My mom, my Uncle Ronnie, my sister Pati and her three youngest daughters - Jesse, Lizzy and Susan - have all come to visit for the month of July. Add my brother Tom (from Orange County) to the mix, and I have quite the houseful!

Week 1: June 30 - July 6

The gang arrived at the airport on June 30th. Tom and I met them... it took two cars to get them and all their luggage back to my house! Tom lent us his mini-van for the duration so that we can all go places together. Thanks Tom!!

The first week we celebrated Jesse's high school graduation, attended the Del Mar Fair, had a July 4th BBQ, and went to see the fireworks at Grape Day Park in Escondido. No wonder everyone is so tired!

Week 2: July 7 - July 13

By the second week everyone was exhausted from all the fun we had the first week! Everyone spent a LOT of time in front of the TV this week... and thanks to Tom, we had lots of movies to watch. But, we also managed to squeeze in a few other activities.

The week started with a visit to Tom's church up in Newport Beach, while Uncle Ronnie and I stayed home to fight over the TV. On Monday, Pati and I did manage a trip down to Point Loma Nazarene University with Jesse. She is considering going there next year. The big question is - can she bring her motorcycle?

Mid-week, Pati and the girls headed up to visit her sister-in-law in Moorpark. It was so quiet, I mean lonely, without them! They arrived home Friday just in time for a big family gathering with my dad, Marge, Matt and Aunt Priscilla. Turns out this is the first time many of us have been together in the same place at the same time in YEARS (27 of them, to be exact) -- so we took the opportunity for lots of pictures.

Week 3: July 14 - July 20

This week has been so action packed, I can't believe it was only a week! Uncle Ronnie took off with his friend Jean for a few days of carousing, but we did some carousing of our own!

On Monday the girls and I took a walk down to Jack's Pond. This is a lovely little park within walking distance of my house that I only just discovered about six months or so ago!

On Monday evening we all headed over to George's house for an impromtu BBQ. George was nice enough to put this together for us on a few hours notice.

On Tuesday we gathered the troops and headed to Carlsbad beach for the day.

No rest for the weary! On Wednesday, I took the girls to the Wild Animal Park for the day. I dragged George along with us... I figured I needed another adult with me in case the girls decided to ditch the old folk. Although they occasionally tried to pretend like they didn't know us, they stuck with us all day. Pati, mom and Uncle Ronnie stayed home to recuperate from the weeks other activities.

On Thursday, I ran away from home for the day! Thank you George for letting me relax on your deck for a while! I'm not sure what everyone else did -- but I'm sure TV and rest were part of the agenda. Everyone was very tired!

On Saturday, everyone but Uncle Ronnie loaded up in Tom's van and drove up to Orange County for a big extended family gathering. The first stop was Pat Kent's house where we visited with Pat and Rachael. We headed out to an Irish Festival for an afternoon of fun... but it turned out not to be that much fun... so we bailed and went back to Pat's house to visit for a while. Then, we headed out to the Golden Dragon restaurant to meet dad, Marge, Matt and Tom for dinner.

Week 4: July 21 - July 29

Another action-packed week as the family visit came to an end. We started the week by loading everyone in the mini-van and driving down to Imperial Beach to see the 22nd US Open Sandcastle Competition. It was a beautiful day for a stroll on the beach and the sandcastles were amazing.

Pati and I hit the sales at Robinsons-May and ended up making quite a haul. Meantime, I was desperately looking for present ideas for Susan & Lizzy's birthday... which necessitated several trips back to the mall and other various shopping locations. This seemed to occupy a lot of my time for the week!

And then, we celebrated Lizzy & Susan's birthday with another BBQ.

On the day before everyone left, I stole the girls away for a day of touristy stuff. We went to Hotel Del and Seaport Village. A lot of fun. Very expensive ice cream!

And then unfortunately, the month came to an end. We loaded everyone back into the mini-van and my car... and trekked off to the airport. Waaaaa...