California Dreamin'

Just about to depart from sunny summer California to cold winter New Zealand. My time here in California has been great. The first night we went to a mexican restaurant near Laguna Beach. Yes Hailey...the Laguna Beach.  I spent the next morning messing up my suitcase which my mom insisted on packing and did a little bit of reading. Once the girls were out of school we played a little (aka me throwing and kicking beach balls at them), and then proceeded to go to Laguna Beach. It was my first time seeing the Pacific Ocean as well as swimming in it. The waves were huge and the body surfing was spectacular. The girls had swimming lessons that night so I hung around the house and attempted to explain technology to my mother. She was amazed how we could video chat over skype. For anyone that has skype my profile is patcolburn. Original I know. The girls got back from there lesson and went to bed and I went to see The Hangover by myself. I recommend this movie to anyone who wants to be entertained and get a good ab workout. While I was on my way out I noticed a dueling piano bar and in the spontaneous spirit of the trip decided to check it out. After being ID'd several times by workers I finally got a beer and enjoyed the music. I struck up a conversation with a kid who was traveling to Bolivia and we talked about our trips. At the end of the conversation I decided it was time to go and got up to leave. My spirit dropped when I couldn't find the keys. The kid I was talking to left too and my immediate reaction was this kid just struck up a conversation to distract me while his friend snagged the car keys off of the bar (I was wearing a bathing suit which lacked pockets). I ran down to the parking garage in a panic and was partly relieved to see the car still parked there.  I returned to the bar and asked the bar tender if he had grabbed any. He had them and told me that he always grabs keys off the bar when he doesn't know who they belong too. Then I got lost driving home. It was a night of extreme highs and extreme lows. A really good start to the trip. I'm sure more shenanigans will come my way soon. Today I repacked (got it all in mom), and kicked beach balls at my cousins. All in all it was a great trip, and am very thankful to Ron, Kelly, Maggie and Lizzy for welcoming me into their home. Flight leaves tonight at 10:30 PM, and I'll post again soon from NZ. The ski area near by opens the day I fly in. you can check it out by following this link - http://www.nzski.com/mountain.jsp?site=theremarkables

Pat