Road Trip

So I haven't written in a week! So sorry folks. It's just been a tad crazy around here. Steve finished up his sixth year teaching at Monte Vista and Isaac finished Kindergarten so there were parties, graduation festivities/award nights (for Steve to attend), and all sorts of end-of-the-year hoopla. Needless to say, I'm a bit pooped. Yet regardless of how zany the end of the year can be, it's always a ton of fun!

But the best thing about this last weekend was that we got to go on a little road trip down south to the Promised Land...SLO County, to see some of our very dear friends who just had babies. We stopped first in North County to see our pals from Cal Poly who just had their second baby, a little boy. Oh my goodness...so precious.

We spent the late morning and early afternoon with them. It was so fun to just soak up the time. These are people we love and have history with...so even though we're far away now, they are still so important to us. They very generously fed us yummy pizza and we got to sit around and talk amidst children banter. I also got to hold the absolutely adorable little man-Elijah. The two littlest took a nap and the older boys played a game with the Dads. Then I got to catch up a bit with Tim's sister, who helped catch Eli that crazy night. Such a wonderful time.

There's the happy big brother. Love, love, love this little man. Kills me every time I see him.

Then we were off to a bit further south to visit some friends of ours from Grace Church. They have three little girls and just had their first boy! We love this family! And upon our arrival, I got a fun surprise. Kate's sister, Jenny, who I mostly know through the blogging world, was there to see us too! How fun is that? She's home visiting family while her husband is deployed. I hadn't really talked with her in person since we both counseled at Hume Lake many summers ago. And so yesterday it was a delight to chat with her and meet her two daughters. Isn't Summer just gorgeous? She is such a little doll. Her big sister Bella was running all over the place playing dress-up so I didn't get a clean shot of her. By the way, it was hilarious watching my boys mix with the girls. Dress-up? What's that mom?

And my friend Kate, who just had her fourth, well she reminds me so much of myself. So good to look at her beautiful face and hear how she was doing. It was seriously such a blessing to spend a bit of time with that family. And there's the handsome little man with his pretty mama. I really do love snuggling newborns. Such a privilege!

It's never long enough but we take the time we can get huh?

After our little playtime there, we headed on over to In n Out to see Debbi Weeks and her daughter Rebekah for dinner. It was the perfect ending to an excellent day. The only problem was that I locked the keys in the car. I swear, I haven't used our Roadside Assistance in the last six years or so but, I have somehow managed to need it twice in the last week. But anyhow, I was nursing Elle in the car and 99% of the time Steve leaves me the keys in case I want them. However, he usually tells me he's leaving them. And 99% of the time, I also check to see if he left them. Well, he didn't tell me and I didn't check. So I locked the car and headed inside. When we wanted the boys' jackets a few minutes later we discovered they were locked safely away. Good thing we found out at the beginning of dinner. We called the tow truck and they arrived twenty minutes later. We were still stuffing our faces with In n Out goodness. So really, it wasn't bad at all.

After hanging out for a bit, we loaded back up into the car and headed home. All in all, an excellent day and wonderful road trip. Steve and I marveled on the way home that even a year ago, trips like this would've been so crazy. But really, things have gotten a bit easier. Not easy just easier. Three kids are potty trained. The older two play together in the back. Joshua and Elle keep each other busy. It's really doable. I can't tell you how many road trips we've been on that have simply been nightmares to be endured...lots of screaming/crying (from the baby at the time), diaper blowouts, whining, boredom etc... Now it seems like road trips are becoming adventures which makes it a lot more fun for us parents. Little glimpses like these give us hope for future family trips!

Thanking God for our friends, their new children and incredible, lasting relationships. We're really, truly blessed.