Bolivar Island Feb 2010

One weekend in early February, we took a ferry ride on over to Bolivar Island. We hadnt been back over to the island since Hurricane Ike ravaged the island, including our friend Bill's beach house which it basically leveled and left nothing behind. So we were curious as to what state the island was in now, as it it had been well over a year since Ike hit.

Here are my boys on the ferry.....looked cold outside, but really the temps were pretty mild that day.....
James checking out the scenery from inside the ferry upstairs.....

View from the deck....

This is a motel that is on Bolivar, right up the road from where we used to turn down Bill's street. The motel was still standing, looked a little worse for the wear, but the sign as you can see was pretty much toast......

Gas station and supermarket there on the island.......its all fancy now on the outside, all stucco coated and decorated up......apparently they've done some work since Ike...not sure how damaged it was and all......

Turning down Bill's old street.......used to be house after house after house...now, not so much.

Out there to the right of the road where the empty lot is just in front of the palm trees in the pic where the dirt looks darker....that is where Bill's house used to be...still doesnt seem real that its not there anymore......

Here is a house that looked like it had been finished with re-building....looked pretty nice.

All in all there was quite a bit of activity on the island and lots of rebuilding going on, quite a few big name construction companies with signs that they would "build on your lot", "custom homes" etc......so I guess time will tell as to how many decide to take the chance and rebuild there again.....

And on to Phoenix

Was a whirlwind week in San Diego that went by waaaayyyyyy too fast! Spent great time with family and friends, wished I had seen others, but perhaps on my next trip out there this June?

Anyway, it was time to head east and hit the road back to Houston. On the way back I detoured slightly north and stopped in Phoenix to pick up my mom. She had flown out mid week to visit her best friend since KINDERGARTEN...Eileen, her husband Fred, sister Marsha and their kids.

Eileen's daughter Nicole, her husband and family live right behind them with a connecting fence...they have AMAZING houses I must say! Fred and Eileen live with their sister Marsha, and her sons were also there that weekend, which was great for me, as I had not seen any of them in SOOOO SOOOOO SOOOOOO long...wish I had more than just an hour to spend with them, it was truly a great visit that I wish could have lasted longer!!!!

Me and Nicole...she's as gorgeous as ever and I still want her hair dammit! LOL!!!

Fred, Me and Eileen
Eileen, my Mom and Eileen's sister Marsha

My Mom, Fred and Eileen
Marsha's youngest son Matt, my Mom, Fred, Eileen, and Marsha's oldest son Rusty

Nicole's sweet daughter Maricella, showing me how she can ride a big girl bike! she was just too cute!!!

Love you all and hope to stay for a longer visit next time!!!!!

Sea World San Diego

Spent one of the days in San Diego with my Aunt Marsha, my cousin Katie and her son Kian, and my cousin Beth (James' wife). We had such a GREAT day together! The weather was nice, was a fantastic family day!!!

Katie, Kian, Marsha and Beth in front of the sky tower ride

YIKES!!! Katie and Kian in the jaws of a shark!

The four of them again......waiting for a show to start

Kian helping me make a souvenir penny to take back to Houston for my son James

Marsha and Kian

Me

Shamu Stadium

Happy Dolphin! LOL!

Another dolphin

View of Mission Bay from our seat in the sky tower ride.........

View of sea World grounds from up high in the sky tower ride.....

Sister Day...

Bre and I wanted to be sure to spend at least one solid day together having a sister day! So we got up, had breakfast, got ready......then headed from El Cajon on in to Clairemont to have pedicures at Royal Nails......my favorite nail place I used to go to ALL THE TIME with my cousin Katie back in the day when I still lived out in San Diego. Here is a pic of our toes after our pedis.....
Then we headed on down to Mission Beach to walk on the boardwalk and enjoy the gorgeous weather (could not believe we were in jeans, t-shirts and flip flops when back in Houston it was FREEZING and threatening to snow/ice over once again.....ah San Diego in JANUARY...gotta love it!!) We also stopped for lunch there on the boardwalk..here we are at the restaurant out on the patio, enjoying the sea breezes and the sunshine.....

Bre at lunch

Me at lunch

Then we drove on thru La Jolla as I wanted to get some pics of some of my favorite places...La Jolla is on the top of my list.....damn I miss this place!

Love this shot....heck, this should be on a postcard for this hotel, dontcha think? :)

Continued on up to Mt Soledad, also in La Jolla....its a memorial for veterans and also THE BEST panoramic views of the entire city hands down....check it out......

After that we headed back to Bre's to hang out for a while, then get ready to meet our parents (her Mom, and my Dad) for dinner at Tio Leo's (Her hubby Joe was with us as well). YUM!!! I was in heaven with my shredded beef tacos....cant find those in Houston, that's for sure! :)

Drags at Barona in San Diego!

