Our Trip to CA: Thursday: Jenna's 17th Birthday, Airsoft Battle, Our Departure

We woke up early and packed quickly. We also made half of the birthday sign for Jenna's birthday. Once everything was ready and gathered, we said thank you and good-bye to my grandparents' and headed on over to my parents' place.

a pretty good sign, if I do say so myself!

We had delicious Belgian waffles with strawberries, whipped cream and bacon for breakfast, yum! And then Jenna opened her presents. My parents got her these silly sunglasses that are a replica of the ones my grandpa had and let her wear, and then she broke them. She was pretty pumped. We got her a pretty ruby sterling silver ring from the Sundance catalog. Ruby is her birthstone and we figured it would be a good ring for her. A few months ago, once we had decided on it, I had sent her some pictures of rings I liked, and said Zak was thinking about getting me one of them, and sent her a picture of the ruby one, and she said she loved it, so I knew we were golden from then on. She was a happy girl and enjoyed everything.

Oh, and I got rid of a bunch of stuff at my parents' house, and saved some treasures. The weirdest part was quickly going through my journals from high school (while trying not to vomit) and pulling out the memorable notes and pictures, while throwing away the majority of them. Zak wanted to read them, and I did not allow that under any circumstance, but did ok the material I saved for him.

Somehow, the airsoft battle idea just came out of nowhere. We got my dad a semi-automatic one for his birthday, Jenna got one on her last visit here, and Kenny and Zak & I had them from Rexburg, so we decided awhile ago that we would have this epic battle. But it never happened, and then all of a sudden on Thursday, we just decided to go for it. Mom took some pictures and told us some rules and we five headed off to the park nearby for the battle.

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we want to get Mom the biggest airsoft gun for her birthday, bwahaha

It was actually pretty fun, and Dad's gun was fear-inducing. It didn't hurt as much as our pistols, but the sound of it struck terror into our hearts. About half way through, the boys were resting and one of them got shot by a bullet, but it wasn't from us. They looked at some bullets on the ground, and none of us had that color bullet. Then they saw the interloper, who was shooting from behind the fence. They came over and told us and I shouted, "SHOW YOUR FACE! FIGHT US LIKE A MAN!" all goofy, and then the battle resumed. I remember screaming and running away from the boys, down towards the fence and then I looked up and saw a guy's head over the fence, screamed even harder, and ran back to Dad. I guess they exchanged words, he was planning on being lame and staying behind his fence, and then we decided we'd had enough.

Zak drew a Sirius Black tattoo on Jenna because she was 'going as Sirius Black' for the final Harry Potter midnight showing (she originally wanted to have him draw a beard on her, but changed her mind)

Then we got everything set up for the airport, including packing the cheeses we got at Costco (brie, gouda, sharp cheddar, don't worry, this will be relevant later), and headed off towards the airport. We stopped to get gelato, because we don't have a gelato place in Moscow, for some stupid reason. Oh, it was tasty, and just perfect. Everything went smoothly at the airport, minimal tears were shed, and no one was fondled or looked at on the new scanners (didn't happen on our way to CA either, go figure).

We had stopped and grabbed some Quizno's sandwiches for dinner beforehand, and while we waited for the plane, decided to eat. That went all right until Zak spilled pickles on my legs and the juice ended up all over the butt of my jeans, and let's just say, that it was a very unpleasant few moments for us. Yes, it was funny, but I was not in the mood to get pickle juice all over my jeans! He made up for it by buying my a chocolate bar and some water.

Our flight wasn't bad. I don't remember the last time I flew out of Oakland when there was still daylight, so I took some pictures from the plane. And then cried a little, because I didn't want to leave California or my family. It's always a bit bittersweet for me, these trips, because I do love being married and with Zak in Moscow, but I miss home an awful lot. But we had such a great trip, and I'm so glad we were there for Kenny. It was one of the craziest and most exhausting trips to date, but well worth it.

flying over the Bay

The drive home was nice. The sun was setting, the weather was beautiful and there were no cars on the road. I took several sunset pictures; driving in the Palouse region is so picturesque, it's hard not to take pictures. It was nice to arrive home to the pets alive, a thriving garden and a clean house. The cheese even made the trip fine! I texted my mom that the cheese survived, and she texted me back, 'Good-a'. That is why my mom is awesome.

it's so pretty

the moon

Thank you to everyone for a fantastic week in California! We loved every minute and all of the food! Can't wait to see everyone next year (*cross your fingers*)!