little black journal

We closed out 2016 with our favorite kind of party – a low-key evening in our pajamas with wine and some of our closest friends.  These two were pretty pumped to be having a sleepover:

While the kids ran circles around the house, the grown-ups sipped champagne and ate caviar-topped galettes.  Jack Chen for the win, once again!

Finally, at 11 pm, all was quiet in the kids’ rooms.  We laid out a chocolate smorgasboard, poured ourselves one last round of Veuve, and toasted to 2017.  Bring it!

We bemoaned the little ones’ refusal to sleep in on Sunday morning, but perked up when Jack laid out a spread of his famous chilaquiles for breakfast.  It was cold that morning and we reveled in the coziness of sipping hot coffee in a warm house while looking out on the nearby frosty rooftops.  It was a perfect day for hunkering down inside.  Or…was it a perfect day for a swim?  The latter, apparently.  We all convened at the shores of Alki after breakfast and these crazies stripped down just in time to take the Polar Bear Plunge with the dozens of other adrenaline junkies that had gathered at the beach for the event.

Juliette watched with equal parts amusement and confusion – I can’t tell if that’s a smile or a grimace!

Shane shot out of that water like a bat out of hell, wrapping himself in a bunch of towels while the other three enjoyed a celebratory embrace.

Y’all are NUTS.

I much prefer Alki in July, but hey, winter beach days can be fun, too.

We got a text from Jack and La Verne as we were driving home, asking us if we wanted to frolic in the fresh dusting of snow at Jefferson Park.  We swung by the house to grab our sled and a thermos of hot cider, then headed back out to play.

After a couple of sled runs, Jules and Nico got to work on their snowcastle.

Shane and Jack got to work on the biggest snowball ever.

Juliette spent much of the morning carrying a chunk of snow around, asking if I wanted to pet her puppy.  “He’s so soft, Mama!”

Nicely done, gentlemen.

Between snowman-building and dragging Jules and me around in the sled, Shane got quite a workout that morning.

When he got tired, Juliette offered to pull me.  I think she moved me about a half-inch before telling me to get up and walk.

The hill beckoned…

And we answered.

What do you do when you start to feel a bit chilly?  Nuzzle into a good friend.

Oh, Jules…

There’s a special kind of magic in the air on a Seattle snow day – you feel like you’re playing hooky, even if you already have the day off.

Cold and tired, we left one last set of tracks in the park and then tucked ourselves into the car for hot cider.

Juliette took a long, late nap and woke up roaring to go again.  I had one last holiday tradition up my sleeve, as we hadn’t yet visited Gene Coulon park for their annual Clam Lights display.  It was on its last night, and, well, I’m a sucker for this kind of stuff.

It was awfully chilly that night, and I was pretty beat, but I’m so glad I rallied for this.

Happy New Years, friends!  2017 is off to a lovely start.

After our busy pre-Christmas week, it felt good to pull up to Mitch and Kathyrn’s house on Christmas Eve and settle in for a few days of laying low with family.  I missed these kids!

THIS.  This is what I needed.

My dad helped with some last-minute light-stringing in the front yard…

And then it was time to eat!  Salmon, chicken wings, roasted veggies, a couple of bottles of good wine – these Jarrells do tasty+healthy right.

The girls got to open their new Christmas pajamas from my mom that evening…

And then, there wasn’t anything left to do but hunker down and wait for Santa to come down that chimney.

We heard the pitter-patter of excited feet running circles around the house early Christmas morning and sleepily made our way upstairs to see if Santa had indeed made a stop at Chez Jarrell.  HE DID!

Watching Juliette unwrap this stuffed puppy was the highlight of my morning.

Unwrapping my new boots was highlight #2!

Elise, the budding scientist, was over the moon about her new electricity kit.

My mom, meanwhile, was thrilled with her jars of duck fat and clarified butter (to each his own!).

That blessed moment of post-gift peace, when everyone sits back for a minute to admire their new wares…

We rode that post-gift wave for most of the morning, as the girls set up shop in the dining room to play with their new art supplies and magnets.

Eventually, though, we were all ready to get out, so we hopped in the car and drove over to Westmoreland Park to bike and run and climb.  Poor Shane came down with a stomach bug the night before, so he stayed back at the house to sleep it off.

