A Few Months' Catch-up

In August Ever was invited to a princess-themed birthday party for a girl in the ward who was turning three. I kind of wanted to skip it because I'm so anti the princess thing and would like to shelter Ever from it as long as possible. But I thought we had to be friendly, so we went. Ever had fun.

The first activity was making a hat. There were jewel-like things and glitter for the girls to put on their princess hats. The boys could make an alternative type of hat and use stickers of trucks, superheroes, etc. Ever and I were applying the girly stuff for a while, and then she started saying she wanted a sticker. It took me a while to figure out she was asking for one of the boy stickers down at the end of the table (which I hadn't even noticed). I was so proud.

Wearing her hat and enjoying the treats:

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Sometimes Ever is not great at staying in bed:

Once I was downstairs during her nap. I heard her get up, make some noise, and walk a bit, but she never came down. I finally went upstairs to see what she was doing and found her finishing her nap outside Jim and my bedroom:

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Jim's and Deb Moffat's birthdays are within about a week of each other in August. In keeping with tradition, we went to Benihana with the Moffats to use the two $30-off birthday coupons. I didn't download our official picture in time, so I had to take a photo of our photo:

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Jim was so sad to do it, but he repainted a large portion of the house in September. We had ended up with three different whites on our walls. Two of them were gray-white and incredibly cold to me, and I thought the inconsistency was bizarre. Jim was happy with the paint job the way it was but reluctantly agreed to repaint for me. I told him I'd help but then got nervous about exposing the fetus to the fumes, so he did it alone. He repainted the dining room, the living room (with the ridiculously tall ceiling), up the stairs, and the upstairs hallway. His maneuvering with the ladder was frightening, but he managed to get it done safely. It took many hours, and he painted one day for about 14 hours straight. I have to say it looks a ton better, and I'm so grateful he did it. Understandably, he's sworn off painting for a long time.

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I took Ever to story time at the Carlsbad library for the first time. She loved it and was very attentive and good. They read, played music, and had some toy time at the end. She's in the polka-dot shirt and pink leggings in the front:

JoAnn has started taking her to the Oceanside library for story time on the Tuesdays when she doesn't have any other kids. They make crafts, learn letters, etc. It's fun for Ever.

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We finally fulfilled my dream of going to a rodeo. Our seats weren't great, and I couldn't get any good pictures. Nevertheless, here's proof that we were there:

The lady next to us freaked out on the little usher girl who told her she couldn't take pictures of the rodeo events with her camera (only pictures on phones are permitted), and then she brawled with the woman sitting in front of us when said woman told the crazy lady not to yell at the little usher girl. It was exciting. 

We were worried that rodeos make us sad because they are mean to animals (particularly the bucking broncos, etc.). We did a little research on Jim's phone. It sounds as if there are lots of regulations to make sure the animals are treated well, and they buck because they are trained to, not because they are in pain. That made us feel better.

On the walk back to the car, we passed a church called "The Connection" and enjoyed its slogan: "God. Others. Destiny."

I guess that's what you get when people just create feel-good churches out of nothing.

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Ever likes to draw. I'm still hoping she's a lefty, but her handedness remains undetermined. She switches back and forth. Can you tell what her favorite color is - or at least what it was last month?

She also entertains herself by laying out objects in various ways. For instance, she'll line up all her play dishes on the floor, place a utensil with each one, distribute her play food, etc. Once she took all the items from her bed, plus a flashlight, and set an item on each stair:

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I had a nice birthday last month. Susan gave me Cocoa Puffs and Trader Joe's cookie butter cups:

Melanie brought me lovely flowers:

Melanie's birthday is the day after mine, and we went to lunch that day with girlfriends. A smaller group went out to dinner and a movie with us later. We were given flowers, earrings, and cookies. At our birthday lunch, a girl I barely know (who is friends with Mel) brought us each a little bouquet and a See's gift card. Originally I thought it was nice that Mel and I can celebrate together, but this year I felt a little weird because people (like said girl I barely know) have to acknowledge me if they want to acknowledge Mel. I don't want to be a lame piggybacker. Also, this whole giving-friends-gifts thing is hard for me because I'm a terrible gift giver. In any case, I got warm greetings and thoughtful gifts from family, too, and everyone made it a nice occasion. 

