A Visit from Some Hastingses

Rob had a conference in La Jolla in early August. That meant we were lucky enough to get a visit from Rob and the fam. They came down on Saturday night, August 1, and stayed with us until Tuesday. They spent Tuesday night through Thursday night in La Jolla (so they were there during the conference) and then came back for a few nights at our place before heading back to Reno on Sunday morning, August 9.

We picked up pizzas the Saturday night they arrived. I was teaching Relief Society the next day, so I stayed up late working on my lesson after the Rob and Annas turned in.

Sunday the girlies and I took a huge nap after church (like three hours). Amazing. The Rob and Annas went to Coronado that morning. Ever and Wren were happily reunited with their cousins upon their return to the house:

We had pork tacos for dinner with everybody and then went for a short walk in the neighborhood. We went to the swing up the street, and Clara and Ever took turns riding. Ever walked right in front of the swing to join the rest of the group precisely when Clara jumped on for her last ride. I saw it all happening, but there was nothing I could do. Ever got nailed by Clara on the swing and fell and hit the curb. I couldn't see much in the dark, but I could see blood in her mouth. I carried her home. She had some cuts and scrapes, including a good cut on her lower lip. She insisted that we put a Band-Aid on her lip, which was pretty funny. She was in a bad way, but she recovered relatively quickly.

Monday we went to Sea World, despite my vow never to return after watching the movie Blackfish. I thought I was smart by wearing Wren in the Moby wrap. I didn't think about the fact that without a stroller, I was also going to have to carry a backpack containing diapers, wipes, snacks, water, etc. Wearing all that thick wrap material, Wren on my front, and a backpack on my back, especially in the miserable never-ending heat wave of this summer, was really uncomfortable. The park was hot and crowded, and the Shamu show wasn't as amazing as I remembered. The dolphin show, complete with high divers, was definitely the highlight. Ever was only interested in the rides, and she was very upset that she wasn't tall enough for some of them. Lucy was a real sport and took her on the kiddie rides over and over while Rob and the other kids went on the big rides.

While the kids were on the rides, Anna came up to me and said something about wishing so badly she'd gotten a picture of this guy with scalp brain. She was pointing him out to me when Rob came over and showed us a picture he'd taken of said scalp-brain guy. We were very pleased Rob managed to photograph this bizarre phenomenon:

As the dolphin show started, Clara and Ever went down to sit in the soak zone together. They were very adorable. They were really upset afterward that they didn't get wet.

Miss E was exhausted by the end of the day:

Tuesday we decided to go to Balboa Park because the first Tuesday of every month is free - we thought. Turns out only San Diego County residents are free, and the free Tuesdays are so crowded that it's sort of a nightmare. I tried to learn a lesson from the Sea World experience and took the stroller to Balboa. The line outside the science museum was insane, so we skipped that and went straight to the Natural History Museum. We were informed that on free Tuesdays, strollers are not allowed in the museum because it's too crowded. I had to ditch the stroller at the designated stroller area, leave Wren with Rob, and run back to the car to get the Baby Bjorn carrier in my car. (Thank goodness I at least had that in the car.) I felt bad that Rob had to shell out a bunch of money to get his family into the museum. (I realized afterward that I probably could have taken the kids in with me so that Rob only would have had to pay for Anna and himself.) And I think that museum is probably not so great, although I did learn some interesting things in the water exhibit. (The amount of water it takes to grow/raise our food is ridiculous.) The little art museum was free, so everybody went in there for a quick look while I sat and fed Wrenzo. All the other museums cost money, though. Even the Japanese gardens charge a big admission fee. Hence we didn't really check out much else. I'd say Balboa Park was pretty much a bust, but Ann Marie took some fun photos:

That evening after Jim got home, we picked up some local kine food from Teri's Cafe and picnicked at the beach in Carlsbad. The kids braved the water. The boys tried surfing. Jim had bought a board he hoped would be good for them to learn on. Turns out a longer board would be a lot easier. Tucker, especially, gave it a good whirl anyway. Skim boarding and boogie boarding were also enjoyed. It was a lovely evening.

Super-cute mom and daughter:

Best picture of Lucy ever:

Wednesday morning I stayed home, let Wren nap, and did some laundry and other stuff around the house. Rob was in his conference; Anna and the kids had a leisurely morning at their hotel and went out to a late breakfast. Ever had a little quality time with Wren that morning, and she did some tender serenading. I took a series of photographs:

I also got a short video, although Ever's lyrics took a turn for the worse when I started taping:

Wren, Ever, and I met Anna and the kids at their hotel pool in the afternoon. Ever and Clara swam for three hours. (Hooray for the flotation vest that allowed Ever to swim without me!) I sat in the shade with Wrenzo and chatted with Anna while the kids swam.

We went out to a gourmet taco place called Puesto for dinner after Rob finished his meetings. It was delicious.

Thursday Anna and the kids went to the Birch aquarium and did some school-supply shopping. When Jim got home from work, we rushed down to Torrey Pines to meet them for an evening at the beach.

