Alisal Retreat, Girls, Julian Hike

Despite probably barely breaking even for the firm (I've been billing about 20 hours a month recently), I took Jim to the HFB attorney retreat at Alisal Guest Ranch & Resort in Solvang September 8-10. We left the babies at home with Taylor (who watches them while I work) during the day on Friday, and then Alissa Hawkins took over for the rest of the weekend. Christian and Shandra were kind enough to take Ever, so we dropped her in Ventura on the way to Solvang. She couldn't wait for the cousin time.

Friday evening we went on a sort of hayride to the outdoor dinner venue. The ride back in the dark was really pretty. It was also hilarious because we were with Steve Tomasulo, who was wasted.

Saturday we played golf. We were paired with Tom and Linda Reed. I do not golf ever, but they were very nice and supportive. We had a good time, and the day was lovely.

The hospitality suite was available to our group all weekend, so we could grab drinks and/or hang out anytime. (Man, attorneys are drinkers! Our continuing legal education meetings on substance abuse really make sense now.) Jim and I enjoyed a couple of sodas after golfing.

We took a giant nap (a feat for me!), and then it was time to get ready for dinner. I was bummed that we never went hiking or made it to the lake on the property. There just wasn't time. 

We lingered after dinner to socialize a bit. Steve, again, was super drunk and was cracking us up. We three were the last to leave the dining room. Jim and I exited the building, but Steve seemed not to know where to go and went further into the building into an adjacent room. We became concerned he'd get lost and/or drown in a puddle somewhere. We doubled back, spotted him (he'd made it out of the building by then), and tailed him until he made it to the hospitality suite where the after-party was going on. 

Sunday morning we ate breakfast and headed out. We had promised Ever we'd call but never did, and we were excited to see her. She, however, started crying uncontrollably when we pulled up to Christian and Shandra's, completely devastated about leaving her cousins.

We had Luc Oddou over after school one afternoon. He and Ever spent most of the afternoon putting Wren in "jail." I was in the kitchen and let them do their thing. They decorated a box with pictures they drew, stickers, and other things. They had twine and tape and ribbon and were hard at work for a long time. Toward the end, Wren was in the box in the tent, and they wanted help wrapping the tent with twine. Jim got home and found Wren like this: 

I hadn't seen her and had no idea that's what they'd done. The sight was sort of shocking, and Jim freaked out. He pulled everything off Wrenzy as quickly as possible (I was barely able to snap that photo) and told Ever never, ever, ever, to put tape on someone's face. He was worried about scratching corneas, although really he just found the whole thing deeply disturbing. I thought Wren's entire face had been covered with tape and warned Ever about covering noses and mouths and making people unable to breathe. She told me that's why she made sure to leave Wren's nose uncovered (the picture confirms she did) but hadn't thought about her mouth. Anyway, I think the picture is amazing, and it was all in good fun. 

Wren's been having some playdates. She and Amelie are adorable together. They giggle constantly. Last time she was over, Amelie fake read to Wren for the longest time. Wren kept getting more books/magazines and asking for more. These pictures are uncomfortable because Wren wasn't dressed; she'd recently stripped down for a trip to the bathroom and hadn't gotten dressed again yet.

So Wren is potty trained. I was dreading it, but it didn't end up being so bad. We did a week of softcore training, with her in undies when it was convenient. The next week we had a couple of rough days (one for Taylor and one for me), but she's only had a couple of accidents since then. She just needs to be encouraged to go to the bathroom somewhat regularly. Super exciting to have only one left in diapers!

Susan took Wren and Amelie to Legoland. Apparently Wren was subdued and wide-eyed the whole time. She must have been overwhelmed; she's never been anywhere like that before. But she had the time of her life.

Tiny does some great talking these days. This video is kind of gross because she's got yogurt all over her lips, but it's all I have.

Saturday the 23rd, Jim and I decided to take the girls to Julian for some hiking and the annual Apple Festival. It was our first whole day out of the house with Wrenzy in undies. We stopped at some bathrooms on the way to our trailhead, and Tiny Tot gave Jim the sweetest, longest snuggles.

We ended up shortening the first loop we did, sticking to a .6-mile nature trail instead of going up on the ridge and doing a 2.5-mile loop. Jim really, really, really wanted to do the long route, but Ever was complaining, and I was not thrilled about the lack of shade. Turns out as soon as we finished the short loop, we came upon some bathrooms, and both biggers had some serious business to do. I took that as confirmation we made the right call. Dealing with that out on the trail would have been a bit of a nightmare.

We did another short hike in the vicinity and then headed to the Apple Festival. Traffic was backed up so far that we couldn't see the entrance and became convinced we couldn't even get in before it closed at 5:00 P.M. A few cars in front of us turned around, and we realized we had to give up, too. 

We headed into town to find food and discovered that town was completely overrun with zillions of people, too. It was a nightmare. Sidewalks were packed. Every bakery in town had a gigantic line outside it. (Julian is famous for its apple pie.) It was ridiculous. We wanted to interview people and find out why in the world they were OK with waiting at least an hour for pie that couldn't possibly be that amazing. 

We managed to find a little cafe on the edge of town that had room for us. We ordered some real food, and then Jim ordered about seven desserts and got upset with me when I tried to stop him. 

Julian is a quaint place when it's not completely overrun. I'm sad that people have to ruin all fun places. A local told us that our best bet for getting into the Apple Festival would be to arrive at 8:00 A.M. for the 10:00 A.M. opening, so it seems that we'll never go. It's crazy.

Tiny's hair was voluptuous one morning, and she was so cute. I can never capture it, but I tried.

She's gotten good at maneuvering the walker and speeds around now.

I took the littles to Target, and Wrenny protectively put her arm around Tyna as they stood together in the cart on the way to the car.