favorite animal and was ready to go. We packed the whole caravan of us (Nikki, Inay, Albert, Eden, Emma, Felix, and me) and took off. We met Inay's friend Mandy and J-Lee at the zoo. We could hardly contain Emma's excitement as she saw the animals and watched a sea lion show. Moments like these makes a parents hard efforts seem worth it. To see the enjoyment Emma, Felix, and Eden were having makes your heart melt. We got home and the kids were restless and rambunctious! They attacked Inay and Nikki. There was tangled hair, feet in face, horsey rides, and even a boat. They are crazy! More family arrived and the adults (over 21 but younger than 35) got ready to go out! It was a crazy, fun, censored, evening of cousin bonding plus carne asada fries! ^_^

July 4:

Baby Girl Abueg's shower and Happy 4th of July and Family Reunion! Today was full of festivities. It was a great way for all of us to come together to celebrate a new life being brought into our ginormous family. The proud parents to be, Ate Lizzy and Kuya Gunther, were beaming with excitement and gratitude for everyone who came. We are all happy for you and praying for a safe and healthy delivery. We played shower games and Albert won the "measure how big the tummy is" and I won the "find as many safety pins are in the rice" game. We took lots of family photos since Ate Eydie's boyfriend, Bennett, is a professional photographer! There was plenty of food and yummy cake. In the evening we watched fireworks from the backyard. It was a great day!

July 5:

Time to head back to Orange for the Campos side reunion. After a sad and tearful (Felix cried) farewell, we packed up and left. Mommie was hosting a mini Campos reunion at her house and got the pool all cleaned for Eden and Emma to swim. We had fun hanging out and taking photos too. We watched Pixar short movies and rested up. Mama and Papa took Emma and Sophie to Auntie Marlyn's house while the older cousins and Eden headed to Kuya Edsel's bachelor pad. We sang karaoke, ate pizza, jammed out with the instruments, and ended with some Texas Hold'em. One of our friend Kenny even came out to hang out with us.

July 6:

Today was Disneyland day! Ate Melissa was kind enough to let us into the park with her complimentary employee passes. She made the visit even more special by giving the girls an autograph book with stickers and collectible pins! Thanks, Ate Melissa! The park was not that crowded and we enjoyed small lines to rides. The kids had a blast and Felix even got to meet up with us again. Emma's favorite part was watching the Fantasmic show in which Mickey saved her from the scary lady. Ask her and she will tell you the story. Eden loved riding the Molhulan Drive ride (rode it 2 times) and space mountain. Sophie was a trooper and was very good all day! We ended up leaving the park around 11:30 p.m. and need to get a little sleep for our 8 a.m. flight.

July 7:

We got dropped off at the airport by 6:30 a.m. and by now we are ready to get home. We arrived at PDX around 12:30 p.m. and made it back to our house around 2 p.m. We all took a nap and just vegged around. We all had to get ready to face the daily grind the next day. Thank goodness it was only 3 more days left till the weekend!

Check out our slide show of our whole trip here:

http://picasaweb.google.com/bejoyful21/July2009Vacation?feat=email#slideshow

Special shout outs!

Inay,
This trip would not have been possible without your coordination and help. Where I had a cup half empty outlook you had a cup half full take on things! You are a great sis in law, sister, and tita!

Nikki,
Thanks for the Jamba and shuttling us around. You always step in when the kids wanna play and make it fun! We had a blast and thanks for tagging along with us to the zoo and Dland.

Ignacio brothers (Kuya Royce, Edsel, and Rodney),
Thanks so much for shuttling our huge family around all over! It was so much fun hanging out with you guys and catching up. Thank you Kuya Edsel for the yummy Roscoes too! We had a blast at Dland with you guys as well and it was neat to see you guys interact with your goddaughters! Come up and visit us in Oregon!

Uncle P0l and Auntie Cel and Mommie Ingancio,
Thank you for housing all of us in your homes during this vacation and providing yummy food. It was great seeing all of you guys again.

Ate Melissa,
Thank you so much for hooking us up with Dland passes! If it wasn't for your help Disneyland would not have been in these vacation plans. Thank you for making the girls visit memorable by providing the autograph book, stickers, and pins! You went out of your way and was so thoughtful! The kids had a blast and it is all thanks to you!

Mama and Papa,
Thank you for stepping in and helping us with the kids. You allowed us to get a break and enjoy some time with our cousins. This trip was so much fun!

Mom, Paw, and Onnie,
Thank you for watching over our house and yard as we were away. The lawn looked great and I was at peace knowing our place was in good hands! Also thank you Mom for helping to create the excitement of the San Diego Zoo with the video. Emma had a blast!

The whole Gelle and Campos Clan:
It was great seeing all of you guys and reconnecting! We are all busy and distance is always an issue but when we all do get together it is magic and always FUN! Lets all do it again in Oregon!

p.s. I apologize now if I missed a thank you to someone who helped us with this vacation. As Inay points out to me, it has been 2 weeks since this vacation took place and my memory is getting a little fuzzy. If I did forget you, please email or comment and I will edit this post! I don't want to offend anyone. Thanks!