Cali folks

Manny's parents came to Indiana for a short visit (very short - only 6 days). We did as much fun stuff as we could in the time they were here. The boys loved having their California grandparents around. My sweet Zeke cried and cried and cried the saddest tears when they left for the airport. He was sobbing so hard I could barely understand him saying "I want to go to Ca-fornia wif Gammaw Goria". Poor, sweet little boy. It's hard for them to understand why we can't see them often like we do w/my parents.

We spent an entire day this time making tamales from scratch. We boiled the peppers for several hours, strained, blended, strained 3 more times, then blended again until it was smooth and perfect. Then cooked the beef, made the masa, steamed the husks, shredded the beef, then assembled them by hand, wrapped them in the husks and steamed them. I tried one and I'm just not a fan. But Manny was crazy about them. I think after a whole day's work we ended up with maybe 40 tamales. It's so much work for that! It was more about the experience of making them and for me it was good to learn.

Gloria, Manny, and I took the boys to the zoo one day. Elijah had been asking to ride the big duck paddleboat every time we've gone, so we all road the boats. Manny and Elijah went in the duck one and Gloria, Zeke, and I went in a regular one. They boys totally loved it!

Gloria and I took the boys over to the river park in Henderson one afternoon too. That's always fun to play in the fountains.

Of course, we swam at Mom's a few times, and ate every Mexican dish we could think of. Enchilada's one night, flautas another, then tamales, then burritos. Plus we went to Los Bravos. We also took Gloria to Gerst Haus for a little of my own heritage - German food.

Another evening we had a family shindig at my parent's house and I made everyone cooperate for family photos. They didn't want to! The guys all grumbled, but too bad! It's not often that I get pictures of all of us together! Especially since we only get to see his family once a year! So, then said cheese in the hot hot hot humidity until they thought their faces would melt. :)

Manuel wasn't able to get out and about this time. He has a sore on his foot that won't heal. The diabetes makes for poor circulation, plus his feet hurt a lot. So he just stayed home and we girls ran around town w/the kids. And that's about it. A short and sweet visit. We hope to go out to California some day. But who knows. It's so expensive for all of us to fly, plus the time off work w/no paid vacation. We'll see. Maybe in 2015. :(

The End. Until next time.