April 27, 2003

Birthday Bash

We just got back from LA where we went to celebrate my Grampa's 90th birthday. The party was a smash hit. Grampa was thrilled and smiled the whole time. My cousins Kurt and Andrea and their two babies (Addison, 18 mo. and Ethan 5, mo.) came in from Chicago so it was great to see them again and to meet Ethan for the first time. The baby trio was complete with my niece Seana (6 mo.). There was a lot of cuteness going around.

Seana got her first haircut: Katrina cut off the baby mullet. Apparently some of the other babies at day care were tugging on her long back hair so it got trimmed. Seana definitely got the Rosiak hair--she has a big cowlick just like my brother and has the point in the back like we both have. Seana just gets cuter every time we see her.

Getting down to LA was a nightmare. Normally we take 101 to Gilroy, hop on the 152 ("Pacheco Pass") through the hills, and hook up with the 5 all the way down. (on a side note, you can tell that I'm a Southern CA native by the way I refer to freeways as "THE 101." Up here in No. CA everyone just says "101") Anyway, taking the 5 is the quickest route and the trip usually takes about 5 and 1/2 hours with potty breaks.

Friday was terrible. There was a fatal accident on the 152 which closed the road completely. We and 50,000 other cars were diverted to a side road which was packed. We finally bailed out but it took us a full 2 hours to get back to the 101 (a span of maybe 15 miles). We then took the 101 all the way down but that route is about an hour longer than the 5. We made it to LA, exhausted, and then the worst hit. Right as we were at the exit of the freeway at the last possible moment, Kevin got pulled over and got a speeding ticket. The cop said we were going 90 in a 65 but there's no way we were going that fast--we estimate between 80 and 85. The cop wrote 80 on the ticket. But anyway, there we were at Midnight getting a ticket (and we'd left home at 4). Altogether the trip took us about 8 hours--not our longest (9 hrs.) but close. We were wiped out. Fortunately the trip back was much shorter and without incident.

Posted by Shelby at April 27, 2003 09:41 PM