We made a special trip to Temecula, California to visit Grandpa Chuck. He is very ill, recently diagnosed with lung cancer, so our trip was a bittersweet one. We wanted to do what we could to help Aunt Karen and Uncle Kirby with the burden of caring for Grandpa, and we wanted to spend precious time with him.
Chris and I decided to take the long drive from Texas to Cali with Drew and Jamie rather than buying four airline tickets on short notice. I had never made such a drive, and in fact, had never been so far west in Texas. It was my first time to see El Paso, to view Mexico, and to drive through southern New Mexico and Arizona. We sure live in a beautiful, varied country. We stayed in Willcox, AZ last Saturday night and then arrived in Temecula late in the day on Sunday. We spent Monday and Tuesday doing what we could to help out and just shooting the breeze with Grandpa. Also, Uncle Skip and Aunt Debbie came by on Tuesday for awhile, and drew some pictures with the kids.
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| Cardboard Fort (with Daddy's help) |
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| We grilled chicken on Monday and enjoyed dinner on the patio in southern California's temperate climate |
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| A comparison photo to this one from the last time we were in Temecula in 2013. |
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| "Gruncle" Skip draws a car for Noah |
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| Debbie and Jamie |
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| Audrey adds a feminine slant to Noah's car |
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| Noah built a roller coaster and invited us to ride |
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| Noah and Audrey with Karen & Kirby's dog Stubby |
On Wednesday afternoon, Jimmy, Courtney, Michael and Stephanie were flying into San Diego airport, so Chris and I took Noah Wednesday morning into San Diego and toured the USS Midway Museum.
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| Noah chose to experience this Blue Angels flight simulator, all by himself! |
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| We watched him take flight :) |
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| Flight Deck |
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| Below deck, Noah was pretty freaked out by the realistic animatronic captain! |
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| Noah took this shot of us! |
...then, he kept on snapping...
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| San Diego Harbor |
After some discussion, we drove over to Balboa Park but didn't make it any further than the playground before we had to go to the airport.
When we arrived back at Grandpa's that evening, we were joined by Drew's cousin Debbie's daughter Erin, her husband Steve, and their two sons Jonah and Levi. I didn't get any pictures because we were just having too much fun!
Saturday morning, we said our goodbyes and Evan drove the four flyers to the airport as Drew, Jamie, Chris, the kids and I headed out on the road.
1 comment:
Got the plane that grandpa flew in wrong. That one you have in the pic is a F4U Corsair and that's a single seat fighter. He flew in the TBF Avenger, which is behind the pic of Noah in the pilot seat with the shark teeth.
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