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Hill, Farrer & Burrill hosted a retreat for attorneys and significant others at the Torrey Pines Lodge in La Jolla in October. This is only the second retreat they've had in the nine years I've been there - and the first since Jim and I were married. Cali Wilson babysat Ever at her house that weekend. Trisha posted this picture of them on night one:

I didn't take any pictures of our stay at the Lodge, but this is what it looks like (pics stolen from the web):

Front

Back

We got there just in time for dinner Friday night. (Everyone else had to drive down from L.A. and fight traffic. We live a half hour away and were about the last to arrive.) After dinner we went to the hospitality suite. The suite, which contained snacks and drinks, was sponsored by HFB and open the whole weekend for us. We enjoyed chatting with my inebriated coworkers. It's amazing how funny and friendly people get when they drink.

Saturday we had a nice breakfast at the fancy hotel restaurant. I got a facial at the spa. We went for a run over to the UCSD campus - about two miles each way. We wandered through the bookstore and then checked out the view from the library. You have to zoom in to see it, but I took this picture because the big building on the left (the art building) has a little blue house balanced on the corner:

I made Jim pose in front of the library:

While we were on campus, I went to the bathroom four times - twice in the bookstore, once in the library, and then once in some big building we passed right after we left the library. Pregnancy makes running really hard. Even right after I go to the bathroom, I feel as if I need to go when I take my first step to start running again. It's so irritating. 

We hurried back to the Lodge so I could clean up and get to a mandatory HFB attorney meeting. I knew it was going to be a fake meeting held just to make the retreat tax deductible, but it was even more fake than I possibly could have imagined. Dalia, the CFO, was there to take down names or something, but almost nobody went to the conference room (which was all set up with water pitchers and candy dishes). Maybe ten people trickled in - Billy (an associate) in board shorts, Gary Maeder (of counsel) in a bath robe. Dalia said she was waiting for Mike (the managing partner), but he never came. So Neil Martin moved to adjourn to the hospitality suite, and we went to hang out there. It was hilarious. I love my firm so much. We had a nice dinner Saturday night, and I was proud of Jim and my socializing efforts. 

The Wilsons took Dolly to church with them, and we picked her up after their sacrament meeting and then went straight to our church. Apparently she did well except she missed me on Saturday night. Jeremy and Trish were out, and she cried for a little while until they got home and Trish comforted her. Trish said she thought Ever just needed a mother figure. The weekend went too quickly for me, since we really only had Saturday, but I guess for Dolly's sake it was good we didn't have another day.

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Ever and I went with Bunnells (Annie and Fox), Oddous (Susan and Luc), and Susan's cousin-in-law and her daughter to Bates Nut Farm for some fall festivities. It was a little too hot for comfort, but it was a nice idea. We did a little hay ride (that's Luc in the background):

They have a fun maze where the kids stamp their cards at different stamp stations.

Then Ever got to pick a pumpkin from the pumpkin patch. She walked up and chose basically the first one she saw:

She wanted to carry it herself, although she couldn't make it all the way to the car:

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The Tuesday before Halloween, JoAnn took Ever, in costume, to a special story time at the Carlsbad library:

I took her to another Halloween story time at the Oceanside library later in the week. That one was so packed that it was uncomfortable and impossible to hear. I decided next year I should do something festive at home and invite a couple friends.

On Halloween we had dinner with the Karners and Oddous at the Karners' house. We tried to do a little trick or treating on Mel and Derrick's street, but only a few houses were giving out candy. We split from the rest of the gang and took Ever trick or treating around JoAnn's house. That neighborhood is famous for its Halloweens, and with good reason. Lots of the houses are CRAZY decked out. Many of the residents just camp out on their driveways with food and drink and pass out candy from there. There were tons of trick or treaters. I couldn't get Ever to pose for a picture. She tried to run away (note her amazing mane):

Then she cried when Jim brought her back for the picture:

I couldn't capture how amazing the houses were, but I tried:

That last house is right across the street from JoAnn's, and the lady passing out candy knew Ever. We also hit up Baby Drew's house. Baby Drew is actually not that much younger than Ever, but JoAnn started babysitting him when he was a baby and we've always called him that. I think Baby Drew's mom is JoAnn's niece or something. Anyway, I'd never met his parents because Jim almost always does the pick-ups and drop-offs, so it was fun to go by his house.

