Return to the land of free refills

Whew! That last post was much more serious than i usually do, but it needed to be done. Luckily the rest of my trip to California was more uplifting than the first few days. I was able to get some much needed time with my younger sisters and my dad.  During the days the girls had school so my older sister, my dad and I had some time to hang out and relax (he was off for nearly my entire visit).

My dad's neighbor has a fire truck... just because he can

Of course some of the important things about being back in the states was to get as much of the food as possible!! We dined on REAL hamburgers (not to mention In'N'Out), mexican food, corn dogs and girl scout cookies to name just a few things. And who can forget the free refills!

Mmmm Mexican

Yes when drinking in Germany your choices are savor the drink or finish it and order another.... you learn to drink much slower.

My dad also introduced us to his new girlfriend during one lunch. We chatted during lunch, and I found that we had a few things in common. The largest being that she speaks some German and travels there frequently. This made conversation easy as we were able to compare some different places we had been (my father included). And even cooler, I found out that she played some World of Warcraft. Now not all gamers are awesome by definition, but it never hurts to be one!

E pitching

I was also able to meet some friends of the younger sisters. They all seemed like decent kids, definitely teen-agers, but I didn't get to talk with any of them for very long. Both the younger (E) and older (A) of the little sisters seem to be growing quicker than I would like... I mean I remember them as tiny munchkins.  E is most likely going to get taller than me (much to my chagrin), while A is going to be finishing high school rather shortly (AHHH!!) Both girls are

A pitching

amazing to watch play softball. Since they are both pitchers for the same team, they tend to be competitive.. but they still back each other up during the games.

The visit ended much quicker than I thought it would, and though I was happy to head home to Mariko I was also sad to say goodbye to everyone in Cali. Luckily it sounds like they plan on visiting Colorado shortly after Mariko and I return from Germany, so that is a big plus! Now I just have to convince Mariko to leave Europe and head home in August.