little black journal

It was a happy Thanksgiving for the Schnells and Jarrells as we gathered in Portland to feast and catch up and watch our girls run wild together.  Shane and I had originally planned on a long, quiet weekend at home, but then switched some plans around as we found ourselves really wanting to be with family.  We headed out on Wednesday afternoon and enjoyed an uneventful drive as Juliette snoozed in the backseat.  We were greeted with hugs from Morgan and Elise, followed by a rundown of all things Frozen.  I can see our future: bring on the sparkles and princesses.

My ideal holiday involves eating, napping, and very minimal physical activity, but I’m afraid Jules had other plans.  We were up early on Thursday, per usual, and Juliette was itching to get out by mid-morning.  The playground it is then, baby!

The rain cut our time at the park short, but I was happy to grab some extra snuggle time on the couch with my favorite three year old.

Cousins!  They got along splendidly – it was so much fun to watch them play together.  Last time we visited, Juliette was still very much a baby, but this time around she was (almost) able to keep up with the big girls.  And when she struggled to keep up, they were happy to grab her hands and pull her along.

Once cuddles and building blocks lost their charm, we were back out the door for an afternoon walk.  Kathryn asked me to snap a few pics of the girls for their Christmas card – I asked for sweet smiles, and…this happened.  Funny kids.

Elise was wonderful with Juliette, eliciting all kinds smiles and giggles with her silly dances and songs.  When she noticed Juliette’s tendency to fuss during diaper changes, Elise deemed herself the “diaper-changing fairy”, fluttering around with toys and books while I cleaned up Jules.  And it worked – not a single wiggle from my usually-squirmy baby!  Can’t wait till Elise is old enough to babysit – Juliette looks at her with such unbridled adoaration.

We headed back indoors and I put Juliette down for a late nap.  I came upstairs to find these two snuggled up together with an episode of Arthur.  There’s that sweet photo I was going for earlier!

Morgan has always been a little slow to warm up to me, but she and I had a really grand couple of days together, reading books and doing puzzles and playing horses.  Only took three years and eleven months, but I think I’ve won this girl over!

We ate big for dinner on Thursday – ham and quiche and roasted veggies and butternut squash soup and salad and apple pie.  Gratitude (and red wine) flowed forth so easily as we sat around around the table together.  Much to be thankful for.

Friday was rainy and cold, so we skipped our morning park run.  Kathryn and I headed out for a Barre3 class while Shane held down the fort at home, and we spent the rest of the day cozied up inside, snacking, reading, painting, dancing…repeat.  And repeat.  We eventually declared a jailbreak, grabbed our umbrellas, and walked over the library and coffee shop for a much-needed change of scenery.

We came home and Elise and Juliette worked out their rainy day crazies with a little yoga.

And then just got plain crazy again!  Babies being big girls, big girls being babies – it was mayhem.  Exhausting and loud and occasionally resulting in tears, but I still kind of loved it.

We saw that the forecast called for snow on Saturday morning and decided to beat the weather and head out Friday evening.  We put on Juliette’s pajamas, piled onto the couch for a bedtime story, and then hit the road.  Juliette fell asleep shortly after we got on the freeway, slept until we pulled into our garage, and then settled pretty quickly into her crib once we were home.  Now that’s how it’s done.  A fuss-free drive to and from Oregon?  Thankful, indeed.

This is our girl these days – moving, moving, moving, often too fast, often without watching where she’s going.  It’s fun and adorable and terrifying, all at the same time.

This month has brought her first skinned knee, her first scraped knuckles, her first bruised forehead.  These bumps don’t keep her down, though, because she’s a baby with a mission: give mama a dang heart attack!  Thud.  Crash.  BAM.  That awful silence that comes before an exceptionally loud shriek.  These are the sounds that seem to inevitably follow each time I turn my back.  Thankfully, she’s a little steadier day by day – more giggles, less tumbles.  Praise the Lord.

She really is a regular Energizer bunny – getting her to sit still for even thirty seconds is nearly impossible, as evidenced by the fact that I was only able to wrangle one-half of her hair into a pigtail this morning before she felt the need to get up and do her seven hundredth lap around the living room (stopping only to bust a few awkward dance moves to Taylor Swift playing in the background).

With the onset of cooler, wetter weather, I’ve been on a desperate search for quiet indoor time-passers.  We spent one rainy afternoon trying our hand at finger-painting.  I stripped Juliette down to her diaper, poured out the paint, and explained to her that she was welcome to go nuts making a mess – just don’t eat it.  I’m not sure she heard me.

