Orange County Fair

So I grew up in Orange County and I have never been to the OC Fair. It comes every summer and I am always somewhat interested but I never actually make it there. My parents never took us as kids so... I've just never been. And people here think that is just bizarre. So... this year I went! Brent surprised me at my office last Friday announcing that he was taking me to the fair. I met him at the driving range and we drove together...

This is Hercules, the largest horse you could ever see. We couldn't even fit his entire body into the photo. He was massive.

And a giant Cow. Both animals owned by the same person. What in the world is he doing to these creatures?

The Peking Acrobats were a true highlight of the evening. While Brent ate an enormous turkey leg, and I a cheeseburger, we enjoyed a fascinating show.

Brent won a white tiger for me at the water shooting game!

After quite an episode with a lady in the ticket booth we got 4 free ride passes so we headed for the BIG ferris wheel. It is truly a magnificent thing to see...

Before we got there we tried out the swings. I liked it when we were high but not too fast. As you get faster and faster you start to turn sideways and it messes with your head and balance. I was all off!

We got our own little carriage and were able to go around and around many times. It was really beautiful from up there... so much to see.

... and quite romantic!

We talked about how ferris wheels would be the best place to have a first kiss! We enjoyed our 2,856,943,751st kiss,,, okay maybe not, but who's counting? We did have our first one at 18 years old (that's 12 years ago!) WOW.

Boomers

So I haven't been miniature golfing since middle school when Kelly Kay hit me in the head with her club. But... it made my husband's week that I went with him. And even though he gave me a "handicap" of one stroke on each hole, I smoked him without the darn handicap on the first round. Then he got more serious and worked me on the 2nd 18 holes. It was super fun to play!

Here is the hole where I played the ONLY hole-in-one of the day! Brent is painfully marking down my score after getting worked on that hole. :) he he

After golf we played some arcade games. Ski Ball is my fav. Brent played this football game and then we played basketball...

Then we really went for it on the HYDRO racing game. My machine was broken so we got to play 4 times on that one and only paid once.

My husband LOVES games!

Visit with the Lomelinos

Our friends, the Lomelinos, came for a long weekend in July. It was so much fun. We LOVE being with them. And they have the greatest kids. On their last day we took them to the Super Pool. Samuel and Hope were a little scared at first but eventually they enjoyed it. Brent enjoyed it too, of course! He loves the Super Pool.

Happy Samuel...

Holly and Hope

Jason and cute Hope

We love you guys! Come again soon... you are always welcome!! A quick video of the dreaded BUCKET at the Super Pool!

Brent's Mosaic

Somehow when Brent put in that his favorite thing is "Kim" a photo of SUSHI came up! How perfect!

Really cool...

This was really fun. I followed the directions from Adam's blog and made my own mosaic. Yes, it takes some time. But it was really cool to see all the AMAZING pictures that are out there. If you want to try it, check out his blog for directions. The funniest one to me about mine is that one of the questions is "what is your favorite drink?" I'm sure it's supposed to be alcoholic but I decided to go with my real favorite which is an arnold palmer (for those of your that don't know, it's half lemonade, half iced tea). Anyway, when I typed that into the search the ONLY picture that came up was the In-N-Out burger pic. WEIRD! What does that have to do with an arnold palmer, or the real mean for gosh sakes!

the days after...

Marci met us at the house and we went to Padaro Beach Grill for lunch.  It was funny, we were totally matching with our yellow shirts.  

We got a great table under an umbrella so my mom would be happy!

Then we drove down to Carpinteria to check out a new store called "Porch."  I really liked it and so did my mom.  Brent entertained the crowd with his usual antics.  We thought this ladder was really funny, where is it going?  Why is it there?  It starts in the bank parking lot and goes into this little backyard that is more like an alleyway.  Really funny.

Our last night was sort of weird.  We were all tired I think and a little lazy.  I enjoyed several episodes of one of my favorite shows - "Law and Order" on the cable TV at the house.  Then we got In-N-Out for dinner and rented "The Pianist."  I know, TOTALLY random choice.  It was NOT mine.  That movie is really long and we stayed up too late watching it.  

The next day we had a nice breakfast in Montecito at a new place.  After breakfast everyone had to leave - Todd back to Redding and my parents and grandma back to OC.  Brent and I decided to stay a little longer and headed back up to Westmont.  We spent about an hour and half there walking around and then sitting in the sun on the big rock outside the library.  It was a GREAT way to end the weekend.

I sat with Brent on the rock for a while but then I was getting too much sun so I moved to a nice spot under a tree not too far away.  I talked to God and just rested.  That's where my thoughts about resting really began.  

Dinner on my birthday...

Charlie Chaplin's Montecito Cafe was my choice for our meal and boy was it YUMMY.  I loved every bite of my spinach linguine with chicken & sun dried tomatoes.  But even better than that were the people that came all the way up there to celebrate with me.  It meant the world to me to have Paige all the way from Thailand just in time, Marci from Long Beach although she has just arrived home from 3 weeks in Washington DC, Sarah and Tom from Pasadena and Jason and Holly!  And of course my fam there was too.  

Jason and Holly (and baby #3 on the way, Jeremiah!)

Love my Sarah Jean...

My fancy drink, some kind of raspberry lemon drop I think!  Tasty!

My little Peach...

Marci looking HOT in her purple dress!

After dinner we walked back to the house for dessert and to open some gifts.  We had some awesome cheesecake and strawberries.  Mmmmmm...

Mom and Grandma June

My mom and Tom (Sarah's husband)

Isn't she cute in that purple?  

All in all it was a wonderful night that I won't soon forget.  I love my friends and family, that was the best part.  Thank you Jesus for my last 30 years.  I can't wait to see what You have in store for the next 30.  Thank you for blessing me with such wonderful people in my life.  I am truly blessed and thankful.  You are so good to me.