VACATION!!!!

My parents were able to come visit my husband and I for a week. I was lucky enough to be able to take the whole week off. Rommel still had to work, but he had Memorial Day off and was able to be home by five most nights, which is early for him. We were not planning to do anything too exciting, just relax and maybe do some work on the house. But our first priority was food. Okay, maybe it was just my first priority, but I miss my parents' cooking... a lot. So Rommel took my dad to Costco and he picked out some great steaks. We fixed a few baked potatoes and corn on the cob to go with them and I was in heaven. I usually do not eat that heavy, but the heartburn was totally worth it. Even Simba was loving it, which is obvious from the pictures of him glued to my dad's side at the dinner table. Apparently someone was feeding him bits of steak the whole time.



We basically just relaxed the next day. Dad grilled out while my mom and I headed to a local quilting shop. Try as we might, we ended up spending money. My mom bought some fabric, a pattern, and a quilting magazine. I bought some fabric and a pattern. The difference between us is that my mom will probably use her fabric and actually make the quilt she bought the pattern for.


One of the goals I sent for the week they were in town was to paint the brick wall in the backyard. I hate looking at the ugly tan color everyday and found this picture on ApartmentTherapy.com.


I thought it would be great to paint a similar pattern on the wall, maybe just make it a little bigger. Since this takes a little bit of artistic talent, I decided to wait for my mom to help me because she is extremely gifted when it comes to painting, etc. I actually think it turned out pretty well. I like the whole graffiti look of it. My husband does not know what to think of it, but he does agree that it is better than looking at a blank wall.


Wednesday we set out to work in the yard. I found this great garden border at Home Depot (please forgive me for the big box store shopping) which is made from recycled plastic and wax milk containers. My dad helped me put the border around the area under our bird feeding station and then fill it with mulch. Hopefully that will keep all the excess bird seed from killing my lawn.


By the way, I wish I could take the creepy gnome out of the picture above. I cannot stand garden gnomes, just like I can't stand ceramic dolls. I rationally know they will not eat my heart out while I sleep, etc, but they still creep me out. The only reason that gnome still exists is that Rommel put it there and he likes it. One day it will disappear.

My mom and I put in some new plants. We added some of this purple/green grass where the bird feeders used to be. Hopefully it will grow there since nothing else will. We also replaced flowers that were in the center of my hanging baskets. I seemed to have killed the old ones, oops. Then we transplanted my sweet bell peppers and pulled weeds. I think we definitely worked off the dinner from the day before.



We decided to visit the Los Angeles Zoo on Thursday. My dad always enjoys that kind of thing and the weather was absolutely beautiful. Apparently we decided to go on the day when every school in the area decided to take a field trip to the zoo. Some of the little kids were cute, but the rest were just really annoying. In between all the screaming and kids running around us, we were able to see a few animals. After all the walking at the zoo, we met Rommel at our favorite BBQ place to pig out yet again.



Rommel was able to get out of work so that we could take my parents to the beach their last day here. Usually we head to Oceanside where the beach is right outside the door of the rental for vacation, but we were all trying to save money this year. So my dad said the one thing he wanted to do while he was here was see the ocean. We decided to go to Mahattan Beach, which is one of the cleaniest beaches around us. Rommel and I sat on the pier while mom and dad walked up and down the beach. My dad really enjoyed the walk and after a couple of hours was satisfied.




We went to Johnny Rockets for lunch since my dad was requesting a good milkshake. My mom and dad continually harassed each other during lunch, like usual.



Rommel and I had a really great time hanging out with my parents for a week. Of course when they left, I was homesick for awhile, but hopefully we will see them again this fall.