We’ve also tried coloring – I laid out a jumbo drawing pad and a box of crayons, again telling her to scribble away to her heart’s content.  Just don’t eat the crayons.  Apparently I’m asking too much!

There have been a string of days this month when, drizzle be damned, we just have to get OUT.  Shane bought a great running stroller off of Craigslist a few weeks ago we’re all logging quite a few miles together.  I tuck her in with a blanket and a sippy cup of warm milk, and we’re off!  She seems to like the wind in her hair.

She continues to be full of surprises – after weeks of neglecting the poor baby that Grandma bought her for her birthday, she pulled it out of the toy bin last week and spent half an hour playing mama, tucking the baby in, retucking the baby in, re-retucking the baby in.  Jules has a little buddy at daycare that loves dolls and I think she’s been taking notes.  Those sweet little pat-pats!

Her communication and comprehension skills are growing by leaps and bounds – the other day she pulled a bag of dried apples out of the pantry and held it up to me, signing the word for “please” by rubbing her chest.  My hands were messy with dinner prep and so I asked her to carry the bag over to her dad so he could help her.  And she did it!  Such a small but significant little exchange.  She loves the “Where’s your ___?” game.  Check out that proud grin when she finds her belly.

Papa continues to be the best playmate on the planet – today I was upstairs putting laundry away and could hear the clomp-clomp of Shane rolling around the living room while Jules roared with laughter.   Favorite sound ever.

I’m sure going to miss these Autumn leaf-throwing sessions at the park…

After a few weeks of fits and whining and fearing that the terrible twos had come early, it really feels like we’re on the upswing – we had such a great weekend together, feeling like we could really focus on enjoying Juliette rather than just keeping the peace.  So happy, happy fourteen months, baby little girl baby (can I please still call you baby?).

Ohhhh, October – I love October.  Birthdays and baseball and bright fall colors.  Last month was chock-full of so many good memories.

My mom and dad made the trek up from La Pine ten days ago for a much-anticipated visit.  I’m always a little anxious when family rolls into town, as Jules has a pesky habit of getting sick just when we’re hoping she’ll be at her best, but she stayed healthy and my parents got plenty of chances to enjoy their sweet, silly, super-busy granddaughter.  We spent one afternoon at Lincoln Park, swinging and sliding and strolling.

Those leaves!  Can’t get enough of them.

Turns out Grandpa is a pretty amazing swing-pusher.

We spent a drizzly Sunday afternoon walking through the woods Seward Park.

And just when we thought we’d have to skip the playground on account of rain, the sun came out!  Juliette (and Grandma) were overjoyed.

Juliette played hooky from daycare and stayed home with my parents on Monday, and the three of them got along splendidly – Juliette ate well, napped well, and seemed especially easy-going that day (interested in moving to Seattle, Mom and Dad?!).  We said our good-byes on Tuesday morning, and Juliette was in a mood Tuesday night – I think she missed all that extra grandparent lovin’!

Oh, and how bout them Giants?!  We watched so much baseball last month, ending with our boys WINNING GAME 7 OF THE WORLD SERIES!  Juliette and Shane sported their orange and black on Thursday with so much pride.

Halloween was also a pretty big deal – having a kid has really upped the ante on October 31st!  My fellow mamas and I put our waddlers in their costumes on Friday morning and took them to the zoo for the Pumpkin Bash.  Gosh, how it rained.  And rained.  Turns out the zoo is not so fun in the rain (that downcast face of the little boy in the blue striped parka says it all).  We spent some time running around in the indoor gym, took a quick spin past the orangutans, and then called it quits.  Gold stars for effort, though!

Juliette and I both dressed up on Friday afternoon for my office Halloween party.  The theme was “alter ego’s”.  Architect by day…_____ by night.  Images of rockstars and super-heros flashed through my head, but if I’m being honest, I’m really an old granny at heart, perfectly content to spend a Friday evening knitting and watching Jeopardy.  And Jules was the perfect pet bird.

I was determined to get maximum mileage out of the owl costume that my mom and I put together last weekend, so yesterday Juliette donned her feathered cape once again for our church’s annual Trunk or Treat.  She “flew” around the parking lot, checking out the scene and rummaging through buckets of candy – turns out a box of Nerds makes a perfect rattle and the crinkle of a Whoppers wrapper is completely fascinating.  The sugar inside the packaging will remain a secret for as long as possible.