I cannot tell you how THRILLED I was when my cousin James (Marsha's son) told me that he was going to race his car at the drags at Barona the day after I was getting to town! YES!!!! I hadnt been to the drags in forever (I know how much they consume me if I let it, so for the most part, I have avoided the drag strip here in Houston since I moved here over 7 years ago..wisely so). But to get to spend the day at the strip, hopefully see old buddies I hadnt seen since I crewed on a dragster when I was still in San Diego and see my cousin race? OH HELL YEAH!!! I was stoked!

Was a great day...did end up seeing some buddies from my drag racing days, wished I had seen some others that werent there that day, and best of all got to take TONS of pics of my cousin racing his car!!!

Green light!!
Katie and James ready to rock and roll

And they're off! Not a bad light cousin..... a .08 is not too shabby for your first run of the day

This was a family team...jr dragster class. these kids only have to be EIGHT years old to race...little girl in the green car JUST turned 8 that weekend, this was her first time on the track......brother was in the blue car. Mom and Dad are their pit crew. Cars say "Grandpa's Legacy" on them.....ironically the Grandma of these kids was sitting right behind me in the stands as I took these pics, and told me it was her husband's wish to have his grandkids race..well he had passed on, and she made sure that his wish came true. im telling you, it brought tears to my eyes as she told me how much the kids love it, its truly a family thing for all of them, gives the kids something positive to focus on and keeps them out of trouble. Anyone that thinks that drag racing is "bad"......has never been to the track for true racing, and to see how not just this family, but ALL the racers consider one another their family, and would come together and help one another with whatever necessary. That's what its all about, and to hear this story from this proud Grandma warmed my heart. Oh, and James is only 2 years away from being old enough, should he express an interest (take that to read...time for momma to get him to the track more often!!! hee hee!!!) :)

This cute little guy...i just wanted to eat him up.....SO FREAKIN CUTE!!! Love it!

James and his sister Katie......I LOVE this pic I snapped thru the sunroof of his car before a run....dare say it was my fav pic of the day!

James in his racecar

Me and my sis Breanna

Me and my cousin Katie

Me and Speed Racer....I mean, my cousin James! :)

Onward to San Diego

Once I got to San Diego, I stayed with my sister Breanna and her husband Joe. For anyone reading this thinking wait, her sister lives in Dallas and her name is Berta.....lol...yes that is true, however Breanna is my dad's girlfriend's daughter...and seeing as how she has been a part of my life basically since she was born (hell I remember when her mom was pregnant with her!)...she is my sister, plain and simple. Heck our parents have been together longer now than mine were married, so yeah....sister she is, and I hate having to say step-sister etc....so there ya go. :)

Anyway...I was so excited to get to her place and finally see her house (last time I saw her was when she and Joe got married a few years back and were still renting a place)...she has a SUPER CUTE house and love the way they decorated it and all. Gonna be a great place to raise that baby boy little sis! She is pregnant with their first child and is due in July. YAY! So excited for them!

Although technically, little Zane (their adorable dog) will always be their first baby. I just LOVED him from the moment I laid eyes on him, and he became my buddy super quick!!! How could you not love this little guy?


And while I was there that week, my sis saw the blanket I had made myself and brought on my trip, and decided she wanted one....so we went to the fabric store and got what we needed for me to show her how to make one of her own.....the pic below is Bre with her finished blanket. She tells me that Joe has tried to claim it as his own...Im thinking I need to make him one that is not so PINK to call his own? Love ya Joe! ;)

ROAD TRIP!!!!!

Since I could not make it out to San Diego in October of 2009 for my 20 (yes, you read that right...TWENTY) year high school reunion........I decided (and Freddy agreed, since he got to attend his THIRTY year reunion here in Houston, also in October) to take a road trip out to San Diego and spend a week there, catching up with friends and family. So, off I went.....made it from Houston to Tuscson in ONE day....14 hours on the road with quick breaks for gas/bathroom/water or food...was a long day. But worth it as I got to spend time with great friends!!! Tanya and Mike live in Tucson and were gracious enough to have me stay with them. I spent two nights there so I could spend a solid day with Tanya before going on to San Diego. She and I went to lunch the day after I got there, saw a movie and hit up the local scrapbook store. She was also sweet enough to indulge me and take me on a drive to take photos with my good camera, I was so enthralled with the desert sky especially as it got close to sundown.....forgot how much I truly miss the mountains and the desert and the skyline....so I took full advantage of it! She took me to a little state park up the road from her house called Saguaro State Park and I was in heaven! Took TONS of photos, here are just a few from my time in Tucson....thanks Tanya and Mike for the hospitality!
Tanya and Mike

Tucson scenery.....

Me and Tanya attempting to do a self photo with my big Digital SLR camera...no easy feat! LOL!!!