Back from California

I had such a wonderful time in California. I hiked three times. Once with Megan and her new dog Kippy. Once with Talan on my back which was strenuous but really nice. I pointed out slugs and lizards and had him smell bay leaves, rosemary and licorice plants. We saw birds and dogs. I knelled down for every dog encounter so he got licked by five dogs to his total delight. :) My last hike was with Mason and it was very slow and imaginative. Mason pretended that we battled monsters and evil forests. We collected sticks and rocks and feathers. We only did half the loop as it was getting late and we needed to be back to drive to the airport. It was really nice to spend time with each boy alone. I don't do that enough. Hiking is such quality time too. Mason really likes to hike. I am not sure what Talan thinks but I am hopeful that he enjoys it too.

The main reason for the trip back to CA was Heather's wedding reception. It was really nice. A beautiful day. The kids had a blast swimming, at least Mason did that is. My dad was great about life guard duty with my mom assisting too. This enabled me to wander around and socialize with some of Heather's friends and family members. It was very cool to run into Shelly Miller and Andrew Mitchell from MA. They are dating now. Shelly is a nurse anesthetist so I talked with her about that for awhile. Andrew runs 100 mile races so I talked with him about that for a bit as Joe and I are entering the racing world.

The hors de vors were delicious and the fruit display was very attractive. We all took Polaroid photos of ourselves and wrote notes to the happy couple next to where we pasted our photos into a memory book. I did a similar thing at my wedding and I love looking through mine so I think they will get a big kick out of it later. Heather and Evan wore "wife" and "husband" shirts which they had made up for the occasion. Very cleaver and cute. A great idea. We left before the band started to play as the boys were tuckered out. Poor Mason was in the pool about three hours and was a giant prune.

The party for Mason at Boyle Park was awesome. I got to see my friend Kelly and her boyfriend Gokan whom I haven't met before despite the fact that they have been dating five years. Megan came with her boyfriend Chris which was a pleasant surprise. He was handsome, mild-mannered and smelled divine. I would have liked to speak with him more but I was too busy mingling. Talan was infatuated with Randa and followed her around the party which was very sweet to watch. I didn't need to worry about him at all. Mason only disappeared once to the playground so I feel grateful for that. Usually I don't have too much time to mingle as I have to keep really focused on the boys so I enjoyed the opportunity to actually visit with my friends. Lots of Barclay's friends showed up to so it was nice to see them. I have always adored Stephanie and Mason plays well with her son Kyle. Jen Marsh and Deirdre are also very cool people so I enjoyed what little bit I got to spend with them. Grandpa Fred showed up to the party. We had met up with him in the morning to have breakfast with him at Momma's cafe. He looks really well and I always enjoy time with him. He is very easy to get along with. All in all the party was a success. I think I bought too much food but that is OK. Hopefully over time my parents will work their way through all the left overs. :) Please notice the worm sitting on the table by Mason while he is blowing out his cupcake. We lost track of the worm and hopefully he was not ingested!

I did manage to have a quick play date on Monday morning with Christy, Wyatt and PK. It was short but great to catch up with her. I haven't seen her in a year as the last time I was home she was in a cast and couldn't drive and my visit was very brief in December. I always look forward to conversations with Christy. I have known her since sixth grade so we go back a long ways. The only friends I have known longer than her are Hillary and Jennifer (Megan and I went to grade school together but we weren't friends until high school). I would have enjoyed more time with her but hopefully next time. Mason and Wyatt played well together and all the kids seemed to enjoy the water park to some degree. Talan always on the periphery.

Four days was the perfect amount of time to visit. We only drove my parents' slightly nuts. Now that we are gone I am sure the house is too clean and quite for them! ha ha