I didn't think I could lug Wren around in the heat another day, so I stayed home with her on Friday while Anna took her kids and Ever to the Safari Park. I appreciated Anna's willingness to take Ever, who was eating up every moment with her cousins.

Apparently there was a playground Ever enjoyed after lunch, and she threw a fit when they had to leave it:

I used my spare time at home to prepare dinner and do a little housework. I felt bad that I hadn't been cooking, so it was nice for us all to eat at home that night. Christian and Shandra and kids fought traffic and came down that evening to join the party. Lucy was kind enough to let Ever and Clara help her make some cookie/brownie concoction Lucy discovered during a quest to find good box brownies. We were up really late waiting for them to cook and then eating them up.

Saturday morning we decided to make waffles. Jim ran to the store to get whipped cream because he can't do waffles without it. After breakfast we split up. Sam and Tatum were hosting a BBQ at their place for the surf-trip friends and their families. That was the only day they could do it while Sam was here. (They were going back to China on Monday.) They sent out the invitation without confirming we were available. Then we were in a weird spot because we are the connection between Sam and Tatum and the other surf-trip friends, and we felt as if we really needed to be there to support and maybe make it less awkward for the people who don't know Sam and fam as well. So the Rob and Annas and the Deetrixes went to the beach (after Anna and Shan whipped together the guacamole I was supposed to take to the BBQ) while we Kringels went up to Mission Viejo. It ended up just being the Tatums and the Wilsons (Jeremy and Trish and fam), so it was good we were there.

We left as the pool party portion was beginning and met the fam at the beach. Of course that big beach day was the only day of the week that was not blazing hot. It was actually a little windy and cold, so everybody was pretty much ready to go by the time we got there. We did get to witness a bit of the burying that had been going on all day. The Anna clan got lots of fun head pics:

There was some water play, too:

We headed straight to The Privateer (coal-fired pizza) for dinner. Jim had his heart set on shaved ice, so we hurried to J.R.'s Shave Ice after dinner. The Kringels arrived a couple minutes before everyone else because we were the only ones who knew where we were going. We arrived a minute or two before 7p, which was closing time. In a very friendly manner, I said something about how we had a big group coming, and were they trying to close? The female worker said that if we had a big group then they couldn't help us. It was very weird and rude, and we were sort of thrown off. Jim went ahead and ordered a big shaved ice for himself. As they were making it for him, I thought maybe I should get one, too, to share with anyone who might want to try some. So as they handed Jim his, I said, "Actually, may I order one, too?" The girl said, "No. We have to close." I could not believe they wouldn't make one more. I hadn't delayed them at all, as they had just finished making Jim's. The guy worker could tell we were super put off, and he seemed sympathetic to us. I know that if you show up to a restaurant at any moment before closing time, they will seat you and take your order and serve you dinner. Are shaved ice places exempt from the whole doors-are-open-and-we'll-accept-customers-until-closing-time thing? We know the guy who owns the place, and we were tempted to contact him to tell him about the incredibly rude employee who turned down a whole bunch of business because she refused to stay a few extra minutes.

Anyway, when the rest of the fam pulled up, we explained what happened, and a decision to go to Baskin Robbins was made. Jim and I took Wren home to get her to bed. Ever was riding with the cousins, though, so she got to go on the ice cream run. She ended up running into a pole at Baskin Robbins and getting a good cut on her head. She's got a scar now, but I'm sure she thought it was worth it for ice cream with the cousins. This was pre-incident:

I can't explain how wonderful the cousin time was. It's so great now that Ever is old enough to talk and play with her cousins, and I loved seeing her have such a wonderful time. Until Betsy got here, Ever was ALL about Clara. (Betsy's arrival meant she had an extra older girl cousin to follow around.) It was cute hearing Ever and Clara talking in their room when they woke up each morning. I was blown away by how wonderful all of Rob and Anna's kids are with Ever. They talk to her, play with her, entertain her. The boys gave her piggyback rides. Lucy taught her hand games. ("Down by the banks of the hanky panky...") The boys, Clara, and Ever played a tag/hide-and-seek game together and were running all over the house. When the seeker found the person hiding, the person who'd been hiding became a prisoner and was taken to jail. It was hilarious hearing Ever say "You are a pris-on-er" over and over (she pronounced all three syllables very carefully). Lucy and Tucker are teenagers, and Anders nearly is. How are they so great? I'm pretty sure I never made any attempt to interact with my younger cousins on the few occasions I was around them. My dream is somehow to get my kids to turn out as wonderful as Rob and Anna's.

It was really great that the Deetrixes were able to join in at the end, too. Saturday night we rearranged beds so that Betsy, Ever, and Clara could slumber party it up together in one room, and Tristan could do the same with Anders and Tucker. (The Deetrix family had all been together in one room on Friday night.) Cousins are the best!

It was really sad when everybody had to leave Sunday. We love visitors, and we love family time. Hooray for radiology conferences in La Jolla that make reunions happen!