After a relatively ok morning (breakfast was omelets. Yum!), we dropped the 4 "kids" off at the mall and headed to Joe's old work, California Steel Industries. He was hired there in November 2002, and left April 2005.
We spent WAY more time there than I expected to. But we got to see lots of old familiar faces. Dee and James, of course, let us in (they have very strict security, which is why the kids couldn't come with us) and gave us tours. We saw Joe's old boss, the man who hired him actually, Ralph Hayden. The entire Chem. lab, which had been updated drastically, along with it's workers (lots old, some new). Then we went over to the pipe mill, where James took us through the mill. Joe chatted with James about technical stuff (that this business major doesn't understand a lick of!) and said hello to old workers. Several people asked if Joe was "back". Nope...just passin' through! After a nice meeting with Russ, who was Joe's direct superior, we said our good byes and headed back to pick up our family.
Apparently, while we were gone the kids had been less than ideal for Grama and Papa. I say this because of the following phone conversation:
- Me: Hey dad! We're on our way back! How were the kids?
- Dad: Oh...(pause)...they were ok. We had a few little problems, but we're fine.
- Me: problems? What problems?
- Dad: Oh...(pause again)....we had some trouble with walking, and who got to push the stroller, and leaving stores. But we're ok now.
- Me: Oh, ok. We'll be there soon.
For anyone with small children and grandparents who ADORE them, you KNOW this conversation has hidden meaning. "Little problems" means...if you were here, you would've beat them into the next county! And "Trouble with..." means...if you were here, you'd be screaming at them! It's probably for the best that we weren't there, so that Papa and Grama could take care of it in they're, um, nicer way.
By the time we arrived to pick them up, poor Ben had fallen asleep in the stroller and Maddie was looking about gone too. We decided to change plans a little bit, grabbed some food, and headed back to the hotel to let them rest.
After naptime, we all dragged ourselves back into the car for some very special sight seeing. But this sight seeing, however, probably wouldn't appeal to anyone but us. We decided to take a stroll down memory lane:
This is what Joe and I consider our first "home." It was our second apartment together (the first one we both got to pick out). We lived here for a year and a half. It had a fabulous patio area that Joe took great care of. We went so far (we didn't have kids, so we were a little bored) as to add a stone patio and GRASS!! That's right grass! Joe would get on his hands and knees with scissors and cut the grass. Told you we were bored :) We loved it though. Daisy loved it too! We barbequed all the time and would sit out there in the evening and enjoy the weather. It was lovely. Joe can't wait to have his grass back!
The next stop was our very first apartment together. This is where Joe lived by himself before we got married, and then we lived here for about 6 months afterward. We loved the rent here (cheap cheap cheap!), but learned quickly that it's location was not ideal. Thursdays and Fridays were the absolute worst. The apartment was a few miles off the main (ok, only) freeway to Las Vegas. It was horrible! The traffic became a nightmare and it would take us an hour or more to get home!! Towards the end of that summer a Walmart opened a few blocks away. But before that, we had to drive pretty far to get to any sort of Target/Walmart store. Quite honestly, I don't have too many memories about this apartment. Daisy and I were pretty miserable in the summer because it was SO hot and we were still homesick. As fall came, we got over that, and began looking for our new home.
Side story: Our dear friends up here, The Nelsons, are also from Southern California. Over the time we've gotten to know them, Shalyn and I have figured out that we used to live quite close to each other in CA and didn't even know it! They lived on the same street (Arrow) in Rancho Cucamonga as our second apartment, just at different times. They also lived a few minutes away from our first apartment....AT THE SAME TIME!!!!! We had a good chuckle about learning that and she said, "we could've passed each other at Ralph's and not known it!" It really is true...and freaky! So we got their address and drove by their old house just for the fun of it. I took a picture and sent it to them over my phone (I love technology). The reply back was: "My house!!" Yep...next time you're giving me a tour, lady :)
We headed back to Ontario for a dinner Joe and I had waited four VERY long years for: Rosa's!
Pretty much anyone who came to visit us in California got to go to Rosa's. It is, in a word, phenomenal. Seriously. *That good*. Maria likes to tell me when she goes just to rub it in. Big meanie!!
Now, as I said before, the kids were pretty much spent by this point. We really went back and forth on whether we wanted to take them or not. Yes, Rosa's allowed children, but did we want it to just be a date or not? After discussing it, we decided we wanted our entire family to enjoy our wonderful Rosa's. The kids eat out quite often and are usually no trouble at all, so we thought it'd be ok. ....Big mistake. They just weren't in the mood to sit still and behave at a NICE dining establishment. To make matters worse, Ben was extra fussy because he'd gotten a cold a few days prior. To my dad, God bless him, these were all valid reasons for the children to act out and us to not get upset. To us...no way! While we certainly sympathize that they were tired, they still were required to act appropriately.
After the incessant whining from Ben, a refusal to eat from both, and spilled water from Maddie (all over me, I might add), we'd had it. Joe, the wonderful husband that he is, got up, took the kids and walked out the door. Our motel was just across the street, so he walked home with them while my parents and I got to finish our dinner in peace. I felt SSSSOOOO bad that he had to do that, but we brought him his dinner and a dessert, so he was happy :)
We got back to our rooms, bathed the kids, and put them down for our last night. This time, not a peep was heard from them. They were just exhausted......
After the kids were in bed, dad left for a walk. Not 15 minutes after he left, there was a knock on the door. Joe got up, in a bit of annoyance, to let him back in. He opened the door and was surprised to see no dad. But then he looked down....and nearly jumped out of his skin!! He came back into the room and said, "Do you know who was just at the door?" Duh, Joe! Dad! "Nope," he says, "Maddie!!!" Holy cow!! He said SHE was the one knocking on the door. She took one look at him, jumped and gasped, and ran back into our room and onto her mattress where she curled up and pretended to be sleeping. It literally scared the crap outa Joe. Maddie had gotten up, gone to the main door of our room, opened it, and walked out. We have no idea how long she was outside for (probably not too long, though). If she hadn't knocked on the door, we wouldn't have figured it out for a long time! Joe went in to make sure she was back in bed, then he put the chain on (she can undo deadbolts, that's how she got out) and came back in the other room. Not two minutes later, we heard the chain snapping and knew she was trying to get out again! That little sneak! So Joe went in and laid with her until he felt certain she wasn't going to be traveling anymore :) Maddie certainly keeps us on our toes!
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This is where I'm going to leave our wonderful Disney adventure. It has gotten a little taxing to keep writing all the details, and I'm starting to forget them! On top of which, we do have other things going on right now that I'd like to blog about. I can sum up day 7 like this: we flew home to rain and snow. It was wet, we were cold, but we were glad to be in our own beds again.
Thank you to everyone who read all this. I hope you enjoyed it!! We had such a great time on our trip to California!! There were many moments that made me tear up...seeing my old homes. Seeing old friends. Seeing Maddie and Ben on Main Street, Disneyland. Watching Maddie hug Mickey Mouse and Ben enjoy the rides. It makes us so happy that they enjoyed it as much as they did! We look forward to going back in a few (Joe says several...we'll see ;) years and doing it all over again!
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