My sister Emily and her husband Doug came out to visit for a long weekend. We loved having them! They were super involved with the kids, really helpful with meals and cleanup, up for doing anything: from exploring caves at our secret beach to jumping on the tramp with the kids, from checking out a St. Patrick's Day festival in nearby Dublin to staying up late every night talking, from walks through the neighborhood to bike rides and Zumba. They were so fun to have over. We wish Chicago were closer to Livermore!
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| Look how green it is here right now! It's gorgeous. |
We've put Jack in a baseball class and Hazel in a basketball class. Both kids are loving it, understanding the game and wanting to play.
Jack's getting bigger. He has started to read! It's cool. He also out of nowhere started being adventurous. He's doing the monkey bars, going off the path on hikes, trying stunts on his bike.
Gemma is obsessed with baby dolls right now. She carts them around everywhere she goes.
Hazel's always creating something. The latest craze is shops. She sets up merchandise and sells it to us (so far, she still takes imaginary money). The store I have pictured here was a tree shop. She found branches and leaves in the backyard and scotch taped her own species.
The culdesac is fabulous. The kids spend tons of time out there on their bikes and the kid jeep, zooming around. I feel so, so lucky to be in a house, with a backyard, and all this safe space in the front as well. We're feeling very blessed to have this space to raise our kids in.
The last week of March, Todd's parents came out to watch our kids and Todd and I took off for a weeklong Caribbean cruise. We traveled with five other couples from our early days in California. It was a ridiculously fun reunion and a nice getaway from the demands of life.
We started the cruise off nice and slow, room service breakfast on our balcony as we watched the sun rise.
Then the party got started, and we hardly slowed down enough to read a chapter in a book, much less sit in solitude all day long like we'd thought we might do. Oh no! Our days on the ship were packed with spin classes, shuffleboard, sports tournaments of all sorts (ping pong, basketball, volleyball, dodgeball, rock climbing), ice skating, dancing, game nights, even a tour of the galley. The Royal Caribbean tournament medals came rolling in.
We had a few opportunities to dress up, which was fun. One or the other of us ate steak every night. (Hazel was jealous.) Todd brought walkie talkies and became best friends with Brian while playing with them. ("Come in, Wombat, this is Possum.")
We scuba dived in Grand Cayman, played at the awesome Secret Falls in Jamaica, and lounged all day on the beach in the Bahamas. We laughed so hard, so much. It was such a blast. This group of ours is trying to have a reunion like this every five years. We can't wait for the next one!
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| Brian & Courtni Muir, us, Kris & Jamie Johnson, Mitch & Jill Dabo, Trish & Tyler Alderman, Geraldine & Sebastion Medariago |
Now it's back to real life. Day one was rough. But each day since has gotten a little bit better. I'm already looking forward to our next vacation! Always got to have one to dream about to get me through the days.