Morgan was eager to try our her new running shoes.  It looks like Mitch has just realized he can no longer outpace his daughter!

There was some more quiet afternoon play…

And then I settled into the couch with the girls for our traditional viewing of The Polar Express.

Turns out, this movie is a bit more intense than I realized!  Juliette nearly jumped out of her seat as the train skidded across the ice.

We ate a hearty Christmas dinner and then it was back to the chessboard.

And, a Christmas dance party!  Courtesy of Juliette and Morgan.  What a day.

The day after Christmas was quiet – we slept in a bit and then walked over to the neighborhood Starbucks with the kids for muffins and hot chocolate.

My mom and dad left later that morning, pausing on their way out the door for a few family pics.

The rest of the day was a bit hazy…more chess, I think.  Mitch and I got out for a long walk while Juliette napped.  I drank a lot of tea and ate a lot of ginger cookies.  The girls were thick as thieves.

Tuesday, sadly, was go-day.  Elise read Juliette’s new books to her for the umpteenth time while Shane and I loaded up the car.

We grabbed coffee and a scone on Division Street…

Played a round of hide and go seek in the yard…

And then, fare thee well, Jarrells!  ‘Twas a very merry Christmas.

The past 10 days have been a whirlwind of holiday cheer – we’ve fondued and light-gazed and made all kinds of cookies.  Baking has become my go-to Mama-Jules activity, as this girl seems to love the kitchen more than any other room in the house.  We really milked the whole sugar cookie experience – Day 1 was spent mixing dough:

Day 2 was spent rolling and cutting:

Day 3:  FROSTING!

Having a steady supply of sweets on the counter necessitates extra doses of veggies and exercise.  Cue the Fondue 5k, where we brave the cold with the gang to do a loop around Seward Park.

And then, of course, the post-run gluttony!  We gathered with friends last Saturday to chow down on cheese and chocolate and exchange White Elephant gifts.

La Verne lucked out with these perpetually full beer mugs, huh?

Jess barely had time to pull someone’s liquor cabinet remnants out of the gift bag before…

Shane exercised his right to swipe her pick.

We ended the night with our traditional charade of The Twelve Days of Christmas.  Jules and I fluttered across the room as the French hens.

I can’t tell here if Shane’s a maid-a-milking or a drummer drumming…it was all a bit hazy by this point.  I think Brian’s back there as the pregnant goose-a-laying?

And I thought La V’s beer mugs were a special gift…

Cheers, gang!

The next night we met up with the Chen clan to take in the lights at the Bellevue Botanical Gardens.  The place was kind of a mob scene, but the lights were pretty and the kids were amused.

(photo by La Verne)

Juliette’s school was closed a couple of days last week, and as I was in deadline-mode at work, Shane took some time off to hold down the fort.  I admit, when he told me he wanted to taking Juliette skiing on Thursday, I raised my eyebrows and asked, “Are you sure?”  I envisioned all the falling and the whining and the likely tears, reminding Shane that the toddlers he’d watched zipping down the slopes on YouTube were probably only the best and the brightest.  Around 10 am that morning, this pic popped up on my phone:

And then this:

She rocked it.  Kudos, Shane – you’re a braver parent than I.

That evening we convened at Chez Rust for dinner and gifts, feeling all kinds of gratitude for our Seattle family…

And then, on Friday, Juliette and I conquered Seattle’s downtown holiday scene.  We met up with a few buddies at the Sheraton’s Gingerbread Village, which was full of absurdly elaborate edible creations (Mama, can I lick that?).

We then walked over to the Fairmont Hotel to check out the Teddy Bear Suite, a room on the second floor decorated in Christmas bling and packed with teddy bears of all shapes and sizes.  It was precisely as weird as it sounds.  And right up a three-year old’s alley.

That tree in the lobby, though!

I wondered as we left the Fairmont if we should just call it a day, as the weather was increasingly cold and wet, but I’d told Juliette earlier that we were going to ride the carousel, and rain or shine (rain, it turns out), that kid was going to hold me to my word.  We made our way to Westlake Plaza and she picked out a horse with a checkered handkerchief around its neck, looking back at me with equal parts nervousness and excitement as we waited for the ride to start.

Once we got going, though, JOY.  Pure joy.

Ain’t no rain gonna keep us down!

