Flashback Friday - Family Vacation the end!

Yea for Flashback Friday! Here is the final installment of the family vacation saga. I have also included photos for your viewing pleasure. And as always, stop by ScaryMommy's blog since Flashback Friday is all her idea.



Originally posted on myspace on 12/8/07


Family vacations are always fun

I am home. We all made it alive and in one piece. There were tears and there was laughter and overall some great memories were made and some not so great photos were taken ;)

Disembarking the boat was similar to a giant cattle call. We waited in our cabins for our section to be called, then we were ushered off the ship and into the customs line. Somehow my family managed to get into the line with the slowest customs agent ever! Both lines on either side of us were flowing and ours was at a standstill. Seriously all he has to do is say...anything to declare? any fruits or vegetables?, no, okay. And then we would all be off and running. We were only technically out of the country for one day, what do you think I did in one day. I had to get back on the ship anyway after being out of the country and they were super strict on what we could and could not bring back on board. (I am still a little confused as to why I was not allowed to bring a small pocket knife on board but at dinner they would give me a serrated steak knife, um, ok.)

After customs, make our way to the airport in LA with a brief stop at my Aunt Kerry's to say hi. We return our rented minivan, oh yeah, don't be hatin', we was big pimpin' style in the minivan. A minor dispute occurs between Sam and myself, while trying to fill up the gas tank before dropping off the van We get back to the rental agency and grab the shuttle to the airport. On a side note, my dad turned into a freaky California drive and I was in fear for my life once or twice while driving in the chaotic LA traffic.

Our first flight from LA to Vegas is a on time and we are looking good to get home on schedule. We land in Vegas as expected and then we begin out short layover before heading out on the last leg of our journey. On the flight from LA to Vegas, Alex made a friend with the guy sitting next to him on the plane. He was visiting Vegas for several days to catch a boxing match, he had come all the way from the United Kingdom...that is some serious dedication to your sport.

Our flight from Vegas to Eugene was slightly delayed by about 45 minutes but other than that our return trip was much less eventful than the trip down, (thank you sweet baby Jesus).

Finally around 2:30am we reach my parents' house. My mom turns to me and says, "So, are you staying here tonight?" Are you freaking kidding me?! I have just been with all of you for the last 8 days. I am so close to my own bed and my own home that I can taste it. I do not want to wake up tomorrow and have to look any of you people...no offense.

As much as I complained about this "family vacation", I had a great time, it was fun to be able to spend this time with my family. But ultimately, I am most grateful to be home. You cannot truly appreciate your home until you are unable to be in your comfort zone. Jack was so excited to see me and I was thrilled to see him (and yes, he does lokk super fabulous in his poncho!) My cats seemed happy to see me and both slept with me throughout the night. And above all I am really happy to be sleeping in a bed that does not rock back and forth!


This was the cabin my brothers and I shared for a week. And we are all still alive. You should be very impressed!


CATALINA ISLAND

What have I gotten myself into?


Isn't my brother Alex just precious :)


Hey boys, over here!


Aren't they funny...

DISNEYLAND - Happiest place on earth?

The Parentals


Alex, Me, Sam waiting in line


That's my family. All in line at Disneyland, smile people!

Flashback Friday - Mexico day

Yep, it's that time a again...Flashback Friday, brought to you by ScaryMommy.



This was orginally posted 12/06/07 on Myspace
Family Vacation Part VI

Today was Mexico day. We were already docked by the time I woke up, around 8:30. My brothers and I slowly begin to get ready for the day, meet up with our parents for breakfast and then it is off to Mexico (This must be pronouced, MEJICO).

We are already bickering as we step off the ship. Some of us want to go one way the others want to go another way (Alex is the biggest baby of all)...it is shaping up to be a great day, I can tell. After we figure out which way to go and how to get out the port terminal we begin our trek. Immediately we are bombarded with street vendors offering us the most authentic whatever at the best price. I may be a little gringa but I do speaka the espanish.

