Busy, Busy, Busy

Tuesday morning I woke up and headed out to Poway to visit Grandma and Granddad Kerby. I got to see them a little bit on Saturday, but it wasn't very long, so it was really nice to go up and spend some more time with them. As always, Granddad was watering and had his timer on him so that he could remember when to switch the systems. He's so adorable, I love Granddad so much. Grandma and I talked about my classroom, and her old classrooms. We talked about the family and how lucky we are to have such great relatives. Before we knew it, our hour was up and Grandma had to run off to do her visiting teaching. Before I left though, she gave me three jars of boysen berry jam. She told me how she's getting older and she's not sure how many more years she'll be able to pick the berries, but this year she did and she made the jam, so I got some. Yes!! We said our good-byes and our see-ya laters and I headed back home while Grandma headed out to be the fantastic woman that she is. Honestly, she's amazing.

I went home just long enough for Grandma Petronaci to point out that I haven't sat still this whole trip. I've always got plans and I'm always running around. I told her that that's what has made this trip so great. I love being busy, having things to do, and running at a fast pace. This summer, however, I've already explained that I have not been moving at that fast pace. So coming here and being able to go out and do so much is absolutely wonderful!

After that little chat with Grandma P I went up to Penesquitos to visit Kim and the boys. Except, the boys had friends over so they weren't too interested in me :o) That's fine, Kimi and I got to chat it up a little bit, and I did play with the boys.

I wasn't there too long because Mom and I had an appointment in Fashion Valley at noon and since she was already in San Diego, I just had to meet her there. Yeah, the appointment went okay, although it's not my typical cup of tea, I didn't feel as awkward as I thought I would have. I didn't have a whole lot of bonding time with Mom because she had to go do a signing, and I had stuff to run back to, so we said good-bye and parted ways.

My cousin Jon recently got back from his mission, and so on Monday I called him up and asked if he had time to hang out with me and if he wanted to go to the beach. Yep, he had time and he wanted to go. So at 2pm I picked up Jon, Ryan, and Kristen and we all went to Moonlight (yep, same beach I was just at the night before). It was super crowded, but apparently someone had just left because we found a perfect spot without even looking very hard. The three of them started walking into the water all slowly like they were cold or something. Crazies! I ran straight in. Yeah, it was a little cold, but that's how you've got to do cold water. You've just got to go in and get used to the temperature. The longer it takes to get in, the longer you're cold. Eventually they got in :oP The water was full of seaweed, but not like a normal amount. It was disgusting and everywhere. And not in clumps either, but individual leaves were floating everywhere. Sick! Jon kept on picking them up and tossing them. One- like that was really going to help the situation 2- he kept on throwing them on Ryan and Kristen who happened to be right behind him. Jon is the same old same old. I don't know that the mission changed him much. Seaweed is not the easiest thing to throw because it's light weight and it sticks to you from time to time when you try to let go. So we were all making fun of each other when we would have a particularly bad throw. Well, one time I picked one up and just tossed it behind me. Well, let me tell you, I had a really nice throw. I got some distance on that one. The only problem... it landed on some girl in an inner tube. Ooops. I say sorry (not really loud enough for anyone to hear though) and turn around because I can't help but laugh at how perfect my non-aim was. While I'm turned away from the girl, Jon's staring right at her and he's telling me, "She's giving you the evil eye right now. Nope, she really didn't like that." Thanks Jon :o)

Eventually we couldn't handle the crowd or the seaweed and we decided that Ryan really needed the sun because he is WHITE. So we went up and laid on the beach. My eyes were closed when I hear something you don't usually hear at the beach. "Who in the heck is playing a banjo?" Yeah, right as I say that, I open my eyes and sit up to find that the people right in front of us are the ones playing, and yes, it really was a banjo. Oops, I've got to learn to question quieter- luckily they didn't hear me. But yeah, how insanely random is that? Not only was the lady playing a banjo on the beach, but at one point in time she was playing Asian melodies- on a banjo- weird! No one really wanted to brave the seaweed again after we'd been sitting out, and the wind had started to pick up and we were getting a little cold so we headed back home.

When I dropped them off, my Aunt and Uncle came out, so we talked for a while. Aunt Amy suggested that I take Kristen running some time. I guess she didn't realize that I was leaving so soon, so I told her that I was leaving Thursday but that Kristen should go change now and we'd head out. A little reluctantly, Kristen agreed. Ryan backed out of the run, but Jon came along. Kristen's knee is bothering her, so I figured it'd be best if we ran on trails rather than cement so we went to Kit Carson Park. Oh man. It's been quite some time since I went running over there. I loved it! It was so much fun for me to go back and run along the trails there and see what's changed and what never will. It's really fun being back home. Plus, the other reason the run was fun was because it gave me some extra time to chat it up with my cousins, which I don't do nearly enough. We turned back around when Kristen's knee started hurting her, but I'd say we got at least 3 1/2 if not 4 miles in, so that's not too bad.

So it was a busy busy day where I kept hoping from plan to plan, but I absolutely LOVED it! Not only that I staid so busy, but because it was a day absolutely filled with family.