We made one final stop for hot chocolate by the Westlake Christmas tree…

And then both decided we were done.

We zipped home, spread out the camping pads and blankets by the tree, and slept off that morning’s excitement.

Post-nap, inspired by the gingerbread castle we’d seen earlier, we decked out one last gingerbread man.

Such could hardly believe how delicious it all looked.  I could hardly believe how much sugar had been packed into a single cookie.  ‘Tis the season, I guess…

Next up:  onto Portland for the main event!

Lord knows I love a sunny July in the PNW, and a richly colored October, but December is chock-full of its very own charms, rich with old (and a few new) traditions.

The month kicked off with a kid-free weekend for Nance, La Verne, and me as we trekked a whopping 15 miles south for a weekend at the Cedarbrook Lodge for our annual ladies getaway.  We upped the ante this year and booked a reservation for two nights, skipping town on Friday evening and enjoying a leisurely dinner at the hotel bar before hitting the hot tub and queuing up Serendipity back at our room.

Our pilgrimage to the Auburn Supermall has become an integral part of ladies weekend, so after breakfast on Saturday we hit the outlets.  Hard.

I always walk out the mall wondering if maybe I overdid it a bit – did I really need five new sweaters?  That’s buyer’s remorse written all over my face, in case you can’t tell.

We landed back at the room late afternoon and wondered if maybe we should fully revel in our freedom with drinks and a fancy dinner out on the town.  Nah.  Instead, we spent an hour trying on our new clothes, oohing and ahhing over the deals we’d scored, and then venturing as far as the hotel bar for dinner (again), ending the day with ice cream in bed while SJP affirmed that Girls Just Want to Have Fun.

I thoroughly enjoyed our little escapade, but was happy to be back with Juliette and Shane come Sunday morning.  We had a cozy family day at home and then bundled up before heading over to Lake Washington to watch the Christmas Ship pull into the bay and serenade us with 20 minutes of carols.  We huddled on a little stretch of beach with dozens of other families while the choir’s voice rang out across the water.  This was the first year we’ve done this, but it’s been officially added to the list of Schnell family traditions.

Seattle got its first dusting of fresh snow last week - Juliette was asleep by the time it really started to accumulate, so I ducked outside and snapped a few quick pictures at 11 pm, just in case it all disappeared by morning.  You never know here.

Sure enough, that lovely blanket of white had turned to gray slush by mid morning the next day, but we ventured into the mountains on Saturday to frolic in a foot of fresh powder.

Juliette had a blast!  For about 30 minutes.  I’m afraid that girl has inherited my intolerance for being cold.

Ah, well.  It was good while it lasted.

My mama’s intuition told me to stick a lollipop in my pocket when we left the house.  It turned out to be just the consolation I needed when Juliette got snow in her mittens.

We stopped at Dru Bru on the way home for beer and Italian sodas.  CHEERS, kiddo!

Being a part of Juliette’s Latino-centric school has opened us up to a host of new rituals and traditions.  On Tuesday we gathered with her classmates and teachers to celebrate Las Posadas, a Mexican festival commemorating the journey of Mary and Joseph.  There was music and dancing, bowls of pozole and cups of hot chocolate.  Juliette was quite taken with the whole thing (one bite of a giant pink polvorone cookie, and she was ready to profess her love of all things Mexican!).

Up next:  Fondue, Christmas lights, maybe a ride on the Christmas Carousel – we’ve got some more December’ing to do!

We’re due, right?  Quite a bit has happened with Jules in the past three months.  Most significantly, little lady is finally potty trained!  We hunkered down at home the weekend after her third birthday and essentially bribed her out of diapers.  A sticker and an M&M for each pee, double-sweets for each poop.  There was much initial resistance, but after just a couple of go’s, she had the hang of it.

She was so confident by day 2, in fact, that she decided she could teach Purple Baby how to use the potty as well!

Once she was in big-kid underwear, she wanted to play big-kid board games and spent a few weeks endlessly requesting that Shane and I play Hi Ho Cherry-O with her.

She claps excitedly for the winner every time, whether she’s it or not, and makes a big show of rolling her eyes and good-naturedly grumbling when she gets a bad spin.  This pre-cheating, non-competitive phase is pretty sweet (though probably short-lived…).

