Amaya Family: Visiting with friends

When we lived in Minnesota, not a single friend came to visit. Heck, our family didn't even visit very often until the kid's were born. Then we moved to Boston. Where a couple of friends came out to visit during the Summer months, but only family dared to brave it during the Winter. But alas, now we live in sunny Southern California and we are the people to see during those cold Winter months.

This Winter we were lucky enough to visit with 2 different friends from Boston. Our first encounter was with the Morales family. They are originally from California, but have been living in Cambridge where we attended the same church. With kids of similar age, and only living a mile apart from one another we became fast friends and have missed them dearly since moving.

You may remember from previous posts that Canon (the son) and Lilly had declared that they were to be husband and wife and had even planned their wedding while picking blueberries. So when Ramona (the mom) called to tell me that they were in California for Christmas I was elated. One small problem, they were staying about 350 miles north of us and had a packed schedule of family and friends to see. After a series of voice mails to one another, our schedules lined up and we chose a day to get together, but I was still unsure about taking 2 kids for a 6 1/2 hour drive. Then I ended up with an extra day off and Hector got the car all tuned up, so I was out of excuses. The three of us loaded up into the car and headed up north. We had a beautiful drive with minimal whining (which was eased with the promise of a McDonald's Happy Meal). And after one pit stop and 6 1/2 hours we arrived just before the sun began to set.

As soon as the kids saw each other it was as if no time had passed at all. They instantly hugged and began to run around together. Canon and Lilly went through with their wedding plans and then began to play "homeschool" together. I was able to share a glass of wine and a nice dinner with the family before it was time to say goodbye. They offered to have us stay the night, but I opted to have a silent drive home. After a pit stop at Starbucks we were off and made it safely home by 2am. It was a great trip that I would happily do again in a heartbeat!

The kids playing...you'll notice that Lilly has her hands on her hips trying to control the situation as always.

In our pajamas and ready to say goodbye.

Ramona, I miss you dearly. I can't wait to have wine and dessert with you again.

Our next visit was from Haley. Anyone who had ever stayed with us in Boston had met our beloved Haley. She was Alexander's therapist and our go to babysitter for 2 1/2 years. She spent 10-12 hours / week in our house and has become part of the family. We were absolutely thrilled when she wrote to ask if she could come and visit in January.

Since she had never been to Southern California before, we took it upon ourselves to show her as much as possible. Our first stop off the plane was In-N-Out Burger (of course) and then home to get Alexander off the bus. He was thrilled and confused to see her, running up and down the halls.

We also spent the day tanning and shopping at Huntington Beach and Laguna Beach, and went to The Getty Villa. Then we did downtown LA, showing her around Hollywood and ending her trip with a sunset at Venice Beach. We all had a great time and she was overwhelmed by the fabulous weather. She went from 2 feet of snow and blizzard conditions back East, to 80 degrees and clear skies....we are currently trying to convince her to move out here with us.

Hello Haley!

Lilly is now a huge fan of the American Girl dolls. She has yet to own one, but has been scouring the catalog and has lots of requests. This is her at the American Girl store in downtown L.A., in front of the latest release, Kanani.