california + new mexico = family reunions 2008

The first item of business upon returning from vacation is this . . .


Returning from vacation is awfully lame.

In other news, memories of vacation are awfully nice.

David and I flew to San Diego on July 23rd and arrived at the "Beach Cottages" on Pacific Beach where his family has stayed for the last 20+ years. Weather: perfect.

The next morning, David and I made our way down to the beach, where I posed awkwardly . . .

and David posed shirtless (you're welcome).

Then David surfed for a little while I took pictures.

One activity that David and I both wanted to do in SD was deep sea fishing. We woke up at 5 AM (on vacation, mind you) with some of David's family and headed over to the dock to load up. In about 6 hours, I caught about 4 fish and David caught about 12 including lots of Mackerel, Baracudas and David even caught a yellow-fin tuna. We weren't about to eat any of that "cat food" but the tuna may have been good had we taken it home. I like this picture of David (below).

Check out the birds following the fishing boat.

Then, we were very tired from the early morning fishing trip and the beaching and the salt water and the several miles we jogged, walked and biked and the delicious enchiladas that we ate constantly so there was a lot of this (left) while watching the Food Network. Relaxing is the best part of vacation.

Then after a glorious week in San Diego, it was off to

my family ranch in Bluewater, New Mexico. It was fun seeing all the improvements my dad has put into the land, the ranch houses and the barn over the last year. He took us on a quad ride up to the mesa overlooking the land. He has several of these watertanks and other nifty things.

I love this barn. Remember that's where we got engaged? Ahhhh . . .

The garden they recently planted is full of fresh corn, swiss chard, zucchini, yellow squash, carrots, beets and lots of other yummy vegetables. It was soooooo good!

Other highlights from the Ranch Reunion:

Overcast skies while the children treated Uncle Dave like a jungle gym.

Lucy, Mary, Jane, Juliette and Claire singing and dancing to "Put On A Happy Face" during the family Variety Show. Very cute.

Cal dancing to "All In This Together" from High School Musical 2. We were informed later that he only went to one rehearsal/practice and slid in at the last minute. Classic.

Giant sparklers on the lawn before the seemingly-professional firework show.

It's always great.

Until next year . . .