She’ll always opt to have Shane and me fully engaged in whatever she’s doing, but there are the rare occasions when I can set her up with something to do independently and step away for awhile.  If I call it a “project” and make it sound very grown-up, she’ll indulge me.  She spent a rainy Saturday morning drawing circles while I sat nearby and organized my desk.  It was a treat, getting to spend time with her but focus on my own task at hand.

Juliette’s showing increasing resistance to naps, so I told her a couple of weeks ago that she didn’t have to go to sleep if she just played quietly in her room for awhile.  She pulled out her blocks and I patted myself on the back.  My kid had graduated to solo “quiet time”!

(Four minutes later, she yelled, “Mama!!! Come plaaaaay with me!”)

It seems that parenthood is one continuous loop of finding, then losing, then finding your groove, but for the time being, it seems we’ve nailed a couple of pretty important routines.  Getting dressed and out the door in the morning can still be a hot mess, but once we’re on our way, we’re digging our morning commute on Lightrail.

Once we get to school, I read her two books from her bookshelf (admittedly skipping a lot of words if I’m running late…), give her a hug, and then, most importantly, wave goodbye and blow a kiss at each of her classroom’s four windows.  No tears.  NO TEARS!  We have arrived.

We’ve also managed to eliminate the crying portion of bedtime, as Juliette is satisfied with two books and a story by Shane that always starts with, “One day, Pooh got some newwwww honeypots!” (we’ll call that a Daddy-Jules inside joke).  Once Shane turns out the light and comes downstairs, we both belt out “Take Me Out to the Ballgame” from the living room, so she knows we’re close, then she calls down, without fail, “Goodnight, Mommy!  I love you, Mommy!  Goodnight, Daddy!  I love you, Daddy!”  Gah!  That girl can be a dream when she wants to be.

She can chat a mile a minute when she’s hopped up on sugar or just sheer toddler adrenaline and continues to say the darnedest things.  She turned to Shane one evening as they were sitting on the couch, put her hand on his face, and said, “Daddy?  You’re my favorite cute guy.”  She’s picking up quite a bit of Spanish at school and is practicing her new vocabulary any chance she gets, pointing at planes and shouting “Avion, Mommy, AVION!!!”  She counts in Spanish about as often as she counts in English these days.

She sings a lot in Spanish, and although I often have no idea what she’s actually saying (I suspect she might not know, either!), I’m awfully proud of her.

Finally, some old pics of an extra-special Mama-Jules day – she and I took the ferry out to Bainbridge for a Friday adventure a couple of months ago.

We hit the Bainbridge Children’s Museum first, taking a pretend spin in the Smart Car and then doing some crafts upstairs.

Girl’s got skills on the climbing wall!

We grabbed lunch at Blackbird Bakery and then hit Mora’s for ice cream, trading our mint chocolate and raspberry cones back and forth.

We were completely tuckered out by the time we landed back in Seattle – Purple Baby snoozed in Juliette’s tummy while we walked to Lightrail.

And a few last sweet pics from sunnier days…  Our Fridays with friends ended in September when most of Juliette’s buddies started preschool, so Purple Baby has been filling in as her new playground companion, which is sweet and kind of sad all at once.

The 35-month time capsule:

Favorite songs:  “Flowers in Your Hair” by The Lumineers and “Bad Blood” by Taylor Swift

Favorite book:  anything with Pete the Cat

Favorite show:  Puffin Rock

Favorite foods:  chili, french fries, “wollipops”

Favorite color:  purple

Favorite pastimes:  grocery shopping; cutting pieces of paper into a million little pieces with her new scissors, then scattering them all over the floor; dancing with Dad to Beyonce and Katy Perry

Favorite way to make me crazy:  refusing to get dressed in the morning (my nerves wear thin just writing about it…)

My favorite thing about 39 months:  Her exuberance is more infectious than ever – I opened the blinds this morning to the sight of big, bold rainbow, and when Juliette saw it, she exclaimed, “A RAINBOW!  It’s all the colors!  It’s so, so, SOOOO beautiful!!!”  She was also wide-eyed and breathless today about the single string of Christmas lights our next door neighbor had strung on her outdoor tree and the Lumineers song that came on the radio when we were in the car.  Life is indeed quite grand, Jules.  Thanks for the multitude of reminders.

