California+Patrick and Noel=Fun

I love Patrick and Noel.  They are seriously two of my favorite people in the world, and I’m so lucky that they are family!  What’s not lucky is the fact that Derek and I lived in California from 2000-2005, and Patrick and Noel moved their in 2007.  What’s up with that?!  I’ve been trying my best to convince them to move back to Texas, but so far all of my efforts have been futile.  I mean, I should be surprised.  He is the biggest dirtbag in the world.

(In our family, dirtbag is a term of endearment, by the way.  I’m telling you, I love this kid even if he refuses to be a Texan for Life. But he does live in a beautiful state with his beautiful wife near her beautiful family, so I really can’t blame him.)

Patrick and Noel drove up to Lake Arrowhead to spend the weekend with us.  There is a little amusement park near the town square–sidenote…I just sat here for a solid minute trying to think of what to call it.  Lake Arrowhead is a pretty tiny community and there really is a town square area although I don’t think that’s what the locals called it.   Anyway, on Saturday morning, we went to the amusement park where Camryn ruled the train.

Did you notice the upside down glasses?  I actually think she prefers to wear them this way.  More often than not, when she has her glasses on, she has them on upside down.

We played with the funhouse mirrors.

And as a grand finale, we drove the go-carts.

Can you see my face in that picture above?  That’s the face I made in all of the go-cart pictures.  Awesome.  I’m so glad that I’m so cool and so very photogenic.

After some afternoon rest time and a little more exploring around our condo, we headed out to do some hiking.  We timed our hike perfectly with the fog.

And it was, in a word, COLD!  It was in the 40s, which is like the middle of winter here in Houston.  We were not prepared for that kind of cold!  We taught Camryn all about the importance of layers.  She tried her hand at the art of layering.  Long sleeve t-shirt, check.  Tank top, check. Jacket, check.  Leggings, check.  Shorts, check. Socks and crocs, check.  Looking good, Cami.  Lookin’ real good.

The boys found the perfect sticks to use to practice their Jedi moves.

But in the end, Patrick was the ultimate Jedi Master.

The boys love Patrick.  Can’t you tell?  I love this picture, even if a little tiny part of me might be a little jealous that they took such a cute and fun picture with Patrick but on the rare occasion that I take a picture with them, typically ‘cute’ and ‘fun’ are not the words I would use to describe it.  I just need to be a little bit cooler, like uncle Patrick.

Actually, we did get a cute and fun picture of the 5 of us, thanks to the cool Uncle Patrick.

It was a great day.  A great day, indeed.

And as a grand finale, I leave you with this, two of finest facial contortions of all time.  We’ve been practicing our ugly faces for years, and I’m happy to say that I think we’ve finally mastered them.  Well done, Patrick, well done.

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