Here are the girls on the flight. Amelie was so excited and told me at least a dozen times, “This so fun! On plane so fun!” They did great and were complimented by a couple of fellow travelers for being such good travelers.
At the end of November we left for a trip to California to visit my family and introduce Amelie to everyone. We flew into LA and rented a car to head up to Santa Barbara where we checked into our hotel and connected with my sister and her boyfriend Jared. We got settled and then headed over to my mom’s place for pizza. During dinner she asked Nadia and Amelie if they wanted to go to a parade. YES they said! Then she asked them if they wanted to be in the parade. Amelie yelled out “YES!” and Nadia hesitated and said no. Then we made it clear to her that Mike and I would be joining them and she said yes. So we finished our pizza and headed downtown. My mom is a big part of putting on the Old Spanish Days each year and they had a float, so we joined some of her friends and their kids.
In the staging area the girls took a photo with these lovely ladies.
Waiting for the parade to start.
I love this shot of Nadia’s hands. She said, “It’s hard to wave for a long time.” Over and over we yelled, “Viva La Fiesta!” which made people in the crowd laugh and smile because that event takes place in August each year.
It was a late night for the girls after a full day of travel, but they had a great time. My mom saved the front page of the paper the next day for the girls and it said that approximately 50,000 people attended the parade. It was a really cool thing for the girls. Thanks Mom!