Holiday Season 2016 went into full effect on Thursday morning as we rolled out of bed and into the kitchen to begin Project: Turkey.  This was our first year eating at home and I was eager to spread my culinary wings.  I pulled the bird out of the fridge, poked it a little, and then…left it to “rest” for a bit while I built up my confidence with cranberry sauce.  You really can’t mess up cranberry sauce.  Right, Jules?

I spent much of the day in the kitchen, reveling in that coziness that comes with oven warmth and good food smells and the sound of daddy-daughter giggles.

The Rust clan showed up late afternoon and Nance helped me with the finishing touches.  Turkey, green beans, sweet potato casserole, broccoli bacon salad, corn bread, two kinds of cranberry sauce, and mulled wine, plus mashed potatoes and onion soup and apple pie a la Jason.  LET’S EAT.

There was a short moment of panic as we wondered whether or not the bird was fully cooked, but we decided we’d chance it and dig in.

There is much to be thankful for.

We spent Friday morning cleaning out the garage and then headed over to Seward Park for a breath of fresh air.

Juliette is always thrilled by the sight of downtown Seattle, pointing and shouting “that’s Daddy’s building!”  (His office is in the one with the green roof).

<<insert heart emojis here>>

I don’t know that we’ve ever hit this park this hard, biking the loop and “hiking” the trail and sitting on the beach and running the dock.  There was even a romp on the playground to wrap it all up!

We ate a leisurely, indulgent breakfast at Super Six on Saturday morning and then headed home to hunker down for what looked like would be a wet, wet day.  Shortly after lunch, though, the sky brightened and we got a text from Jack: “dudes. unexpectedly devoid of rain right now. should we go get a tree?”  Yes, please!  To Mountain Creek we went.

Jules and N spent quite a while standing at the base of this tree and arguing, “I want this one!”, “No, I want this one!”  Move along, kids!

We found a perfect 7-foot Noble Fir and Shane hacked it down in true lumberjack fashion while Juliette cheered him on.

The Chens went big.

I had to promise these kids apple cider and candy canes to pose for a quick shot.  Worth it.

This place, though!  It never disappoints.  The same kind lady has been handing us candy canes at the register for the past 11 years, and I expect we’ll be here 11 years from now.  At which point Juliette will probably insist on just sitting in the car and texting with her friends while Shane and I pick out the tree…

Better grab all those happy family selfies while we can!

We spent the rest of the day stringing lights and sipping egg nog while A Charlie Brown Christmas piped through the speakers.  I think I say this every year, but this might really be our best tree ever.

Oh, holidays…I’m so glad you’re here.

Seattle was very somber in the wake of the election last week and by Friday Shane and I were ready to get out of town.  So we packed our bags and headed to the faraway land of…Portland!  Which was actually just as somber a city as Seattle, if not more so, but there was comfort in being with family.  We rolled up Friday afternoon and headed right to the playground, as Juliette was eager to run free with Morgan and Elise.

Sitting on Mitch’s front porch and watching the kids play tag has become one of my favorite Portland pastimes.

Juliette bunked with her cousins that night, and as soon as all was quiet in the kids’ room, the grown-ups gathered in the living room to crack open a bottle of wine and pour our post-election hearts out.  I don’t know that I’ve ever spoken so candidly with Mitch and Kathryn about politics and religion, laying bare my hopes and fears.  I so appreciated their insight and refusal to despair; my brother is ever the optimist, my sister-in-law level-headed and fair.  We ended with evening with a rousing game of Cards Against Humanity, which had all of us doubled over with laugher, tears streaming down our faces.  Gosh, it felt good to get goofy.

The kids woke obscenely early on Saturday and all of us dragged a little throughout the day as a result.  We lounged a lot, napped hard, played Candy Land and did puzzles and took inventory of Morgan and Elise’s 200 Shopkins.  Shane and I snuck away in the evening for a drink at The Bible Club, a cozy little speakeasy in Sellwood, and recharged with stiff cocktails and some kid-free conversation.

Sunday morning was gray and quiet; Mitch made a frittata and the girls did more Shopkin-trading.  Juliette pondered the future from her window seat.

By 10 am though, the kids were over the whole lazy-Sunday thing, so we headed over to Westmoreland Park to ride bikes and climb trees.