My mom is pretty brilliant with a sewing machine, no?

These kids!  Trust me, deep down, they’re having a blast.

And with that, October 2014 is a wrap.  On to November, with its bare-limbed trees and 4:30 sunsets.  Eeeeeeeek.  At least there’s pumpkin pie?

Happy 35th birthday, Mr. Schnell!

We kicked off the festivities yesterday with brunch at Bings – the pancakes were fluffy, the mimosas were bottomless, and we all chatted and laughed amidst the mayhem that is dining with two babies and two kids.

We had big plans to hit the pumpkin patch after brunch, but called it off due to rain.  The rest of the day was spent holed up indoors, reading books and playing Legos.  Even Juliette fell prey to the rainy-day lazies and napped for almost three and a half hours!

But today, how the sun shone today!  We spent the morning at Volunteer Park, walking along the leaf-strewn paths, playing on the playground, soaking in autumn’s golden glory.

Shane soaked his jeans on a trip down a surprisingly wet slide with Jules in his lap – thank goodness for backup shorts in the trunk of the car.  (And you’re welcome, to all those kids that were waiting for someone to hurry up and dry off the slide!)

We cashed in our pumpkin patch raincheck this afternoon and made the trek out to Issaquah to check out Trinity Tree Farm.  Juliette pushed the wheelbarrow around for awhile, rode in the wheelbarrow for awhile, and finally just staked out a spot in the middle of the field to plop down and chew on rocks while she watched kids and dogs run by.

Nice form, guys!

I’m so happy to see this girl getting on board with our silly Schnell family traditions.

Just for old time’s sake, check out this one from our pumpkin patch visit last year…We’ve come a long way, huh Jules?!

We grabbed dinner at Tutta Bella on the way home – cocktails and pizza and gelato felt like a fitting end to a perfect day.  Happiest of birthdays to my favorite person!  Juliette and I love you so very much (for the record, I also get the urge to applaud every time you walk into the room).

Thirteen months.  It was the best of times, it was the worst of times…  Jules can be so much fun, as she finds new ways to communicate and explore and showcase her winning personality.  Unfortunately, it seems she’s also mastered the art of whining and fit-throwing, but if parenthood has taught us anything, it’s that you gotta take the bad with the good, and there’s still a whole lotta good goin’ on.

She’s so active and adventurous these days – we’ve hit the toddler gym a couple of times to burn off our rainy-day antsies and Juliette goes nuts, zipping all over the place with her push carts and riding toys.

And check her out on this slide – I maybe should have been there to catch her at the bottom, rather than standing by with camera in hand, but it turns out she’s pretty sturdy!

Seems that slides are the new swings (I know, I just can’t stop with the slo-mo…).

We spent an overcast Friday with friends at the Magnusson Community Center for baby’s first “rock” concert.  Casper Babypants was a hit – I still can’t get over the fact I used to play this guy’s album over and over almost 20 (!?) years ago when he was singing Lump and Peaches with The Presidents.  My, how his tune has changed…

Jules is quite the budding musician herself – she loves banging away on the xylophone Amanda gave her for her birthday.

Oh, and hey!  We’ve got a walker!  Shane set her down on her feet a couple of weeks ago, thinking she’d drop to her knees and crawl away like she usually does, but she stretched out her arms, found her balance, and then took a couple of wobbly steps all on her own, completely out of the blue!  She spent the rest of the evening tottering back and forth between Shane and I, so adorably proud of herself.  It’s no coincidence that this happened the night the Giants secured their spot in the play-offs by crushing the Pirates – clearly, she just couldn’t contain her excitement.

This walking thing means she’s on the go-go-go more than ever, but she’s still quick to settle into papa’s lap for a story.

Our mama-Jules Thursdays are still the highlight of my week – we spent this past Thursday throwing leaves at the arboretum, then grabbing a treat at Starbucks before going a few rounds on the Madison Park slide.  Hard to believe this girl has a whiny bone in her body, right?  Riiiiiight.

Did I say throwing leaves?  I meant eating leaves.

I know, I should have stopped her, but her ohhhhh, that’s yucky face is just too good.

Happy thirteen months to our autumn baby!

Yesterday was my birthday, but we did the bulk of our celebrating today, with brunch and two park visits and a little me-time and then dinner with friends.  It was a great day.  Such a great day, in fact, that I couldn’t limit my snapshots to just 10 favorites…thus, here’s 16 on 10!