As we trek along we lose my mother along the way in one of the jewelry stores. She is on a mission to find silver jewelry. I am not really on a mission to "find" anything, I am just enjoying not being on a lurching ship and taking in all the sights and sounds. It is also obvious that we are in a touristy section that caters to the cruise ships. I did however find a the cutest little poncho ever, for Jack. He is going to rock that poncho like no little dog has ever rocked a poncho! Yes, people I did get a poncho for my dog, so what, don't be hatin'.

In one store Alex is admiring a poncho for himself and Sam is looking at something...next thing I know Sam is chatting away in Spanish with the saleswoman. Nice, Sam. I know my brothers know and speak Spanish but I never hear them use it. Sam is surprisingly good (sorry Sam, I never meant to doubt your ability). And for everyone who wants to know...yes I used my Spanish as well. You would be surprised at how quickly the price of an item drops from the original quote, when they realize that you know what they are saying and can converse with them. We all managed to get so pretty cool stuff for decent prices and the overall experience was the best part.

At one point we are in one of the many little shops along the main drag and Sam and I are chatting with this woman about some of the art she is selling. We finish our purchases and are preparing to leave and the woman says to us, "hablan espanol muy bien" (you speak Spanish very well). Sam turns to the woman and replies "Tu tambien!" (you too). We all start cracking up and the woman's husband thought this was the funniest thing he had heard all day. When you can crack jokes in Spanish, you're doing pretty good! I think my dad was the most surprised at all of us, since we never speak Spanish in front of him, even though we all know it.

We did have a small snafoo trying to get a snack. We went to this one restuarant and got chips and drinks and they offered to make guacamole at our table for us. We agreed and the guacamole was yummy. The guy turns to my mom and tells her the guac is $8.00...freshly made at your table, sounds reasonable, she pays him. We finish eating, there is rap music blaring, we can hardly hear one another, I have gotten up and moved around the table to get out the sun (I have delicate skin that does not like direct sunlight people). I notice a menu up on a podium close to the entrance, my mom has asked me to look and see if it says how much the drinks were. I look at the menu, drinks aren't listed...but guacamole made tableside is, for $5.50. As we are leaving Sam goes up the waiter and says, "Hey, I want my $2.50 back because the guac is only $5.50 and not the $8.00 you charged us." He ends up getting the money back and we leave. All in all that was the "worst" thing that happened to us. I am still wondering who the f@$* is this guy traveling with us named Sam?! Sam was always the quietest, most reserved child and now he is the one demanding our money back and wheeling and dealing like a pro with the locals. He has turned into quite the little schmoozer!

We are now back on the ship, heading back to Long Beach. Once again the shit is rocking quite a bit. FYI-they give out free dramamine packets, I wonder if that is because they don't want to clean up everyone's puke? :) Our waiter at dinner said that usually you don't feel the ship move quite so much and that these last few days have been particularly rocky. I believe it is because we are hitting the after shocks of the storm the buffeted the west coast.

No one made our mom cry today and for the most part it was an uneventful drama free day. I would like to point out that I NEVER made our mom cry, gold star to me and I maintain favorite child status! ;) I am hoping that maybe I can win the the "Who can make Alex cry?" prize. Now you may be thinking, Erica, your trip is almost over. You would be right, but there is still plenty of stressful family togetherness time in which I can cause Alex to get mad enough to cry...alright, alright, I am joking, I will not actively try and make Alex cry, that would just be mean (a little funny, but mean).

Tomorrow we will attempt to return home, hopefully without any weather delays. And I will be sure to post one last blog about the final leg of our family vacation. Also once I get home I will be sure to post pictures of this saga I have enthralled you all with.

P.S. To Cesar and Martin :-P see I do too speak Spanish!