We grabbed a treat at Grand Central Bakery in Sellwood and let the girls burn off their cinnamon roll sugar-rush with a walk through town.

With that, it was time to say our goodbyes and hit the road.  Juliette cried as we pulled away from the curb, begging to go back to Morgan and Elise’s house.  Soon, kiddo, soon!  Christmas is just around the corner.

Shane, Juliette, and I went over to Jack and La Verne’s last night to eat nachos and watch the election coverage, our moods hopeful as we pulled into their driveway.  I donned my “I Voted” sticker and Juliette asked if we were going to watch Hillary on TV.  The vibe was warm and cheery as we walked in, Jack uncorking a bottle of wine, Nance putting together a salad, the Rust boys giving us the NBC play-by-play from the den.  La Verne was wearing her Hillary socks.  Shane immediately popped open the laptop and glued himself to Nate Silver’s electoral map, but I paid little attention to the count until Shane announced with concern, “We’ve got a Michigan situation.”  We watched Hillary’s chances of winning drop from 80% to 60% and continue to spiral downward.  There was an enthusiastic cheer when the results from Colorado came in, but our joy was short-lived.  By the time we left Jack and La Verne’s house at 8:00, things were bleak.  Very bleak.  I was anxious and frustrated and frankly, baffled.  It occurred to me as we turned onto our street that come January, Juliette’s first inaugural experience would likely be watching Donald Trump take office as our president.  And I started to sob.

I know, I know, Hillary was far from flawless, but I fiercely believed in her message of inclusion.  And everything about Donald Trump’s message felt counter to the values we’ve tried so hard to instill in our daughter.

From the time she was a baby, we have told Juliette that she was wonderfully made, that she is strong and beautiful and capable.  And now America has elected a man who says horrible, vulgar things about women, who has been caught time and again treating females like objects to be judged and/or conquered and/or disregarded.

We enrolled Juliette in her current bilingual preschool because we wanted her to be part of a diverse community, for her to revel in the ways God has created his people with a variety of skin colors and languages and rituals.  And now America has elected a man who preaches that minorities should either be feared as thugs or terrorists, or should be disdained for taking advantage of an American “handout”.

We have reminded our daughter that she is blessed beyond measure, that it is her duty to speak kindly to others, to share her belongings openly, to offer a hug to a crying classmate or give up her swing to the little boy quietly standing by the playground.  And now America has elected a man who shows little concern for the people on the margins, angrily silencing anyone who dares not share his views.

With more fervor than ever, we will speak messages of love and unity and generosity over our child.  How it aches, though, to know our nation has elected a man that will not do the same.

We thought Juliette had gotten her trick-or-treating fill in Seabrook, but when I asked her if she wanted to head out on Monday evening for another round with the boys, her eyes lit up with that irresistible twinkle.  So we grabbed her costume, headed over to the Rusts, and fluffed her feathers.

Jules was a little timid at first, but with the Hulk, a fearless fireman, an astronaut, a ninja, and a bird-creature-man thing (what exactly were you, J?) by her side, she quickly got the hang of asking strangers for candy.

After each house, she’d peer into her bag and exclaim, “Look, Nancy!”, thrilled by her growing stash.

It was chilly and wet that evening, but the kids weren’t the least bit deterred by the rain.  I found myself patting Shane on the back for his foresight in mixing a round of hot toddy’s for the grown-ups to take along on the walk.

Bag full and feathers drenched, we called it a night.  Juliette picked out one treat to eat on the way home (M&Ms for the win, always), and with that, Halloween 2016 was in the books for our little flamingo.

Shane’s had a string of flex days and vacation days that have granted him several Fridays off in a row, and we’re reveling in the extra family time.  Also reveling in sunshine when it sporadically breaks through the clouds.  We spent last Friday romping around Carkeek Park, on a search for the biggest leaves and the best shells we could find.  This place has it all.

I mean, come on.

COME ON!

Our super-sunny Friday was followed by a Saturday of relentless rain.  We passed the hours with some solid indoor activities, though, like a visit to our new neighborhood bakery for macarons and Kouign-amman’s.

And storytime with La Verne at the neighborhood bookstore.

Shane came through in a clutch when he offered to set up the tent in the living room.  Juliette was over the moon about the prospect of camping in November.

