California Dreamin'

Hello! Just a quick message to let you know that Missy and I are currently in SUNNY CALIFORNIA on VACATION! Needless to say, we're having a blast...

Here's Missy kicking things off with some artery-clogging CHEESE FRIES while waiting for our flight in Atlanta...



Our view from the window, overlooking Georgia (90% of all the times I've flown, I've had this exact same view, behind the wing on the "driver's side")



The SKYMALL catalog sells the most amazing things ever...check out these TIME MACHINES FOR CATS!



With no in-flight movie to keep us occupied, Missy decided to sketch out some new designs...







Our in-flight "MEAL"...good thing we brought snacks!



In Phoenix, we hustled to catch our connecting flight to Ontario (California, not Canada). MOVING SIDEWALKS are awesome. If you walk on them quickly, you move as fast as you would if you were moderately jogging, but with a fraction of the effort. An hour later, we arrived in California late in the evening (by plane, not by moving sidewalk)...





The next morning at my parents' house, Missy got to meet my niece LILLIAN for the first time. Check her out...she enjoys having snack time while watching movies on her own little DVD player...WHAT A COUNTRY!



Later, Lilian and Missy played their own version of JENGA, only with DOMINO TILES. At first, I thought they were using MAHJONG TILES. I was like, "Dang, I didn't know they made CARE BEARS and DORA THE EXPLORER mahjong tiles!"...but of course, they were just domino tiles...





We told Lillian that we were taking her to DISNEYLAND. Then, we took her out to the backyard and put her on the swing...SUCKER!















My dad lurked in the bushes and took photos too...











Then, BELINDA and SHAWN (my sister and her husband), showed up with EVAN and JULIA (Lillian's older brother and sister), and they promised to take us somewhere MAGICAL for lunch. We left Lillian to nap with my parents and hit the street. On the way there, we stopped at this suburban ranch to pet these AWESOME ZEBRAS...I explained to Missy that Riverside is a "HORSE TOWN"...there's lotsa people here who own horses and zebras are basically just "horses with stripes"...























Soon enough, we waved goodbye to our striped friends and headed to this "magical oasis" in downtown Riverside. We turned down this little street into this little lot where this mysterious 40-FOOT TALL MONSTER, MADE OUT OF TRASH, greeted us with outstretched fingers. Who knew that crazy-ass zebras and magical trash monsters were all just within 15 minutes of my parents house?





(I guess this wasn't such a quick post after all!)