After JoAnn's neighborhood, we crossed the street and met back up with the Karners at the home of friends of ours from the ward, the Hawkinses. Lots of ward peeps were there. We did a teeny bit more trick or treating, but most people were out of candy by then. We hung out at the Hawkinses' for a while. Somebody took this picture of the littles, in which everyone looks happy except Ever:

Ever kept trying to play with the older kids (including Kara Karner), who are not interested in her. Finally at the end of the night she started running around with these kids who are closer to her age, so that was good. 

All in all, it was a successful Halloween. Fighting with Ever over the timing of her treat consumption hasn't been super-fun, but it's finally almost gone.

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I did a two-week free trial at the YMCA. Some of the girls in the ward are members. At first Jim forbade me from joining. Then he found out they have HGTV, and not only did he support my joining, but he asked me to sign him up, too. By joining before the two-week trial ended, I got a $50 voucher that I could use on a swimming class for Ever. She ended up getting private lessons because no one else signed up. They were pretty much a disaster. It was a battle to get her in the water, and then she froze the whole time. This was the first lesson: 

She had a different teacher for the second lesson, and the only way we could get her in the water was by having Jim get in, too:

We missed one lesson because she went to Karen's that day and didn't get back in time. I managed to get her in the water (sans a parent) for the rest of the lessons, but I don't think she got anything out of the experience. It will be only summertime lessons for us in the future, and I think she would actually benefit from having other kids in the class to follow. Better luck next time.

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JoAnn seems to bake treats every time Ever is there. She texted me these pictures one day while I was at work:

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I told a few friends about the pregnancy on my birthday weekend (when I was 18 weeks) because I couldn't take it anymore; I thought everyone must be talking behind my back about my weight gain. They said no one had noticed, and they all gave me a hard time about how I'm not visibly pregnant until I'm seven months along, etc. Jim says I should just be happy that people think I look good, but it bugs me. I gain plenty of weight, and I am way bigger this time than I was with Ever. Compare 22 weeks with Ever and 22 weeks this time around:

I haven't been able to even think about wearing that Arkotec t-shirt since the first trimester this time. I'm 25 weeks by the time of this post, and I feel so big. I started feeling the baby move in week 18, which is about a month earlier, I think, than I felt Ever. That's been fun. I've never been sick, so I know my pregnancies are generally easier than most people's. I do have more discomfort this time around. I'm also having contractions, which I never noticed with Ever. I know they're normal after 20 weeks, but it makes us a little nervous about preterm labor. So far everything seems to be going fine. Can't believe we're going to have a newborn before too long.

Visit with the Hawkinses / Pregnancy Reveal

Jim and Sam's Mexico surf trip in August was a bit of a bust. No surf. While they were gone, Tatum and the girls came down to Oceanside. We went to the beach:

Tatum, Tess, and Rue slept over that night. We had pancakes with chocolate chips and whipped cream for breakfast the next day. Then Tatum took her girls home, and Ever and I went up to Orange County in the afternoon and spent the night at Sam and Tatum's. Tatum picked up dinner for us, and then we went to Coldstone for old times' sake.

Tatum invited us to join them for prayer before bed. She was asking Tess if she wanted to say the prayer when Ever keeled over (she kneels and then bends over and puts her head on the floor) and hijacked the prayer, saying:  "Heavenly Father, thank thee for dinner. Thank thee for ice cream. Thank thee for nice day. Thank thee for Mommy and Daddy. Thank thee for Jesus. Thank thee for my brother or sister. Aaaamen."

Tatum gave me a look after Ever finished, but I ignored it. I was 10 or 11 weeks along at that point and not really telling people. So we put the girls to bed, and then Tatum came downstairs with another "Sooooo????" look on her face. Still I tried to ignore it. Eventually I broke down and said, "So I guess Ever let the cat out of the bag..." Tatum said, "Yeah, I heard that!" We chatted and then put on a movie. We hadn't quite finished it when Tatum had to leave to fetch the boys from LAX. I watched the end of the movie alone and was awake to greet the boys when they got home about 1:00 A.M.

We hung out a bit the next morning but didn't have a lot of time. We had to get back to Oceanside for a doctor's appointment, and Sam and Tatum had to pack up and get ready for the trip back to Shanghai that night. It was a lovely reunion. We look forward to their moving back in a couple years.

