San Diego

Carter I headed to San Diego in late July for the Orzolek Family Reunion. This is Lisa's sweet sweet Polish family. These family reunions are held every two years, generally in a different city, based on the family members that are hosting it. The Granacki's from San Diego hosted it this time. Word on the street is the next one is in Chicago hosted by the Elliott's. Can I get a woot woot?!!!

The flight there was, um, hectic, to downplay it (Carter cried for about 70 minutes straight), but once we got there, we had a GREAT time. What a beautiful city and great temps!

Our first adventure was to SeaWorld. Dad, Celia, Paul, Carter and I all went. It was amazing. The whale show was fun. I only wish we had more time to spend at SeaWorld because there was SO much to see and do. Especially the Sesame Street Play of Bay. Carter was in heaven. I highly recommend this area to anyone with 1-year olds to maybe 5-year olds. Carter rode his first ride here - Elmo's flying fish! :-)

The rest of the time was spent lounging, swimming, walking around, taking a sunset boat ride, and spending time at the family reunion get-togethers, which are always a blast! Carter and I are lucky we got to go and the flight home went much more smoothly. :-)

My little brothers and sisters are growing up so fast. Celia, 15, Jackson, 20, me, Tom, 17.

Carter really loves Grandpa John.

Carter and his little buddy Brody. He was 5 months older than Carter.

Lisa and her little brother Paul.

Dad, Steve, Virginia (my Step Grandma - she is great!)

HUGE jellyfish. Biggest I've ever seen!

As Ron Burgundy would say, "You stay Classy San Diego."

Visitors

Carter's Great Aunt Shirley and Uncle Tony came to town to visit Carter, oh and the rest of us. She really loves him. It is so sweet.

Aunt Shirley and Carter

Uncle Tony and Carter

Lynda (Grammy), Shirley (Lynda and Shirley are sisters), Tony, Gary (Grampy) and Carter, Jason

4th of July

Jason, Carter, the dogs, and I went to Challis for the 4th of July. It was muy bueno. We had so much fun hanging out, BBQ-ing, riding 4-wheelers (Carter and Jason), taking the doggies for walks, and then having our very own fireworks show courtesy of Brett Plummer. Brett's brother and a friend were also there visiting from Salt Lake City so at the BBQ there were 8 dogs playing. They all liked each other too, it was so fun!  Oh, and did I mention Jason finally got to go fishing with Brett down the Salmon River. Jason was just a LITTLE excited about it. They didn't catch anything, but had a GREAT time!

Carter's first 4th of July parade

Grocery store getting goods for the BBQ. Isn't that little shopping cart the cutest?

First time Carter roasted a marshmallow! Yum!

I was asking Jason to hand me the camera. Don't you love C's marshmallow face?

The Plummer fireworks show begins. Look at that ammo!

Carter slept so peacefully in Dad's arms during all the fireworks!

Uncle Brett, Aunt Lai, and Carter. Can you believe the background? This is what they wake up to every morning.

Jason and Brett. Do you see the wound on Brett's left leg? Jason's fault. Playing a little game of hold the bottle rocket and shoot it at the other team (Scott and Randy vs. Jake and Jason). He better not teach Carter this dumb (dangerous) game!

memorial day weekend

He is so sweet

My Mom, Me, Uncle Jeff (Mom's brother), Laila, and Carter. This was the first meeting for Uncle Jeff and Carter.

Grandpa and Grandma Buzzard. So great to see them.

strawberry picking, back to my roots, beer

On our way  home, as we were sadly making our journey back to Idaho (I hate when vacation ends), we stopped in Hillsboro, OR to pick our very own strawberries at Groveland Acres. Well, Jason and I picked them, Carter ate them as we picked them. I think Carter was in heaven. He has a deep love for fruit. It was so fun and very affordable ($1 per pound). I wish we lived nearby so we could buy fresh (hand picked by ourselves) strawberries all the time!

Next, we hit Portland, where I was born and lived until I was around 7 years old. We drove through the downtown area (very nice) and went to the amazing Oregon zoo. Carter liked it, but Jason and I probably liked it a lot more than he did. I think he would LOVE it in another year or two.

Finally, we stopped in Hood River to grab a bite at Full Sail Brewing. Such yummy burgers, beer, and an amazing view of the Gorge. This was fun because Jason was reminiscing about a road bike race he did a few years ago up Mt. Hood. What a stud he is (but I think I remember a story about he and Sam being very weak because of food poisoning...no joke!).