California Trip! - Part 2 - Fun at the Beach

Just a few hours later, we disembarked from our jet, found our luggage, hopped on a shuttle, and headed for the car rental dealership where we were going to get our rental car. We rented a nice, brand new Town & Country Mini Van, with leather seats. It was quite a treat! :-) 

Dad & Mom decided to head to the Santa Monica Beach for a while before driving to my Great Aunt & Uncle's house for a couple of nights. Esther fell asleep in the van so Dad waited with her at the car while Mom took the rest of us to the beach.  After a while Dad & Esther joined us. There were a TON of people down there, so after a short time at the beach and a quick walk down the pier, we left for Aunt Stella & Uncle Don's house.  

Running to shore away from an incoming wave!

Lillian, Me (Grace) , & Sören-loving the sun!

Sören

LJ ;)

Beautiful warm ocean and sandy beach

Siblings!

Esther lovin' the beach!

Santa Monica Pier Sign

California Trip! - Part 1 - Takeoff!

On March 7th, we drove to SeaTac Airport in Seattle to spend the night.  The next morning at 7 AM, we had a flight departing for LAX Airport in Los Angles, California.  My siblings and I were super excited to be flying on a jet for the very first time. I did as a baby, but I do not remember any of it. We didn't know what to expect! :) We also had never been to California! We arrived at our hotel at SeaTac that night and went to bed early. 

Later, at 3:30 AM, after hours of kids talking (including me :-/ ), not sleeping from excitement, jumping on beds, etc., my mom said, "Let's just get up if nobody is going to sleep!" So, at 3:30 AM, we started the day (quietly!), packed up our hotel room, and were on the 4:30 AM shuttle to the airport. Security was quick and we soon found ourselves at the gate, waiting to board our plane. Lillian, Sören, & Esther were entertained by watching planes takeoff and land in the dark, and soon after the sun came up we were ready to board our plane. 

Enjoying our flight:

Mom & Esther

Lillian & Me

Dad & Sören

It was a short 2 hour flight on a small jet and we enjoyed watching the California landscape from the air.  It was beautiful. 

We just flew home on a 737 last Saturday, the 15th.  What a week! 

This is the first of many blog posts of our trip to Southern California. :) 

Dad's 40th Birthday!!!!!!

On February 28th, my mom prepared a nice breakfast for us because it was my Dad's 40th Birthday!!! She made nummy baked overnight french toast (the same recipe as Thanksgiving). Dad opened cards, and we sang, "Happy Birthday".  Then, he was off to work.

Dad with his birthday french toast

Secretly, Mom had been arranging a surprise with some of his co-workers.  She planned to go to his office and decorate his desk with a "Happy Birthday" banner, balloons, and streamers. To finish it off, we went to town and bought donuts for Dad and his co-workers!   We quickly put everything up and then hid. He was very surprised! We enjoyed donuts with him and his coworkers for a while, then we went home for a few hours before we started his next surprise.

Dad w/ his coworkers: Ranger John, Ranger Bill, & Dad

His desk

Dad with me, Lillian, Esther & Sören

Mom also planned a movie night surprise birthday party for Dad and his guy friends. We had to head over to our friend's, grandparent's house to set everything up. After work, two of his friends drove him to their house. When they came to pick him up at our house, they just told him to get in the truck!!   He was VERY surprised and said that he had a great time.  The guys ate pizza and watched a movie in their awesome home theater.

The following day we had Aunt Julie, Uncle JR, little Elin, and Great Uncle Jim, and Auntie Sylvia over for another party!!!

Almost everyone at the table enjoying Mom's yummy pot roast

The Tribe of Benjamin: Dad requested a Banana Cream Pie & an Apple Pie...his favorites!

Dad in his Birthday Hat with Sören :)

Cousins!

Lillian smiling at Elin..so cute!

Auntie Sylvia, Elin, & Esther

Uncle Jim, Sören, & Dad 

A Reunion at the Farm

On Sunday, we packed up our car and headed down to Eeott and Papa's house again to see our uncle (my dad's brother), aunt, and cousins.  We hadn't seen them in over a year and a half because they were stationed in Guam. Now, they are moving to the east coast, so this was our only chance to see them. We stayed Sunday through Wednesday and it was a WONDERFUL time reuniting with family.

The night we got there we had a little birthday party for Aunt Diane. She opened gifts and we had blackberry cobbler with vanilla ice cream made by Eeott and Auntie Sharon-yum!!

Heidi & Me

Dad, Uncle Chadly, & Papa

Aunt Diane opening gifts

Lillian & Natalie enjoying their cobbler

The next morning we were up bright and early. We (the kids) played until it was time for our guests to arrive for lunch. Great Aunt Carol, Great Grandma, cousins; Phil, Joy, little Sarah and Joy's sister, Nargiza, and cousin Aaron all came for a visit. They stayed all afternoon and it was great to see them.

I played Croquet with Dad, Natalie, Lillian, Heidi, & Sören...

Heidi & Sören having fun!

The cows decided to join us :)

Myself, Lillian, & Natalie 

In the middle of our game, we stopped to take a few group photos:

All the girls: Eeott, Aunt Carol, Nargiza, Madi, Aunt Diane, Natalie, Auntie Sharon, Joy, Sarah, Mom, Heidi, Esther, Lillian, Me, Great Grandma

All the boys: Uncle Chad, Papa, Sören, Dad, Cousins Aaron, & Phil (and Jincey decided to hop in the picture, even though she's a girl :) )

All the Shooks (not including our cousin Jake, his wife Carley, and baby Roman): Uncle Chadly, Aunt Diane, Papa, Madi, Eeott, Heidi, Esther, Auntie Sharon, Natalie, Sören, Lillian, Mom, Me (Grace), Dad---and Buster wanted to join the picture :)

Esther & Sarah :)

Early spring daffodils

Chatting

Natalie & Esther

 

Eeott, Madi, & Joy

Great Grandma with 7 of her great grandkids

After everyone left, we had another little party for Dad and Heidi. Heidi is turning 8 and Dad is turning 40!!!! We didn't really take pictures this time. After that, we said good bye to Auntie Sharon.

The Birthday People...& Esther :)

The next day, Mom went shopping and so did Papa, Dad, & Uncle Chadly. Eeott, Aunt Diane, and Madi stayed home with the rest of us. Natalie and Lillian wanted to make a movie that day. They asked me to film it on my tablet, and then use my video editor to put it all together. I agreed to do it. 

PLOT: 3 kids (Heidi, Sören, and Esther) were obsessed with technology. Their parents sent them to a camp at a farm to get away from all the technology. Their counsler was Natalie, and the farm historian was Lillian.

 I would have posted the video, but it's too long-12 mintutes!  Here is a collection of photos taken during our video shooting:

Heidi

Sören, Esther, Heidi

The Cast: Heidi, Lillian, Natalie, Sören, Esther

Time to get muddy!

Sören

Esther

Silly cows :)

Jincey :)

Bijou & Buster! :) 

Here are some Super Mario playing pics:

Esther vs Dad

Mom vs Sören (I think)

Papa vs Sören 

The goats:

Brownie, Chestnut, & Mario

Mario is SO big now! He's a happy little guy running around the farm and laying on the grass :)

Overall, we had a wonderful time with everyone. I am thankful that we were able to spend that time with our cousins before they move to the East Coast next week!