Flashback Friday

It's that time again...Flashback Friday ala ScaryMommy



Family Vacation Part V (Originally posted 12/5/07)

Today we were supposed to dock in Ensenada. This did not happen. Due to large swells and gusts of wind the port at Ensenada was closed, so today ended up being our "At Sea" day. This would not have been so bad if it weren't for the giant swells. The ship rocks a little all the time, today however it lurched from side to side. I have not been seasick this whole trip except for today. Everywhere you go you sway from side to side. You will just be standing there and the next thing you know you've stumbled sideways, like a drunk person. Who needs to drink when I can experience all the negative after effects without even trying.

I have tried to sleep most of the day and that seems to help. We will attempt to dock at Ensenada tomorrow, so don't worry everyone who was expecting a Mexican treat from me...you may still get it.

Tonight is the first night of Chanukah and there was a little Chanukah celebration, it was nice. There was challah bread (yum, my favorite) and latke wannabees. They were not latkes, they were just plain ol' pancakes. There were two Israeli men around my age and my mother has already tried to set me up with them. "I just want you to find a nice Jewish boy...or any boy at all."

Alex won the silver in who can make mom cry today. Alex, Sam, and I were all planning on meeting up for lunch at noon. I guess Alex ran into our mom on the way and she decided to join us. Well, Sam and I had come in from one entrance and told the hostess that there would be 3 of us. Alex and my mom came from another direction and when I told the hostess that there were really 4 of us all hell broke loose. There was utter confusion with the hostess and them trying to figure out where to seat us, then I look over and my mother has left the restaurant...what the hell. Alex turns around and leaves and soon after Sam follows. There I am standing in the middle of the restaurant with the hostess, both of us have no idea what has just happened. I turn to the hostess, shrug my shoulders in a helpless gesture and give her a sheepish grin...then I bolt.

I leave to go find everyone and there are Sam and my mom. She is upset because when we told the hostess that our party was now a group of 4 and it got a little confusing, Alex turned to our mom and said "You weren't even invited." Alex stormed off in huff, Sam and I calmed our mom down and finally got seated...for 3. Next thing you know, there is my dad, we are once again a party of 4. Sigh. As much as I complain about my mom I do love the woman and I know she just wants to make sure that we all are having a good time and she wants to spend some of that time with us.

Okay, I am off to get ready for dinner. Wish us luck on getting to Ensenada tomorrow.



P.S. As I have mentioned they feed you all the time here. There is food everywhere and room service 24 hrs a day. Because of this I made the decision to try and take the stairs whenever I can, to try and counter balance the food intake. My calves and thighs have been burning! Hasta manana.

Flashback Friday - Family Vacation continued

I think flashback Friday was an ingenius idea and it makes me happy to dust off the old blogs to be read by new eyes (and some old ones). Be sure to go visit ScaryMommy. Here is part 3 and 4 enjoy...

Part III
We are on the ship. I truly believe when I die, I want my heaven to be a cruise ship. They feed you everywhere you go, they have Duty Free shops where the booze is way inexpensive, they have jewelry shops, and they have designer handbags! Seriously, what more could a girl ask for?

I am sharing a room with my brothers, there is one bed by the window and then basically bunkbeds. I am not sure how I lucked out and ended up sleeping on the top bunk...what the hell, I should have totally pulled the oldest child card. But by the time we had gotten through check-in, I was ready to just lay down for a few minutes and the thought of fighting over who slept where was just too much for me. Also, I was a little worried about sleeping on the bottom bunk with Alex on the top bunk. As Alex stated, he would have a broken arm and I would be dead. Alex is not a little dude.

The cabins are tiny but we have a window and we are not sharing with our parents. So overall it's pretty awesome. Tomorrow we stop in Catalina for the day, then it's on to Mexico. Although we are only in Mexico for one day.

I have found that I am a little lonely on the cruise. There is so much I would love to experience with Jen and Kelsey and Christina and other good friends. My dad and brothers just don't understand my excitement over designer handbags and my mom just tells me I could get the same type purse much cheaper. The cruise also feels a little like high school. I am just not sure where I fit in yet.

