Labor Day Weekend - Friday & Saturday

So Friday night as soon as everyone was home from work we loaded up the van and headed away for the weekend. I was super excited for California.

We left at about 6pm but due to some "technical difficulties" (we'll call it), we were set back and didn't get there until 1am.

It was a very long trip compared to our usual 5hr drive. But we got there all in one piece.

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Saturday morning we were up and ready and decided to head off to the alleys to shop. So my parents loaded my 3 kids into their van while my husband, 2 cousins, and I rode in my cousin Rebecca's Jeep.

When I was in High School my mom would take me to the alleys a few times a year to shop for clothes. Because California is ahead of us here in Phoenix fashion-wise I would get all the new styles of clothes and trendy stuff and bring it all back. In school I was known for having everything new and trendy before it ever came out... I was voted best dressed Freshman-Junior Year. I loved it. I loved being on top of all the new styles... now it's a little different. But being there reminded me how much I loved going shopping there.

It was Junior's first time there. He actually went to California with me and my parents last Summer but didn't go to the alleys with us because I bought my wedding dress there. I am glad he didn't complain about the millions of people and he looked like he was having a good time. Usually with so many people he'd be over it in like two seconds.

Yes, they charged 50 cents a person to enter the restroom... and it was filthy. Oh LA... how I love thee...

There's so many interesting people to see there... and so many different things to buy. From toys, clothes, shoes, perfumes, bootleg DVDs, knick knacks, food, blankets, and fabric... you name it... it's there.

The only thing that we didn't do was eat the hot dogs that we get every time we go there. They're sooooo good. Maybe next time.

After a few hours of battling the crowd and sight seeing... and of course indulging ourselves in a little retail therapy and bartering... we decided to head back to my aunt's house since we still had a lot we wanted to do before the weekend was over.



I could have stayed longer but I got my fix... and took tons of pictures in the process.

So as we're leaving my mom says that we're gonna stop by my Daddy's old neighborhood to see the house he grew up in. She took me there last year after we bought my wedding dress. But my Daddy wasn't with us. And we also stopped by a little Seafood "Shack"... because that's what it is... where my parents used to eat all the time, and it was down the street from the old house. It's so cute to see the places and where my parents lived and hung out long before we were even around.
After that pit stop we get back on the freeway headed for my aunt's house.

Only we exited early. Being that we were following my parents, we did just that and continued to follow... we assumed we were stopping to visit my Tia Chely (it was part of our agenda for the weekend).

We stop on a street and park alongside behind my parents and as we're getting off the car I am searching around for a house that resembles what I've seen on my aunt's blog. I had never been there before (hence why it was on the agenda) but I didn't see one. As my parents approach us she asks me... "Do you recognize a house?" I am still thinking of Tia Chely's house so I say no. She points out a house and tells me that it was our house. I immediate realize what she is talking about. It's the house I lived in prior to moving to Arizona... 18 years ago. There was a man sitting there and I was afraid to take a picture of the house... come on we're in LA... what if he shot me! Okay so maybe it wasn't that dramatic but I was chicken knowing the owner was sitting right outside. We debated it for a bit when my Mom got the courage to just go and talk the man. My Daddy stayed in the car with the kids and my Mom, Husband, 2 cousins, and I went to talk to the man. He was very nice. My mom told him that it was the house that we lived in 18 years ago. She introduced us and started asking him different questions. The guy was very nice and totally let us go into the backyard and take a look. I was only 5 when I left there but I vaguely remember a lot of things about that house. I was asking my mom a lot of questions while we were there as if I was remembering a dream and everything turned out to be true. I was amazed. And funny thing... as we were leaving we shook the man's hand and thanked him for letting us come and visit. My mom told the man her name and he laughed. He said he still received mail in my mom and dad's names. Crazy.

So as we were leaving I finally got the courage to snap a shot or two of the house.

This is the corner that my Daddy got into an accident and totalled my Mom's Suzuki when I was a little girl. He used to take me everywhere with him but on that particular day, he left me home.

Then we stopped at my Tia Chely's, and I FINALLY got to see her cute little house everyone always talked about. It was as adorable as everyone said.

After a long day we returned back to my aunt's house and reunited with some cousins who only in the past year have we been close to again. Well 2 out of the 3 anyway... Steven and Valerie. The middle one Robert I still haven't seen in more than 5 years. We saw them a lot when we were really young and lost contact for many years.

Last summer Steven and Valerie spent 2 weeks here in Phoenix and it was awkward getting to know them. They were teenagers and I had my own family and newly married so it was a bonding experience to say the least and we had tons of fun.

Now we can't wait to get together when we visit. We played Taboo and Phase 10 all night and laughed so hard. It's fun to be a kid again with my cousins. Even if it involves staying in, eating junk food, and almost peeing our pants from laughter... these are the best times.

Cousins: Steven, Valerie, Rebecca, Me, and Jessica