An Earth Shaking Meetup

Yes, I am incredibly behind. I am still writing about my trip to Socal which was a month ago! But these things are still worth sharing so here ya go.

On July 29th we met up with some of my friends who have twins. I affectionately refer to them as the Socal girls. Two of the Socal girls weren't able to make it.  Nicole had to work and Tamara obviously doesn't read her email as often as she should :). Lucky for me Lisa, Heather, Tonya, and Shannon were able to meet at Irvine Regional Park so we could have a playdate.  Irvine Regional Park is such a great place. It is nestled in the foothills on the edge of the City of Orange and has tons to do. Among the activities on the 477 acre grounds are pony rides, paddle bikes, a train, six playgrounds, four softball fields, two horseshoe pits, volleyball courts, and even a zoo! It is a great place for a get together, a picnic, or just a lazy afternoon enjoying the beautiful Southern California weather. Our little group opted for a couple hours at playground number 4 (I really have no idea which playground it was but number 4 sounds good to me) .

Lisa was excited to finally meet the elusive Paul. Paul has been dodging Lisa for months and was finally forced to meet her. I don't know what he has against Lisa. I think I heard him rambling something about not liking valley girls..... Just kidding Lisa! Paul was on daddy duty and was a swing pushing machine. He even took on the pushing duties of other people's children because that is just the kind of guy he is. Or maybe because poor Shannon already had her lap full...

The kids all got along great. Identifying body parts seemed to be a big topic of conversation:

Mari and Ben enjoyed time with their friends on the play equipment, under the play equipment, and most of all, in the water fountain.

When Mari and Ben weren't socializing they were trying their best to wander off. Mari would try to do a brisk walk in whatever direction I wasn't and Ben opted for a full throttle run. Fun stuff.

It was on the way back from one of these chasing episodes that I suddenly felt the ground below me start to move. Was it in earthquake? Yes it was! I yelled earthquake (as if the others couldn't tell) and ran towards the nearest kid. As soon as I got to Mari is was over. It was a good shake but it was much more quiet than normal because we were outside. The only sound I heard was the slight squeaking of the play structure moving and grooving. I have been in my fair share of tremblers. The worst being the 1994 Northridge Earthquake which was the most terrifying experience of my life. It was loud and it was as if someone was shaking our house like it was a rag doll. Stuff everywhere, no power for days, no school for over a week, not even remotely fun. This one was much more tame and just enough to get the nerves rattling and the news people in a frenzy. As a matter of fact it was the biggest earthquake to hit the LA area since 1994. How nice of the earth to wait until I was in town for the action. Nothing like an earthquake to send me into a tizzy. I have to say I did quite well, all things considered, and did not let the panic set in. After a few minutes of chatting about the shaking, things returned to normal. Paul and Jayden got in a rousing game of lava tag while the kidlets ate some snacks.

Finally the time came when we needed to hit the road and get the kids down for a nap. Before we left, all of us got together for a group photo. Last years photo looked like this:

And this year, thanks to Lisa's wonderful talents, this years photo looked like this:

All in all it was a wonderful day and I can't wait to see them all again soon. I love knowing every time I go down to see  family I get to see members of our twin family as well. You girls all mean the world to me!