Sorry, nothing too exciting happened today. For the most part it was uneventful but stressful. We did have a life-jacket drill, that was interesting and there are several people I better get off the boat before! Oh, and you should know that yes, ships are still sexist, the sick, women, and children all get off the ship first. I guess that's good for me...not so good for my dad and brothers.


Part IV
Nope, karaoke does not improve on a cruise ship. People still suck. But I am have a pretty good time. Right now Sam and I are sitting in one of the many bars aboard ship listening to bad singing. Soon we will leave to meet up with the rest of family for a comedy show at midnight. Sam and I are giggling like little school girls as we watch four very large Samoan men sing All 4 One's "I Swear". It is hilarious and one just started dancing!

So, Sam has officially won the "Who can make mom cry first?" prize Today we left the ship for a an excursion to Catalina. Catalina is a cool little place where everyone basically drives golf carts everywhere. Well, my family decided to rent one for an hour. Ok, cool...no, not so much. My mom kept trying to tell my dad where to go and was just stressing everyone out. Sam, who is riding shotgun, turns around to face my mom, who is riding in the middle seat (Alex and I are being nerds and are riding in the backseat facing backwards, try not to be jealous), and he says, "Mom, shut up! You are stressing us all out and you have no idea what you are talking about!" Maybe tomorrow Alex can make her cry.


As Kelsey (Sam's fiance) says, "It's only funny because it's not happening at my house."

Catalina is obviously a tourist attraction and their economy is completely supported by cruise ships passengers. But I like it. It has a quaint little feel to it and I totally am down with driving a golf cart everywhere. I would pimp mine out, spinners and everything! Did you know that here are bison on the island. They were brought over for a film of a Zane Grey book but did not actually make it into the movie and ever since there have been several hundred head of bison on the island. It's a cool little place.

I am totally digging the evening turndown service on the ship and I am no longer sleeping on the top bunk, Sam now has that privilege...if he asks I will tell him it is his prize for making mom cry. They come and fold down your comforter, place a mint on your pillow, and they fold a towel into some crazy sea creature! Sweetness.

The ship has really been rocking lately and I have come to the conclusion that anyone who is actually walking straight, is drunk off their ass. Because all the sober people are lurching back and forth. They like to take pictures wherever you go, even if you don't want your picture taken. Sam and Alex where each accosted by the pirate lady...ha ha.

Alright, I must go. I miss you all terribly. I no longer feel so lonely but I still wish someone else could appreciate the designer handbags as much as I do!

Flashback Friday - Family Vacation Part II

Scary Mommy does Flashback Friday. So here is part two of the family vacation that occurred in December 2007:


Last night I wrote a great blog about my day yesterday and when I went to post it, Myspace ate it. I was too frustrated and tired to try and rewrite. I will now attempt to match the greatness of the original blog, but I cannot make any promises.

The other night when I was telling everyone about the excitement of getting to Califormia I failed to mention the crazy waitress we had at the hotel restaurant. I was so tired, I blocked it from memory. Sam, Alex, and I all decide to head down to the hotel restaurant for some dinner, our parents were off somewhere shopping. We arrive at the restaurant about 8ish and there is no one there. This makes the 3 of us a little nervous but the server tells us to sit anywhere. We naively pick a table, having no idea what we have just gotten ourselves into.

Our server sounds like she has been smoking for 30 years and Sam likes to describe her as a female version of Joe Pesci...this is pretty accurate. She comes over to our table, hands us menus and takes our drink orders. After bring us our drinks she then takes our dinner orders.

As we are waiting for our dinner a woman comes into the restaurant, obviously a co-worker or manager of our server. This woman proceeds to tell a story about a bad experience she had at Sam's Club. She thought the price of an item was $3.99 but when she got to the checkout the price was actually $19.99. The woman is talking very loudly and my brothers and I have already heard this story 3 times, while we were out in the lobby. The woman has completed the story with our server and heads over to the bar where we hear her begin to tell the story again to the bartender. The three of us all exchange eye rolls. All of a sudden our server is standing at our table, motions to the woman who just left and makes a talking gesture with her hand and says "yak, yak, yak." Um, ok, weird.

