Gomma's on the Move

We piled into the car and made our way down I-5 to lovely Ventura this weekend. Gomma was simultaneously celebrating her 85th birthday (Happy almost Birthday, Gomma!), and her move from her home of 39 years to a place that's a bit less high-maintenance. Less sandy. Less likely to be overrun by a band of rogue porpoises.

A Saturday afternoon shindig was jam-packed with friends, neighbors, and "the whole fam-damily" (to quote the birthday girl herself).

Part of the weekend was dedicated to the task of emptying the house of its contents. You can imagine how many things a house and its owner can collect over the course of 39 years. Big time stuff. But, somehow, the family managed to get most everything moved to one place or another. It was quite an amazing ballet of generosity and scavenging, really. Sticky notes on everything. Cabinets flung open. Banker boxes and pick-up trucks at the ready.
We were thrilled to leave with a full set of dishes, a cool lamp, an extremely funkalicious orange and white striped melamine bowl, a fabtastic set of stainless steel mixing bowls, and a red fez, which fits Chad's head like he was made to be a Shriner. (I promise pics will follow!) Thank you, Gomma! We'll see you the next time there's a Shriners convention in L.A.

Besides all of the eating and merriment and packing, the kids had great kid fun on the beach. And they looked really, really cute, so I stalked them with my camera.
No furniture in the house = play soccer in the middle of the living room. How could you not take advantage of this one opportunity?
And, YAY! I corralled all five great-grandchildren to pose with their Great-Gomma!
Enjoy your new digs, Gomma! Thanks for a great weekend, and thanks for giving Chad a new and exciting way to keep his head from getting sunburned! :)