She spent much of the day in there, watching a movie, (not) napping, reading books and tucking all of her stuffed animals into her sleeping bag.  The novelty wore off by late afternoon, but hey, we made it through a mostly-homebound day without tears, yelling, or anything getting broken.  That’s no small victory in our house!

Rain or shine, November is off to a very good start.

October ended on the highest of notes, with a weekend at the coast with the Chens and Rusts.  Shane, La Verne, and I all had birthdays last month, and we were due for a getaway with the gang anyway, so helllooooooo, Seabrook!

This is a porch view I could get used to.

Since we checked in on Friday with only a couple of hours of daylight to spare, we dropped our bags and jetted down to the beach to maximize our time on the sand.

These two haven’t seen a whole lot of each other recently – together again and it feels so good!

The fellas set out for a brisk jog while the moms hung back with the kids.

LaV has a knack for the action shots:

I love these misty coastlines that seem to stretch on forever.

Jules was incredibly proud of her “chocolate sand castle” (see pile of poopish mud at bottom right).

“Daddy’s back!  Daddy’s back!”

Nancy, LaV, and I took our turn jogging and then I snapped a few more pictures of our filthy kids before heading up to the house for dinner.

Shane and Jason beat us back to the house, eager to crack open a couple of cold ones on the porch.

Magic, I tell ya’.

Friday was LaV’s birthday, so we raised glasses of champagne to her, gorged ourselves on Jack’s delectable pasta, and then closed out the night with chocolate cake and an epic sugar-induced dance party.  These people got moves.

Saturday morning brought a foot-high stack of pancakes (thanks, Jack!), and cold, crisp sunshine.

We had planned to hit the indoor community pool, but with blue skies like that, the beach beckoned.

Muddy and chilled, we decided to head over to the pool after all and warm ourselves in the hot tub.

By the time we got back to the house, the skies had clouded over and big fat raindrops started to fall (just as Jack threw our lunchtime burgers on the grill).  He still managed a perfect char, though, and we retired to our rooms for naptime with full bellies.

We were tired.

The town of Seabrook hosted trick or treating for the littles on Saturday night, so the kids donned their costumes and grabbed their candy bags.  Juliette’s flamingo outfit came together at the very last minute – that’s 20 feet of pink feather boas and a whole lot of safety pins!

Seabrook is a funny little town, full of row after row of perfectly-kept homes with perfectly-kept lawns and a charming little main street with a candy shop and a pizza parlor, all relatively new but designed to evoke a sense of nostalgia.  It was a little eerie, like we’d landed on the movie set of Pleasantville.  The people sure were friendly, though!

Biggest pumpkin ever!

The kids made out like bandits – Juliette kept looking into her basket, eyes wide, like she couldn’t believe how lucky she’d gotten.

She savored the one piece of candy she was allowed before dinner and then I hid the rest of her loot, hoping she’d forget about it (she didn’t).

We shared dessert that night with some friends that were also in Seabrook for the weekend, tucked our exhausted trick-or-treaters into bed, and then stayed up into the wee hours of the night, polishing off a bottle of Port and covering a gamut of conversation topics.  These late-night chats are so few and far between.

We were all a little bleary-eyed on Sunday morning, but Jack perked us up with yet another home-cooked meal.  His chilaquiles are insane.  The kids busted into the game closet and did us the grand favor of entertaining themselves while we sipped our coffee.

With only a couple of hours left before check-out, I was determined to breathe in a little more of that salty air, so Shane, Jules, and I headed outside to take the fat bike Shane had rented for a spin.  I felt a little silly on it, like I was riding a motorcycle with no motor, but dang, that’s a smooth cruise.

I’m so glad we tossed Juliette’s bike into the trunk as were packing up on Friday, as she wanted in on the action.

I LOVE THIS GUY.

Eventually, regretfully, it was go-time.  We picked up coffee from the town bakery, visited a couple of random Seabrook landmarks, and bid farewell to our beachfront abode.

What a glorious, friend/food/fun-filled weekend.  Kudos to Jack for feeding us like royalty.  Kudos to the kids for playing so well together.  Kudos to Nance for keeping the late-night chats hilariously spicy.  Kudos to my mom, Shane’s mom, and LaV’s mom for birthing the three of us in October.  And kudos to the Washington Coast for being awesome.  See you soon.