Rue, Jim, and Ever:

Reno Reunion (Back in August)

The goal is to have a Hastings family reunion every two years, so we were due this summer. We convened the first week of August in Reno at the Rob-and-Annas'. Unfortunately Dee, Shan, and keiki had to miss this one because Deetrix recently started a new job and Tristan started kindergarten at reunion time.

Jim and I were the last to arrive. We got in late Saturday night, August 2.  Ever had much fun dressing up with Clara on Sunday (in quite provocative attire):

Anna made us a delicious dinner, and then we enjoyed a glorious sunset:

Because we Hastings are obsessed with treats, Bags made cookies that night. We ate tons of dough and finished off the baked cookies. We have problems.

Monday morning Jim, Ever, Mamo, and I stayed back while everyone else hiked the Sierra Buttes trail. It looked like a really fun hike that I'm going to need to do someday when I don't have a small child.

We were supposed to meet the rest of the gang at a designated time and place (a lake) near the trailhead. When we got to the vicinity, we weren't totally sure where we were supposed to be, and we drove all over and couldn't find their cars. We worried that they had changed plans because of the inclement weather but had failed to notify us for lack of cell service or something. Turned out they were just behind schedule. We were happily reunited for tuna sandwiches, chips, and cookies, which were eaten as we stood under the trees trying to keep warm and dry:

Bags and Dun set the Hastings kids up fishing while the other adults (plus Ever) went for a walk on the nature trail. It appears I took no pictures, but Anna got this cute one of Mamo and Papo:

 And Bags photocized the rest of the gang and the lovely lake:

We joined the fishermen and headed out to an "abandoned silver mine town thing," as Bags called it. I have no better recollection, so we'll go with that. This amazing ranger played some tunes for us (including a Johnny Cash diddy) while the kids and Pod jammed on the old-timey instruments. Pod was my favorite:

We headed up the hill to the old mine building. On the way, we passed a woodworking shop where the rangers were closing up. They were super nice, and one of them did a little demo. The kids got to try out one of the old tools while Dustin chatted with the second ranger in the back:

The old building was cool. I wished we could have gone inside.

Ever took a while to warm up to Lucy on this trip. This excursion was a breakthrough for them:

Dustin gave Clara an awkward-looking ride:

 

Back at the museum/shop, Ever tried her hand at the musical instrument made of spoons:

We looked around the museum and then went on a walk to a lake. Mamo was excited by the pine cones:

The lake wasn't exactly what we were expecting, but the girls posed by it nonetheless:

Lucy patiently walked back with Ever and Clara. Ever was soooo slow. Lucy tried to play games and do other things to keep her motivated and speed her up. Jim and I were a little ways ahead, trying to keep the girls in sight. Then at one point, Clara went running past us. I wasn't sure what was happening. Then Lucy and Ever caught up, and Lucy said Clara was feeling lonely in the woods and wanted to catch up to her mother. I thought, "That's maybe not a good idea. She might get to a fork or something and not know which way to go, or maybe there will be a scary animal." As I feared, we met some of the rest of the gang near the end of the walk, and they confirmed that they'd found Clara lost and crying. In retrospect, I should have made her stop immediately or I should have at least separated from Jim, Lucy and Ever and gone after her. Super sad. In any event, Clara recovered, and we all made it back in one piece and enjoyed a pizza dinner at a nearby restaurant:

Tuesday the weather was still uncooperative - cool and rainy - so we decided on an indoor activity: go-kart racing at Need 2 Speed. (Shouldn't it be "Need 4 Speed"? That bugged me for some reason.) 

Tucker and Anders raced first. Anders was lightning fast. Tucker was more concerned about playing to the crowd, and he waved at the cheering section every time he went by. It was cute. Blurry Anders in the lead:

Results from the boys' round 1:

Eventually the big people (including Lucy) got to race. Dustin was my favorite part of round 1. By the end of the race, he looked as if he were on a leisurely Sunday drive, and he had a trail of cars behind him that couldn't pass. He said afterward that he thought he was winning. Probably Pod in the lead, then Bags, then me:

I was OK with the results of round 1:

But then Dustin realized the error of his ways, put on his game face, and stepped it up for round 2:

Turns out I'm not so good at go-kart racing. And the non-family who raced with us in round 2 were total jerks. They kept ramming me, and then the workers slowed my car down as if it were my fault. I dropped in the rankings:

After Need 2 Speed we decided to try a famous hole-in-the-wall burger place called Awful Awful, located in a casino. The location of the entrance did not disappoint:

The 1/2-lb burgers were served with a pound of fries. So many fries! The best part was the delicious shakes, which the kids devoured:

Dustin, Bags, Anna, Udon, Tucker, and Anders went up to Marilyn's Pond for some fishing that afternoon. We stayed back and let Ever nap. When I saw the pictures of the cool fog, I was bummed I missed out:

After dinner, we made s'mores on the grill. Everyone had a delightful time . . .