Volunteer Park Cafe might be a new go-to breakfast spot – such a cozy vibe in there.  Juliette was clearly a fan!

Who’s that guy out there?

Fall is in full-swing.  And I love it.

Park fix.

Buddies!

Her hair matches these autumn leaves so perfectly.

Walkin’.

I slipped away this afternoon for a little treat.

Such a luxury these days…

Liking this color combo.

Kubota love.

SERIOUS Kubota love.

Higher, dad, higher!

First-ever ride on papa’s shoulders.

No hands!

Dinner with the gang.

With that, I’ve got a salted caramel macaron and a cup of mint tea calling my name…  Over and out.

We donned our swimsuits and dipped our toes in Lake Washington for the last time a couple of weeks ago – it was a scant too chilly to really enjoy a swim, but we felt like we needed to properly memorialize the end of summer with bare shoulders and watermelon slices.  It’s been such a fun, active, gloriously warm three months, as we’ve played and picnicked through nearly every park in a 10-mile radius of us.

So of course, September 21st left me feeling a little nostalgic and wallow-y – Juliette might never wear her green-striped swimsuit again, or her trusty pink and white sunhat.  She won’t ever sit on the shore of Lake Washington and flap her arms in the same way as the water laps over those chubby baby thighs I love so much.  Dinners on the back patio are on an indefinite hiatus.  But we’re not ready to hole up and call it quits on the great outdoors just yet.  We pulled out our sweatshirts and hit the Madison Park playground last week to take their swings for a test drive.

We’ve gone a little crazy with the slo-mo setting on our iPhones’ cameras – case in point:

Seward Park still welcomes us with open arms, though we traded in our spot on the beach last weekend for this lovely expanse of lawn up on the inner loop.

Indulge me in one more slo-mo…

And hey, the sun still shines at Jefferson Park!

Plus, there’s the excitement of post-season baseball to keep our spirits high – on Wednesday we watched our Giants beat the Pirates in the wild card playoff!  Juliette was mildly alarmed as Shane and I whooped and jumped over Crawford’s grand slam, but when we asked her for high-fives, she happily obliged.

Then there was Saturday’s six-hour hum-dinger of a game against the Nationals – Juliette napped through the first couple of innings and was in bed by the time the fifteenth rolled around, but she chilled with Shane and I for quite a bit of it.  Can you say Sweep those Nats, baby?

After yesterday’s MLB marathon, we tried to spend as much time outdoors today as possible – we passed part of the afternoon at Mt. Baker park, tossing leaves in the air and going down the slide a dozen times over.  Summer in Seattle can’t be beat, but these golden October days sure are beautiful.  And ahhhh…it was warm today – we eventually pulled off Juliette’s jacket and shoes and let her play barefoot in the grass before taking her on a jog around Seward Park.

So happy Fall, Jules!  It’s gonna be a good one.

A week later, it’s still sinking in that I’m now the mama of a ONE year old.  I can’t even begin to count the number of times people have stopped me as I’ve been out and about with Juliette to remind me that it goes by so fast, this raising kids thing.  I’ve always smiled politely and shrugged off the unsolicited bits of wisdom while gazing down at my wee little baby, but damn it, they’re so, so right.  Gosh, how this past year has flown by.  And now my baby is making her way into waddler-hood, daily asserting her independence as she masters a host of new skills.  I keep getting glimpses of the grown-up girl in Jules as she sheds her chubby cheeks and I wonder, can this possibly be the wrinkly seven-pound newborn we brought home from the hospital a year ago?

The changes feel like they’re coming faster than ever – we’ve been doing some “walking”, and a couple of weeks ago she finally started putting one foot in front of the other.

A week later, I pulled out the little shopping cart a friend had let us borrow, just to see if she could make it more than a step or two on her own.  In the space of a couple of hours, she was motoring all over the house with that thing, even figuring out how to turn it around when she’d driven herself into a corner.  Our baseboards are taking a beating, but it’s worth it for the look of pride on her face.

She’s proven herself to be a fast learner in other ways, too.  I blew her a kiss just once and asked her to return the favor – and she actually did it.  I know, it’s just mimicking a silly gesture, but after working on waving and clapping for weeks, it was cool to see her pick this one up so quickly.

And there are the other times she’s surprised us – like how did she know exactly what to do with her new doll’s pacifier, especially considering Juliette hasn’t used a binky since she was a few months old?

And ummmmm…she’s reading to herself now?!

