California, Pt.1

The drive from Lehi to Orange County is about 10 hours, and ordinarily we probably would have done the whole thing in one day. But we decided it would be easier on Pookie (and us, too) if we broke it up over two days. So we left Utah on July 30 and drove for six hours, stopping to spend the night in Vegas. Pookie had quite a time exploring the hotel room. It was the first time he’d spent the night anywhere but home (and the hospital).

He spent most of the evening before bed making sure that the AC was in proper working order. We couldn't get him away from that thing!

Well let's just see what's going on under this door here.

Ahhhh. The cool air.

We brought our playpen along, with plans for Emrick to sleep there in the hotel. He slept there just fine, until about 4 or 5 AM when he decided he wanted to finish out the night in bed with me and Marcus.

When we got to California early the next afternoon, Grandma Cinda had a nice little bed set up for Emrick (see below). If you’re wondering why it’s so retro looking, that’s because it is a forty-six-year-old crib, which is like, almost half a century, which is like, really old. I think Lincoln slept in it.

The plus side to this little crib being so small and having slats miles apart from each other, is that Emrick didn't mind it as much as he does the playpen. I think its openness kept him from feeling too confined. Here he is after his first night in CA, looking puffy-eyed and sweet.

Emrick is all about the silly faces these days!

Then, as you know, a couple of days later the fire hydrant by Mom and Dad’s house was knocked over, probably by a landscaping truck. I narrowly missed witnessing it and getting drenched (and possibly run over!) because I had JUST gone out to our car to get something, and I was inside not 30 seconds before Dad came running downstairs and said, “Cinda! We have a situation here!”

Pookie watches as Marcus takes video on his phone.

While we all spent at least five minutes completely enthralled, Pookie was immune to the excitement.

This is the closest my blue Rav has come to getting washed in ages.

City dude to the rescue.

Sayonara, agua grande!

On the right, you see Grandpa Ed talking to a neighbor (several neighbors came out of their homes to gawk). Behind the water you see the cop who we thought looked like Marcus' friend Jon, but who, after thanking me and Chris for our "investigative work" (*eyeroll*) proved instead to look and sound exactly like Owen Wilson. You know, friendly, but in a smarmy way 🙂

Grandpa and Grandma, after the commotion.

The city dude assured us that everything was okey dokey, but a couple of days later they were jackhammering the sidewalk surrounding the hydrant because it had become evident that the damage was deeper (literally) than they had initially thought (sorry, no pics). We weren’t too surprised, since Marcus had noticed that the hydrant was leaking slightly the day after it was hit.

That night, Marcus and I had dinner at Mr. Stox restaurant to celebrate our third wedding anniversary (August 2). Mr. Stox was where our wedding reception had been, so it was nice to celebrate there. And Grandma Cinda treated us! What a great gift! For an appetizer I got the lobster bisque, and for my entree, filet mignon with blue cheese. Mmmm. Marcus got the crab cakes. Then, the restaurant treated us to a free dessert.

I’m not even sure what that was, but it was good.

After we finished the free dessert, our server brought out the dessert tray and encouraged us to eat even more, specifically recommending the creme brulee. Not wanting to offend, we ordered the second dessert. And we eated it.