The Travel Nutt: Kids and Grand Kids

I'm always talking about my kids and grand-kids and how very special they are to me, but I haven't very often blogged about them. So this entry is all about the Kids and the Grand Kids!

Recently we've either had the grand kids at our house or we've gone to their events, so I've been snapping pictures like crazy. And at Easter I tried to get some group shots of all the little families. So let me introduce you to my family . . .

Kary
Kary is my step-daughter from my "last life", and she and her family are very special to me.

L-R Justin (18), Kary, Mike, Kirsten (23)

Kary and her husband Mike just celebrated their 4th anniversary with a cruise up the coast to Canada, which she said was wonderful. Her son Justin just finished his senior year of high school and is debating what comes next, maybe college, maybe the armed services. Kristen works full time and keeps so busy that I hardly ever get to see her. They were here for Easter, but somehow managed to completely avoid my camera, so this picture is from last Christmas.

GREG
My son Greg and his family live in Temecula, about 45 minutes south of us. He keeps very busy between work, Tae Kwan Do and relaxing on his boat whenever he has a free weekend, which isn't as often as he would like. Rochelle is also a very busy girl taking care of two kids and a puppy, plus she works from home. Tanner just earned his junior black belt in Tae Kwan Do - quite an accomplishment at only 8 years old - and Sara is our future ballerina - she loves to dance and is very good at it.

Here's my son Greg and his family, relaxing after Easter dinner . . . .

L-R Tanner (8), Greg, Sara (5), Rochelle, Bailey (their cute puppy)

Tanner and Sara spent a few days with us during Spring break, and we went to the Long Beach Aquarium. The best part of the day for the kids was getting to touch the various types of sea life . . .

There were lots of hands-on exhibits of sea stars, sea cucumbers, sea anemones etc. - very cool . . .

But touching sharks and rays was way better!

So much fun!

On the Rocks with Sara and Tanner!

Look for another entry coming soon about more fun with Tanner and Sara!

GENA
My daughter Gena and her family live about 15 minutes from us. Gena is an amazing stay-at-home mom to her 3 kids - Andrew (16), Kevin (almost 5) and Laura (almost 3), and if that weren't enough, she has also become an avid runner and fitness encourager for her ever-widening circle of friends. She has completed several half-marathons and is in training for a full marathon coming up very soon. Here is her family on Easter, minus Andrew . . .

Gena, Laura, Craig, Kevin

Andrew has just a few days left in his junior year in high school. His junior prom was the same day as our Easter celebration so he missed the party. But he did stop by for a minute so we could see how handsome he looked . . . .

Andrew and Me

Andrew is all about sports. His first love was baseball, although he's also played soccer, basketball, football, roller hockey, and his latest passion is running. He is an awesome runner (he shares this passion with his mom) and is captain of his school's cross-country and track teams for next year, as well as Senior Class Vice President. He's going to be a busy boy with all of that plus his studies, sports, and hopefully a part-time job. I finally made it to his last track meet this season . . . .

Kicking it in! Go Andrew!

Not too long ago we took Kevin and Laura to San Diego's Wild Animal Park. We did all the usual things - rode the African Safari Tram, walked around to see the lions and the gorillas and all the other animals, and stopped to watch some of the "up close and personal" animal demonstrations. But the highlight of the day was getting to feed the cute little birds at Lorakeet Landing.


The Lorakeets come right up to get the nectar


It was so much fun! Love the ear-to-ear grin!


One of the birds landed on Laura's head - and restyled her hair.

We ended the day with . . . .

Ice Cream! (Of course!)

And then the Carousel - Laura's "Deer"

Kevin's Tiger

DOUG AND EMILY
My step-son Doug and my step-daughter Emily round out our wonderful group of kids . . .


L-R - Doug, Jaclyn, Manuel, Emily and little guys Blake (2) and Gavin (4)

Doug & Jaclyn

Doug is a captain on the fire department, and Jaclyn teaches first grade. They are getting married on June 3 and have a beautiful home in Orange County. They love to travel and are looking forward to an amazing month-long honeymoon in Europe.

Blake, Emily, Gavin & Manuel

Emily is an amazing stay-at-home mom to her two very active little boys. Gavin is playing soccer for the first time, and is doing awesome for his first ever team sport.