After months of tearing things apart, pulling toys out of her bin and clothes out of drawers and food out of cupboards, she’s showing interest in putting things back together.  Don’t get me wrong – she’s still a mess-making tornado when she wants to be, but she (and I) are enjoying more and more moments of quiet, contemplative play.  Today I watched her put a ball in a cup, shake it around, pull it out, and put it back in, about 40 times over.  Her stacking cups are her favorite toys – the day she figured out how to put one inside the other was a very good day.

And as she’s getting smarter and faster, she’s getting so much bigger – we ask Juliette nearly every day if she’s gotten taller overnight.  Her blue plastic tub has been relegated to the garage and she’s loving the freedom of the big bath.

She’s still a champion eater – we occasionally have to duke it out over veggies, but for the most part, she’s loves food.  It’s easy to tell when she’s enjoying something, because she’ll make this nom nom mmm mmm mmmmmmm sound as she shovels whatever I’ve prepared into her face – almond butter on anything is always a hit.

She also still loves those swings, particularly when I run behind her and pop back out front in a little game of peek-a-boo.

I spent the last couple of weeks going through all the photos and videos we’ve taken over the past year, compiling them into a movie of the “greatest hits”, and while a piece of my heart aches to feel the weight of that milk-drunk newborn on my chest, a larger part of me is struck with how much fun it’s been to watch her grow, how exciting it is to bear witness to each new milestone.  Our joy has run so much deeper than I ever thought possible.  So cheers to your first year, Jules.  I’m so thankful for the ways you’ve turned our lives upside down.

It was a busy weekend at Chez Schnell, with visitors and sight-seeing and birthday festivities!  The good times started rolling on Thursday morning, when Shane’s mom and sister arrived from Minnesota.  We all convened at Columbia City Bakery for coffee and croissants – Jules took an instant liking to her Aunt Tiff.

After letting our guests get settled, we headed to West Seattle to grab lunch and play on the sand at Alki Beach.  Summer is definitely going out with a bang here, with lots of sun and perfect temps.

We celebrated my mother-in-law’s birthday that evening at Tutta Bella – Jules is a big fan of their Happy Hour meatball special, and I have a weakness for their five-dollar glass of bubbly.

We capped off the day with ice cream at Full Tilt – I don’t know if it’s the horizontal stripes or the fact that I can’t resist sharing my dessert with her, but Juliette is looking a little rounder around the middle these days!

This was Tiff’s first time in Seattle, so we spent Friday afternoon downtown, showing her the sights.  We started with coffee on the 40th floor of the Columbia Tower.

And then strolled through Pike Place Market, stopping for lunch at Steelhead Diner.

We spent the rest of the day at home, eating and drinking and doting on the baby.  It was such a joy to watch Juliette soak up all that grandma and auntie love.

Saturday morning we drove up to Jefferson Park to while away the morning on the playground - Jules wasn’t so sure about this slide a couple of months ago, but now?  Total hit.  She’s getting adventurous, that girl.

Grandma’s pretty wild, herself!

We drove out to Woodinville on Saturday afternoon to do some winetasting at Novelty Hill and Columbia Winery.  I wasn’t so sure that bringing a baby to a winery was kosher, but we gave it a go and actually ended up a seeing a few other kids out for an afternoon tasting.  We found a shady spot in the grass at both places to stretch out and sip our whites.

And while we tasted the menu, Juliette tasted the menu.  Seriously, this girl’s favorite food is paper these days.

We had dinner that night at Big Chickie, our neighborhood’s newest hot spot.  The chicken was perfectly done and the outdoor seating area was hoppin’ – we’ll be hitting this place as often as we can while the evenings are still warm!

Sunday was a big day – a pretty special little someone was born a year ago!  The birthday festivities started with bedhead and blueberry pancakes.

And then presents!  Books and clothes, a soccer ball and a big bag of Legos – she tore into the wrapping and gift bags like a pro, stopping only momentarily to crawl into one of the boxes and eat the tissue paper.

Grandma gave Jules her first baby doll – we’ve never seen her play with a doll before, but she was immediately taken with it.

She pulled the baby Violet right out of the box and went to give her a kiss.

Or…eat her face.  Mommas – keep your newborns away from this one.

She’ll be stylin’ in her new peacoat this fall!

We loaded up the car on Sunday afternoon with cupcakes and beach balls for Miss Juliette’s big bash at Seward Park.  Clearly, she was pretty jazzed about being the center of attention.

She had a blast cruising around the lake with Gryffin.

