Watch out Auntie, the circus is coming to town!

Yippee! We are heading to California to see my sister over Spring Break!

Josh and Joel will stay home and hold down the fort and care for the pets while Emma, Hannah, Eli, and I conquer the open road. Joel and Joshua cooked up the scheme that Joel would take the week off and they would have a Guy's Week. Joel lured my innocent son with promises of late nights playing video games, riding go carts, and all sorts of other diabolical temptations. Josh was comparatively unmoved by my feeble promises of giant Sequoia trees, the vastness of the Pacific Ocean, and all of the Fritos he could eat along the way.

Thus, I lost one of my travel companions. Because I'm a fast learner, I quickly circled the wagons and informed the other three that they were road warriors, like it or not! We are packed and loaded up with snacks, drinks, two brand new DVD's, and several books on tape for Mommy.

This will be Eli's first time meeting his Auntie, Uncle, and two cousins, and he seems really excited. I confess I'm dying to see my sister! We leave early Saturday morning and will be home the following Saturday night. Hopefully I'll be able to update the blog with pictures! I'm so excited I can hardly stand it - tomorrow is going to pass so slowly!

I have a funny (at least to me) story to share, which will explain the title of my post. Yesterday I hauled the crew to Costco to stock up on snacks for the trip. I had my four children, plus Havila. As we were crossing the parking lot, I heard someone shout "HEY, LOOK!!"

Being a good American, I immediately looked in the direction of the shouter - he may not have been talking to me, but I wasn't going to miss out on whatever he was showing. Imagine my surprise when I discovered that it was US! A somewhat large group of Chinese people were standing in stock still in the middle of the parking lot, apparently in awe of us. Shouter was among them, obviously the youngest of the bunch. They drank us in ever so slowly, and then began chattering excitedly in unmistakable Mandarin. The occasion is worth marking, because we haven't stopped traffic so dramatically since we've been back from China. I hope I didn't disappoint!

Next Post From The West Coast . . .

Love,

Jen