. . . until Bags burned her finger trying to rescue a marshmallow she thought was going to fall off the roasting stick. She forged ahead with the making and eating of the s'more:

Dustin went to get her some ice, but it blistered nonetheless. Cwanza was a real champion about it.

She went on to bake a two-layer cake for Pod's birthday (to be eaten the next day). Something went awry. I believe there was a substitution of a leavening ingredient, and possibly incorrect-sized pans were used. In any case, the cake overflowed all over the oven. Then the cake did not want to come out of the pans. Bags got bitter about the whole thing and washed her hands of it, leaving Mamo and me to remove the cake from the pans. We lost about half a layer but were happy to consume the part that broke off:

Wednesday started out with Donner Lake. I think my fascination with death and cannibalism may not be healthy, but I was pretty intrigued by the stories of the people who got stuck there. Turns out the whole Donner Party debacle was caused by a shady character named Hastings who convinced the Donner party to take a "shortcut" that turned out to be a total disaster. They only ate people who died naturally - with the exception of two Native Americans, whom they killed to eat. Also they took pains to ensure that no one had to eat his relatives, so that was nice. Jim decided he would eat me if it were between that and leaving Ever an orphan. He began surveying people about whether they would eat their spouses. Our family universally said no. The survey extended to the Oceanside 4th bishopric and others in our ward, however, and Jim did find some who agreed with him.

Checking out the Moses Schallenberger cabin site (Mamo in the background on the left):

After the museum, we went on a walk where we passed some historical sites. We failed to get a map, so the significance of almost all the sites was lost on us.

This rock formed the north end and fireplace of the Murphy cabin, and it now displays a list of those members of the Donner Party who died (39 of 87) and those who survived (48 of the 87):

Pretty:

Then we walked along Donner Lake for a bit:

The Homers and Kringels lagged behind everyone else. Ever was begging to get in the water. After a lengthy discussion, we decided that Jim and Dustin would stay back with Ever and let her get in the water while Bags and I went ahead and tried to catch up to everyone else. Bags and I had gone about 20 feet when we saw the rest of the gang stopped at the water right there. Once we all reconvened, Dustin pretended he was going to throw Clara in with Tucker's help:

Ultimately Ever was the only one who got wet, necessitating the removal of her pants and the wearing of this ensemble for the walk back to the car:

In the interest of time, we decided to forgo lunch and just snack in the parking lot. Next up was Emerald Bay at the south end of Lake Tahoe. Lovely:

We posed for pictures before beginning the rather steep walk down the hill to the beach:

On the way down, we learned that ponderosa pines smell like vanilla and Dustin loves them:

Lucy hadn't realized we were going to the lake and had therefore failed to bring her swimsuit. Mamo took her to the store by the beach and bought her the biggest tourist t-shirt they had, and Lucy wore that in lieu of a suit. We rented kayaks and took turns taking them out around the little island in the bay. Dustin and Clara in the yellow kayak, Anders and Tucker in red, and Bags and Lu in green:

Mamo entertained Ever on the beach and helped her build some sort of stick structure:

Jim, Ever and I took a kayak out after the initial crew returned. They had stopped on the island, but we just kayaked around it. We were freezing most of the time, but the sun came out as we rounded the island and helped a lot. The view as we headed back was gorgeous. 

After kayaking, we did a short walk to a waterfall. We bundled Ever in Jim's sweatshirt to try to warm her up, and she insisted on being carried. A half-mile walk feels really long when you're carrying a 28-lb toddler. Jim and I took turns.

