Otto drove back to Phoenix on the 14th to work on Friday and fly to Charleston West Virginia on Saturday for a 'working' interview with a Supervalu DC in Milton. For the next few days and into the weekend, I stayed with the new family helping out as much as I could along with trying to stay out of the way and give them some space!
So, I made some plans. First, I met Dawn and Sheila for lunch on Sunday and we spent a glorious 3 1/2 hours talking and catching up. Then on Wednesday morning I headed over to Robbie's house, had to work both Wed/Thurs but then headed out with a few of her friends and Gina to the Haven Gastro Pub in Orange. Talk about a gastro-delight, great food! We enjoyed chatting about life, death, traveling, retirement, kids, spouses, boyfriends, jobs - you name it, I think we covered it! Then on Thursday and Friday mornings, we enjoyed a walk/run through the neighborhood; Cameron and Kayla even joined us one day. Next, I met Margaret and Karen at the Macaroni Grill and we sat for almost 4 hours catching up. It had been some time since we've really been able to talk and I am so thankful I had some time to visit with them, we even planned a 'girls getaway'. We haven't done that in a few years!
Friday afternoon I headed back to J and Corynn's to wait for Otto to return from Phoenix with a few passengers....Leanna and Gillian flew in to spend the week in California. They arrived about 9 pm and we chatted, and shared some Gianna-time! It was so nice to have Leanna here. We even walked/ran the next morning.
Our California adventure began with Gillie that day too. Otto picked up some Sunny Donuts for breakfast then Gillie, Popi and Nani headed out to the American Girl Store in L.A. - Gillie and Lanie (her American Girl) were dressed in a zebra print dress with purple accents, so cute!
After Lanie had her ears pierced and her hair done, we headed through Beverly Hills to Santa Monica Pier. Ugh, traffic - took us almost 1 1/2 hours, I guess that is one of the reasons we love AZ so much and don't miss the L.A. hustle and bustle AND traffic. Santa Monica was hopping, found a parking spot and walked 4th Street to the pier, down the pier and back! We settled for lunch at Pizza Antica and it was wonderful.
Headed home after the first day of our 'Gillie-time' and Otto helped J install a new fan/light in the shower and Tony and Paula came over to have dinner and meet Gianna. It was a great evening with good food and discussion.
The next morning, Gillie, Popi and Nani headed out to San Diego, we checked into our hotel then went for a swim in the pool and out to dinner at Seaport Village. We had a window seat and enjoyed the performers and street sellers which included a man with several parrots, a psychic and a hula-hoop lady! Interesting. The birds were most entertaining as several people dropped dollar bills in a cardboard box with a chance to take a picture holding one of several magnificent red, yellow and blue parrots. We walked around the shops for a bit then headed back to the hotel for a swim and jacuzzi.
Sea World the next day and we got there before the gates opened up and stayed until the last firework exploded in the sky! We had an awesome time! We visited almost every exhibit and saw almost every show, riding the rapids and riptide rescue ride a few times, enjoying great ribs and cheeseburgers and time with our Gillie Bean! Got a text from Cameron who said he and Stephanie were driving down to join us for our second day at Sea World - yeah! The second day began with breakfast at Ricky's although none of us indulged and ordered their 'world famous' apple pancakes. I just kept seeing that scene from Elf!! Anyway, after breakfast we headed to Sea World with one tired Gillie Bean and one excited Stephanie who hadn't been there since she was 8! First stop, Dolphin Interaction. We didn't get in the water, but we were able to pet and feed them for a few minutes with a trainer. Who, by the way was very nice and gave us much more than the maximum 3 touches, 3 fish that we kept hearing from the other trainers! He welcomed and answered all of our questions and gave us more than 3 of each! Next we took in some shows, ate popcorn and cotton candy while waiting in the stadiums and just had a fun time.
After Gillie decided she would get a pearl as her 'treat' and gift from us, we headed home and said good-bye to Cameron and Stephanie as they were staying for the after dark, Shamu Rocks and firework show that we saw the night before. We were tired and the drive home was quiet. We knew this special time with Gill was coming to a close and we were going back to Phoenix. If only we could stay longer or make this day last forever!
It was a great two weeks with the blessing of a new grandchild, Gianna, and the time we spent on our adventures with Gillian and of course our time with all the CA family!
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