A trip to California

Driving to Lancaster the day after our flight from Barbados... Conor doesn't look too thrilled that the sun is up!

 The Prime Desert Woodland Preserve with Conor and Ryan... not the kind of sand they've gotten used to!

 Dry Town, USA is a nice water park in Palmdale where the boys enjoyed cooling off a bit.  We never had anything like this in the valley when I was a kid!  Ryan had so much fun with all of the gadgets and gizmos that sprayed water around this play structure, but he never really wanted to go down the slides.

He did, however, very much enjoy the "lazy river."

Ryan and "Little Tim"

 Conor enjoyed the lazy river too, but I barely saw him at all day!  He was too busy going down the big slides with his cousin Tim, and friends Ted and "Little Tim."

Conor feeding Nana's little turtles some lettuce.

 A few pictures with Nana in her beautiful garden.

Ryan Love, Love, Loved the cherry tomatoes in Nana's garden, and boy were there plenty.

He did have a hard time getting them into the basket though!

Back in Barbados now, and we are missing so much from California.  The people, of course, but also the fresh corn from Ben's Corners, the fresh peaches from the farmer's market, the fresh tomatoes and squash from the garden and the fresh milk I don't have to pasteurize myself.  (OK, OK, I'm the only one missing the squash, but you get the picture!)

We rather unexpectedly had a chance to stop at my sister Nancy's house in San Diego at the end of our trip and here are some pictures from her amazing, bountiful, and gorgeous gardens.  She has more fresh veg growing in her yard than I have seen in two years in Barbados. Darn those pesky customs rules!  She was literally giving away squash and cucumbers and eggplant and corn, while I just paid $2 for one ear of rather sad and past its prime corn today...