The next time we see our server she is bringing out our dinners. It is immediately obvious that one of the three plates is extremely hot and burning her. Does she put down the hottest plate first? No! She sets the scalding hot plate down last. What kind of crazy logic is that. The hot plate is Sam's, he ordered nachos and we assume the whole plate was put in the oven to melt the cheese. As she sets the plate down she turns to Sam and says, "That plate was hot!" We all nod our heads in acknowledgment but apparently that was not good enough. She says, "No, it was really hot! See..." And she presses her hand against Sam's cheek. The horrified look on Sam's face was PRICELESS! Now that she has traumatized Sam she turns her attention to Alex. He has ordered buffalo wings. She says to him, "Sorry, that took so long, we had to go kill the chickens. Just kidding we keep them dead in the back!" WTF!? The woman is crazy.

We manage to complete our meal, somewhat in shock. Then she brings out the check. She reaches in front of me and hands the check to Sam. She says "I don't know why I am handing this to you, but you are the oldest here and are probably paying." OH NO SHE DIDN'T! I am the oldest by 4 years and I was the one PAYING! After all of this we head back to our room where we all crash and try and put the memory of this night behind us.

Yesterday morning we awoke to our mother yelling, "I CAN'T HEAR HIM!" All three children bolt upright from a dead sleep, our hearts are pounding, thinking, uh oh that's mom's angry voice, someone is in trouble. Then our father calmly says, "Sue, you're dreaming." What the hell, she just scared the crap out of all of us! The rest of the morning continues uneventfully. We get dressed and head off to Disneyland.

The beauty of my parents having grown children and modern technology providing all of us with cell phones...we are not required to stick together all day long. Before we split apart we all ride the Indiana Jones ride and attempt to ride the Pirates of the Caribbean. We are almost at the front of the line for this ride when they experience mechanical problems and the ride is closed for several hours. Apparently when children do not get to go on their ride they begin to scream bloody murder in your ear...or maybe that was just the child directly behind me.

After this my brothers and I decide to go our own way and leave the parentals to do whatever it is parentals do at Disneyland. The three of us trek over to Splash Mountain. Keep in mind we have all been to Disneyland before, have been on this ride before, and know that there is a chance of getting somewhat wet. No, we did not get wet, we were drenched! The sign said, 'Caution, you may get a little wet on this ride.' Um, no, the sign should have said, 'Hey stupid, you will get completely soaked, there are no towels available at the end of this ride, and you still have the rest of the day to wander around Disneyland.' I have never gotten that wet on this ride, ever! Mid ride I had to move my phone and camera into my bra just to keep them dry. As I stepped off the ride my shoes were squishing. Alex was able to wring out his sweatshirt. We did however get an awesome photo of the three of us! When we got back to the hotel room at 10pm, Sam's sock was still wet, 10 hours after we went on the freaking ride!

The rest of the day passed without any mishaps. We all left Disneyland still speaking to everyone and we were tired but happy. Over all the day was fun and I have come to realize how much I enjoy both of my brothers. They are hilarious. There was a minor spat between everyone right before bed, but this morning it is all forgotten and we are preparing for the cruise portion of our adventure. I do have sunburn from Disneyland though, so much for fading freckles!

For everyone who has been monitoring the sleeping arrangements, I lucked out and Alex chose to sleep on the floor instead of sharing a bed with me. I am still not sure whether to be relieved or slightly offended! On the cruise, my brothers and I will be sharing a cabin and our parents are in another room, thank god. It will be nice to have a place to retreat when the family vacation stress level has just about made you snap.

I hope everyone is having a good and I will write again...more on the cruise part later.

~Erica

P.S. I thought California was supposed to warm? I have been chilled and unable to get warm since we arrived. Mexico better be warm or I want a refund!

