FAMILY FUN IN LAKE ARROWHEAD

Well, it was time to get away from Orange County and head up to the hills with my Mom and sisters to visit our oldest sister in Lake Arrowhead. With a view like this from the deck of the house, how could we not have a relaxing time? We spent Saturday going to Arrowhead Village for lunch at Woody's, a great salad bar and the best clam chowder I've had in my life. Then on to a boat trip around the lake, very interesting, relaxing, and learned what movie stars have homes, rather estates, at lakeside. Michele Kwan has two, one for her and one for her parents, Brian Wilson from The Big Boys, Mark Harmon from NCIS, and many more. A peachy peach smoothie finished off our visit to the village, and back to the house we went. Sue gave us all different colored bags with our initials embroidered on them, and also bought us all white T-shirts. She embroidered a cartoon image of a girl on the shirts, and each one had a theme that pertained to each of us. My girl made a homemade card and was scrapbooking, Andrea's girl had a cell phone to her ear had shopping bags in her hand, Sue's girl was a music teacher, Cheryl's girl was walking a dog, and Mom's girl had a halo above her head and it said "FAN" underneath (Angels fan). Andrea gave all of us a silver tiara, a three-part memo pad to keep in our purse, and a mirror compact with a heart of crystal on the top, all very nice and unexpected. We then played a full round of Mexican Train (dominoes) which we all really enjoy - oh, and who won? Not me, I came in last actually, but it was still a lot of fun. Then we had a great dinner of "beer in the rear" chicken, sweet white corn on the cob, salad and more. Cheryl has many bird houses on her top deck, mostly hummingbird feeders, and boy there were a lot of them. Believe it or not, they feed the hummers one gallon of sugar water per day! I'd never seen a hummingbird idle before, and got a good shot of one here. Cheryl also gets a lot of finches, and there were eight of them on a feeder at the same time. At one point we even saw a Blue Jay - it was fun seeing all those birds up close and personal. The next morning we got up and were treated to a wonderful breakfast with homemade strawberry jam and croissants shipped frozen from Crate & Barrel; they're on the pricey side, but the best that I've ever had. I have to be very honest and admit that even though I needed a break from my routine, I missed the baby very much, oh, and Jack too - ha! It's nice to get away, but it's always nice to get home. Everything was fine on the home front. It was a hot day both in the mountains and at home, but not too hot for Jack to take the baby around the block in his stroller, he loves that. He also figured out how to climb up on the small recliner in the bedroom and just sits there and rocks. I was calling for Jack and Shawn would repeat me and say "aak" - Jack and I just look at each other with utter surprise on our faces at what he's figuring out on his own. Shawn had a great time bowling up in Vegas - he didn't win anything, but it was a much deserved time away from his routine too. He was anxious to see his son and played with him until he was pooped out. Next weekend is Shawn's cousin, Xander's, birthday - he'll be a year old on Friday and his Mickey Mouse Clubhouse party is next Sunday - Shawn and Xander really look forward to seeing each other.