And then…cake!  She didn’t quite know what to do when we first set that mound of frosting in front of her.

But once that first taste of sugar hit her lips, she wasn’t shy about digging in.  Enjoy it, kiddo – you’re getting a double-dose of broccoli for dinner every night this week.

We felt so lucky to have our Minnesota family and our Seattle family present to celebrate the day.

How old are you, Jules?

And with that, my baby was one.  ONE.  I’m feeling all kinds of crazy about it – melancholy but thankful, nostalgic for what’s gone but also a little bit relieved that the newborn days are behind us.  Proud of the girl she’s becoming and excited for what lies ahead.  How quickly she’s changing (that’s a whole other blog post…).  Happy, happy birthday, stinkpot.

Shane is not one for moderation.  When he orders a pizza, he wants to eat the whole thing in one sitting.  When he decided several years ago that he wanted to take up running, he thought registering for a marathon would be a good place to start.  And when Jack asked him and Jason a couple of months ago to take part in a 100-MILE bike ride near Deception Pass, Shane jumped at the challenge.

I’ll admit, I’ve been slightly less than supportive about the whole thing.  All the bike gear purchases, the Saturday mornings spent pounding out the training miles while Jules and I were left to fend for ourselves, the post-ride aching back and muscle spasms that left him laid up.  I didn’t expect his race would be so tough on me!  And so all of us, die-hard bikers and hard-core mamas, decided to turn race weekend into a special little getaway at an incredible rental house in Bellingham.  We rolled up to the house on Friday afternoon – as we walked through the lush front yard, complete with a waterfall, I knew we were in for something good.

And then…BAM!  We stepped through the front door and were greeted with a panoramic view of the water – the deck was insane.

The kiddos were eager to explore the house, which meant pulling all the books off the coffee table and then pounding out a few tunes on the piano.

We had our own little happy hour out on the patio with white wine and fresh oysters.  Once the kids were in bed, we popped open another couple of bottles to enjoy with Jack’s famous spaghetti and meatballs.

As we watched the sun set over the bay, I realized I can’t imagine ever living anywhere other than the Pacific Northwest.

We watched the stars come out and then turned in early on Friday, as the guys had to get an early start the next day.  Correction: some of us turned in early.  As Shane was laying out his race clothes before bed, he realized he’d left his bike shorts at home!  He and Jack made a 10:30 pm dash to Walmart in desperate hopes of finding a replacement; Walmart didn’t come through, but Jack did – he got in touch with a friend that was joining them the next day and asked him to bring a spare pair.  Crisis averted!

The bikers headed out at 6 am on Saturday and the rest of us spent a leisurely morning at the house.  After naptime, Juliette and I joined La Verne and Nico on a trip into town to check out the Bellingham farmer’s market.  We grabbed lunch from a food stand there and then swung by Fairhaven on the way back, treating the babies to a taste of our strawberry rhubarb ice cream.

Nico has just started walking and is so adorably proud of himself with each step he takes.

When the guys returned that afternoon, they were a little sweaty and a little stiff, but also giddy over their impressive pace – turns out they had finished in first place!  (Shane – this is where I apologize for not being more supportive and tell you that I’m really, really proud of you…).

The kids ate their dinner out on the deck while we all put our feet up.

And then Juliette ran shirtless for the evening, after painting her tank top with spaghetti sauce…

Gosh, these boys are sweet to Jules – especially Gryffin, who is so quick to snuggle her and to make sure she always has an assortment of toys at her fingertips.

Leave it to Jack to bike 100 miles and then cook dinner for all of us.

Again, we dined on the patio and watched the sun set and chatted until the guys could hardly keep their eyes open.

We were all up bright and early on Sunday.  Catching the misty pink light of dawn was decent consolation for not being able to sleep in.

The childless dinnertime chats were pretty great, but I also loved the mornings as we all roamed around the house, drinking coffee while the kids played and read books in their PJs.  Felt so much like we’re one big family.

And breakfast mimosas made the mornings that much better!

I didn’t get to do quite as much quiet porch-lounging as I’d hoped, but I didn’t mind – Juliette was a lot of fun to hang with this weekend.

It felt good to have our goofy, smiling little girl back after the tough time she’d had in California!

The Rusts rolled out for a family hike around 11 and we headed out around noon, not wanting to leave a minute earlier than the required checkout time.  Thanks, gentlemen, for putting in all those miles on your bikes so that I could eat oysters and ice cream.  I suppose I actually made out pretty well in this whole deal.