Flashback Friday - Family Vacations Part 1

This was originally posted in Dec 2007 on Myspace. We were on a family vacation that would include visiting aunts and uncles, disneyland, and a cruise...Enjoy!
And yes I know it is really Saturday, but I work on Fridays and couldn't quite get it done yesterday.

Part I
As many of you know, I am currently on a family vacation. This family vacation consists of my parents, my two younger brothers (22 & 17), and myself. To say I was a super excited for this trip would be a little less than the truth. I was excited but also a little scared. Traveling in the best of circumstances can be stressful, but traveling with my family, especially my mother, can be one of the most trying experiences ever!

Our journey was supposed to start at 8:30pm from the Eugene airport where we would catch a plane to Las Vegas. Our adventure did not start so well...apparently there were some weather issues in Las Vegas and no planes were taking off or landing there. This meant our flight was not leaving Eugene as they did not want to clog more air-space over Las Vegas. From Las Vegas we were supposed to catch a flight to LA and then on to our hotel room. Eventually our plane did take off at 12:45am, putting us in Las Vegas at around 2:30 am.

Once in Vegas we had to go to the ticket counter to be rebooked on another flight to LA. Unfortunately for us, the next flight to LA did not leave Vegas until 8:00am. Not what we wanted to hear. After being rebooked, we had to contact the hotel and rental car agency to make sure they held our reservations. And then...my mother decides to go gamble, just to kill time, ok, no biggie, until she breaks the slot machine! Yes, I did just say that she broke the slot machine. They had to call maintenance to come fix it so she could cash out her money. It is now 4:30am, our plane doesn't board until 7:30am and we have all lost our sense of humor.

My brothers and I decide to go to the gate and try and get some sleep. You can only get so much sleep on the, oh so comfortable terminal benches, fortunately we were able to find ones without armrests. Shortly after, my parents join us. We all sleep fitfully until about 6:30 and then we wait to board our plane. There are no more delays at this point.

We finally arrive in LA at 9:30am...a full 8 hours after our original arrival time. As a group we all trek down to the baggage claim and hope our bags have made the entire journey with us. They have. As we wait for the bags to come out on the carousel, two men in USC apparel start to comment on my t-shirt. I am wearing an Oregon Ducks tee. I have now been up for more than 27 hours, I am in my clothing from the day before, do you really need to start hassling me about my t-shirt and my team? P.S. My team beat your team, so there! I originally thought I would be arriving at 1:30am and had planned on a whole different outfit for this new day! Needless to say, this did not improve my mood.

After getting our rental car we hit the freeway on our way to the hotel, only the hotel is more than 45 minutes away. Bedraggled and exhausted we arrive at our final destination for the this leg of the journey. Keep in mind, my Aunt Kerry has a big BBQ planned at her house with all of my dad's family, aunts, uncles, cousins, etc. for 2pm. First thing my mother says when we enter the room...don't forget we have to get to Kerry's by 2pm. All we all want to do is kick off our shoes and passout on a real bed.

My brothers and I manage to squeeze in a few hours of sleep before my mom is at it again...wake up, you have to get ready to go to Kerry's. Sam was NOT happy with our mother and basically told her to not speak to him. Ah, family time. We all miraculously manage to get showered and changed and over to Kerry's house by 2:15. It was fun to see family I haven't seen in years. And I am glad we did go over there, but by 7pm we were all crashing.

I am now back at the hotel room, oh and, all five of us are in one room with 2 queen beds and a sofa bed. I get the lucky privilege of sharing a bed with my youngest brother and if he tries to spoon me....! ;)

I am off to bed, you have no idea how excited that makes me. And tomorrow my mom has mentioned going to Disneyland, "The Happiest Place on Earth". Please wish us luck. I am going with the thought that all traveling has its mishaps and hopefully our mishaps all happened at the start of the trip and it will be smooth "sailing", wink wink, from here on out.

Good Night!