The dads went to Santa Cruz for a long weekend and we had a blast. We saw old friends (thanks for making the time all), ate some great food, bought and read books (a rare treat right now with kids), slept in and saw a movie. We found a hotel that we love and is now our official spot to stay when visiting SC. Though I think we've decided to fly up from now on instead of driving - to get more time on the actual trip without increasing it's length. Many thanks to Lisa, Leng, A-ma and Monica for looking after our children - making the trip possible. It also gave some time to just spend with each other which was awesome. We came back happy and rested dads.
Had my 39th birthday this month and it was just lovely. We went out for dim sum and I was greeted with a HUGE ballon sculpture - really it was bigger than a person. Our friend Joy was down with her daughter so that was an added bonus and my husbands got me an incredible mango cake for the Lemon Grove Bakery - a place we feel in love with when they made our wedding cake. We go there for all our cakes now. I got a great new man-bag or he-purse - happy as can be. I also picked up some new music as well. I am looking forward to 40 since that's the year I get my tattoos.
The night out to see Quidam was awesome and the dinner before hand was great. The evening was filled with conversation, laughter and art so perfection. It had been awhile since we had been out with all the parents and no kids so it was a treat to talk about something other than schedules and current toddler fueled challenges. It's nice to get the balance of your life as a parent and your life as an individual - to able to nurture those relationships that you had outside of family life or at least feeling like you can engage parts of yourself and your experience that is not just about kids. :)
The remodel is chugging along. We have the funds and we're getting our plans updated to bring them up to code. We have narrowed it down to two contractors and just need to talk to them about schedules. Not looking forward to the actual remodel but eager for the extra rooms in the house. We are planning a big purge through out the house to only really have things we need or want in the hopes to really be able to spread things out a little bit more after the remodel. I will be starting the hunt for a storage unit to put things to get them out the way and some posting action on Craigslist to sell off the things we won't need anymore - mostly kitchen items that are included as built ins in the plans. The extra money will help buy new appliances and some decorative items for the new spaces.
Easter was a success. We had a large gathering for brunch with tons of food, Easter baskets, egg hunts (yes plural we attended a few as well), and family bonding. We hosted and the weather was with us and we were able to eat in the backyard. Larry made biscuits and gravy as usual and it was greeted with the usual enthusiasm. We seem to be having a pretty successful time of integrating more of Lisa's family into our holiday gatherings which eases the strain of running from holiday event to holiday event. Nothing like trying to eat multiple Christmas meals or Thanksgiving turkeys. :)
That's it for us - hope everyone had a great Easter and as usual we welcome visitors to the Zoo whenever possible. :)
