A very early morning For Rosie allowed Steve and Grandpa to take her out of the room and down for breakfast so her loud excitement would not wake up Tory and Nathan. After breakfast, Rosie went back and played with Nana in the other room, which was a huge lifesaver several times during the trip. This allowed Steve to go back to bed as he, Tory, and Nathan caught up on sleep until about 9:30. Since Rosie woke up so early she was able to an early nap, so Steve, Tory, Vivian, and Nathan decided it would be a great day to go out and visit Brown, Steve’s old college alma mater. Before heading to Brown the group stopped to get Tory some breakfast at Wendy’s and some beach toys at The Dollar Tree store for ... read more

Steve, Nathan, Rosie, were excited to head to New England and see the state where Steve went to college and Grandpa George was born and raised. There was plenty of family to visit and places to see, but the first step was flying out there and Steve definitely appreciated the help that Nana (Susie) and Grandpa George gave him by flying out altogether. To get to Rhode Island, the easiest flight was to go direct to Boston, then rent a car and drive to Rhode Island, where there were 2 rooms reserved at the Hyatt Place by the Warwick/Providence Airport. The family left the house in Oak Park around 10 to get to LAX. The airport was busy so thankfully they had just enough time to get to the gate in time to be called for ... read more

Another amazing nights sleep in a hotel was a great way to celebrate our “Babymoon” mini-vacation. We both slept in until around 8, and had some hotel room coffee before Steve went out to the hotel store called “Tidal Coffee” to get some breakfast for us both. We hung out in the room until checkout around 11, when we decided it would be fun to go do a hike at the Point Lobos Reserve State Park. The time spent at the hotel was very nice for us to be able to catch up and talk about so much on our minds, which can be so hard to do with the responsibilities at home and with the kids. We arrived at Point Lobos on a perfect, sunny day, in contrast to a colder and overcast day the ... read more

One last morning in George’s house in San Jose with Steve’s parents before leaving for our “Babymoon.” We made it out to a breakfast café called “Cup and Saucer,” that Susie and George really like, and had a big breakfast of the kids favorties: Eggs for Rosie and pancakes for Nathan. We were going to spend some playtime at Pump-it-up nearby but it didn’t open until 10, so we spent some time a Christian Book store in the kids play area looking at toys and books. At Pump-it-up, Rosie and Nathan were having a blast climbing around and sliding down the big slides together. The wipeouts and faceplants did not seem to bother them. Tory and Steve were sad to say their goodbyes to them for the next two days, but the kids didn’t seem to ... read more

While our trip started on a Saturday morning the 10th, the drama started on Thursday night on the 8thwhen the Woosley fire struck through Oak Park. There was a mandatory evacuation at midnight, so we took the kids to stay at George and Heathers house in South Pasadena. Luckily, our suitcases of clothes were packed in advance of the evacuation, so Tory’s good idea to get our valuables packed after the kids went to bed made it easy to leave when the evacuation orders were given. Sadly, many homes were lost in Oak Park, Westlake Village, and Malibu. We stayed glued to the news all night and day Friday about an hour away from all the danger and smoke. We took the opportunity to spend time with Connor and Heather in the morning as we walked ... read more