Then Rob took over:

Rob said the waterfall was directly below where we had parked, and he suggested scaling the cliff. I really wanted to go up that way, but Ever obviously couldn't. Dustin and Jim volunteered to take her back the long way so Bags and I could go up by the waterfall. I felt really bad about that, but I let them take it for the team. Mamo and Anna took the long way back, too. That meant that all of us who were born Hastings (and none of the non-Hastings born) went up the waterfall. Cornyee and I were pretty in love with our family and its adventurousness - 7-year-old Clara in a swimsuit, Anders with his slippers slung up on his arm, Pod right before his 68th birthday. Good times.

There was a bear sighting around here:

I thought I saw something brown move out of the corner of my eye. Bags missed it entirely because she was bringing up the rear taking pictures. We lingered briefly hoping for a better look, but the bear had disappeared.

The view from the top:

By that time we were famished since we'd skipped lunch. We drove to a lake-side restaurant to which the Rob-and-Annas had been before. We had to wait a while for tables. The Homers and Kringels were at one table; the Rob-and-Annas and Mamo and Pod were at another. We ordered appetizers, and they took forever. We watched jealously as the other table enjoyed their chips and salsa. Ever passed the time by playing walrus:

Meanwhile Dustin staved off starvation by breaking into the honey packets on the table:

We were much pleased when the food arrived. 

Back at the ranch, Bags put together Pod's ill-fated birthday cake. She used the half-layer to fill in the sunken center of the other layer and then frosted the heck out of it. 

Ever-supportive Mamo said she didn't see anything wrong with it:

We inserted as many candles as we could and sang a very poor rendition of "Happy Birthday":

(Pod's birthday was Friday, but we had to celebrate Wednesday night because Jim and Dustin were leaving Thursday.)

Thursday we enjoyed the best weather of the week. It was a perfect beach day, and we headed to the lake. Ever enjoyed being buried in the sand:

The other kids (including a friend of theirs we ran into) enjoyed building sand castles with Dustin:

We took the rafts out on the crystal-clear water:

I went out for a long swim. It was cold but refreshing and nice. And then it was just cold. My body is abnormally unable to recover from cold. Kind Mamo buried me in every towel and sweatshirt available, but it still took a long time for me to return to normal. I was a little worried I froze the fetus in my belly, but it survived. 

We walked down to the snack shop and got some ice cream. Dolly much enjoyed:

Jim took our rental car and left from the lake to go home, pack up, and drive himself to the airport. He flew out late afternoon to LAX, where he met Sam Hawkins and went on to Mexico for the annual surf trip. (Sam and Tatum came back from China for a couple weeks in August, and Sam and Jim decided to take the trip - which usually occurs in October - when Sam could make it.) Dustin had to leave later Thursday night. The rest of us got to enjoy one more day.

Friday morning we went for a walk at Galena Creek Park. 

It was an easy hike, but no hike with a toddler is easy. We trailed behind everyone. Ever wanted to step on each rock that lined the path. 

Tutu told the little girls stories. Clara insisted that the stories be happy, which meant that there could be nothing sad or troubling in any way in any part of the story. It's hard to make an interesting story when there can be no mention of anything negative whatsoever.

Rob helped the kids climb some boulders. Ever wanted to participate but was a little scared.

Group shots:

Tutu wanted to sponsor a Baskin Robbins trip in honor of Pod's birthday. We hurried to squeeze it in before Tucker had to leave for a camping trip with the scouts. Yum:

There was a TV behind me. Hence the odd expressions.

After we got home, I realized I had left my purse at BR. Mamo and Cornyee went back to fetch it for me, which was awfully nice. I think I got out of going myself because I needed to put Ever down for a nap.

Mamo and Papo flew out that afternoon. Jim's dream had been to go to BJ's while we were in Reno. We waited until he was gone (poor guy), and then Friday night Cornyee, the Rob-and-Annas, Ever, and I went to BJ's for dinner. We had to wait about an hour for a table, so we just hung out outside. The kids were good and entertained themselves. I photocized my little love:

Dinner was delish, and we topped it off with a bunch of pizookies. Ever made sure no drop of melted ice cream was left behind:

Ever and I flew home early Saturday morning. It took FOREVER for our shuttle to pick us up. Ever pointed at every shuttle that went by and asked if it was ours. It never was.

At long last, we made it home safely. 'Twas a lovely trip. It's always great to see the family. Thanks so much to Rob and Anna for hosting! And thank you to me for finally finishing this post that has been plaguing me for the last 3+ months.