California! (with no kids!)

Last weekend I got to sneak away for a quick California trip without the kiddos.  The main reason for going was to attend the big Teacher of the Year dinner that my mom was being honored at.  I drove down with Brad and Mel on Thursday morning.  Barely Thursday morning.  We left at 3:30am.  Yeah, it was crazy. I was kind of ok with it since I figured it would be easier to just be gone when the kids woke up, but despite being super quiet while getting dressed and gathering my stuff, Talia woke up and came out of her room.  She saw me dressed downstairs with the lights on and assumed it was morning.  She also was not happy that I was leaving.  I tucked her back in, but Ian said she still threw a tantrum when I left.  Sad.

We drove fast and made it down to CA in record time.  The drive was pretty fun. I had fun visiting and being silly with Mel.  Then I curled up in the backseat for awhile and watched Pitch Perfect on the ipad. Then we were there!

We picked up a Subway sandwich for Mom and headed straight to her school to say hi and bring her lunch.  We were pretty tired from the drive, but we powered through and got to see her new piano lab and watch her with her 6th grade chorus for a few minutes.  We drove through In N Out before going home, eating, and crashing.

I got up from my nap and showered.  It felt so good.  It was weird to be at my parents' house and not have to work around any of the kids' schedules.  Nice, but weird. Later that afternoon Mel and I went to watch Mom's choir at their first performance.  It was for the classified employees.  They did SO great!  They sounded fantastic and I couldn't believe how well behaved they were.  No one was wiggly or fidgeting.  They watched Mom the whole time.  They also looked so cute all in their black and coral. My mom is seriously such an amazing teacher.  I'm so proud of her!

Jules and Rick came over after work and Dad got us all Chinese take out for dinner.  After dinner the girls went shopping while the boys watched sports. It was a fun, productive shopping trip.  We hit something for everyone going to Nordstroms and Target. :) I got an outfit for my family pictures coming up, shoes for Mr. Beck, and a couple other things I needed.  We squeezed in a stop at See's too.

I was so tired by the time we got home that I just couldn't stay up any later.  I slept great and got to sleep in a bit too.  Friday morning I woke up to donuts on the cat!  Dad was getting ready to run errands so I threw on clothes and spent the morning running around town with him.  It was really fun.  I'm glad I got to hang out with my dad a lot on this trip.  He's one of my favorite people.

Dad dropped me off at Mom's school in the middle of the day so I could help her during her piano lab class.  It was interesting and super cool the way she has it set up.  The room is quiet and everyone wears headphones.  Mom can listen in on individual students and talk to them.  She can also have everyone listen to individual students or have everyone listen to her.  I just went around and helped out kids who were struggling or working on a new piece.

Jules picked me up from piano lab and we went home for lunch.  The Henshaw's arrived after lunch.  It was so good to see my cute nieces!  They are growing up so fast. :)  I gave Mimi her birthday present from our family.  She loved her new Pokemon cards.  They kept her and Rachel occupied for a good chunk of the afternoon.

Next up . . . Teacher of the Year dinner!