Trip #2

A week after our trip to San Francisco, we packed up BAGS and KIDS and flew to San Antonio to visit with our dear friends. The kids loved the airplane adventure, and Max loved pulling a suitcase through the entire airport and waving to every single person we met along the way. Yes, it took quite some time to get to our gate, but he loved every minute of it and was quite a big boy. Once we arrived at the Thomas's the kids acted like we never left. Like it hadn't been over a year since they'd seen their friends. The board games were played. The trampoline was used. Crafts were completed. Forts were made. The older kids must know, on some level, that they spent nearly every day of their first years together. They were just one big gang of happy pals. They were one big gang for us parents to keep track of. On all our outtings, we simply counted heads frequently. 10.....I count 10....do you have 10 too? We succeeded on all our big adventures...the Alamo, a nature hike, a science center. It was that one darn walk around the block that induced panic. 9....I only see 9! All turned out fine, but it was a moment of being out numbered so to speak. It was such a blessed time for Patrick and I to reconnect with such great friends. We traded stories, receipes, decorating tips, parenting tips. I find it hard to get time to chat with Mindy on the phone....the number game again. So we rarely get time to talk. A week together was a gift!

Trip #1

Patrick and I spent a whirlwind weekend in San Francisco for a friend's wedding at the end of September. We flew out on a Friday and back on a Sunday. It was the first time in my life I stayed awake for 24 straight hours. I never could have completed med school or a residency as two days later I spent nearly a day and a half in bed sick....just tuckered out I guess. We stayed with Patrick's friend, Jelenko, from elementary school. It was fun to take a walk down memory lane and see what is new all at the same time. We drove up to Sonoma for the rehersal and wedding. One was at a winery, the wedding at a vineyard. It was simply beautiful and the food and wine were amazing. Well, Patrick told me the wine was amazing since I was unable to drink due to the fact that I was 9 weeks pregnant at the time. It was great to visit with friends from residency and see Dan on such a special day for him. But note to self, if I ever travel that far again....more time must be alloted for the trip!

Saints and Sinners

We enjoyed a festive weekend. The kids dressed-up for Halloween and attempted to trick-or-treat a day early. We had a big party planned at church for All Saint's Day which was celebrated the evening of Halloween. It seems not many in the community were ready for early trick-or-treaters. Luckily friends of ours took them to their home for a Halloween party. Think The Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown, cookies and cocoa, marshmallow on a string contests, and broomstick races. The kids assured me it was much more fun than trick or treating anyway. Where were Patrick and I during all this? Well we were at a fund-raiser for a local school. It was our first costume party, and we managed to borrow Star Trek costumes. We had a great time donating money...(there is a rumor I outbid myself during the auction!), eating and drinking, and dancing. The following day was our All Saint's Day party and what a hit. The kids played games like St. Nick's coin toss, St. Peter and St. Andrew's fishing game, get the eyeballs back on St. Lucy, and get the roses on St. Juan Diego's tilma among others. Then a group of kids put on skits of various saints for the kids to watch. In order to get to the skits the kids had to crawl through the catacombs (created by my crafty and overachieving husband). In the darkened rooms they learned about St. Dorothy, St. Perpetua and Felicity, and St. Tarcisius. Luke was part of the mob in the St. Tarcisius play, and loved pretending to beat up his friend. Due to my age and state, I decided against crawling back into the catacombs, but the kids assured me it was cool. Apparently so cool, the kids didn't mind that candy was left out of that area. Luke said, "Yeah, the kids liked it. One kid came and watched our play 4-5 times". The kids had a hot dog, chip....and candy dinner. The evening capped off with a pinata and ensuing candy shower. Everyone was sticky, dirty, and sweaty when we left....I call that a success.

Oh yes....Max was dressed as St. Juan Diego, but he spent most of the evening with his favorite priest, who was dressed as St. Pope Pius X....Max just called him the "Poke". Sean was his favorite saint, St. Francis of Assisi, Sarah was St. Kateri Tekakwitha, and Luke was a member of the St. Tarcisius cast....and due to his location way back in those catacombs that I was not crawling on the floor to get to, especially after I helped set them up which meant an hour of climbing on the floor.....uhm anyway...Luke is pictureless. Think black graduation gown that looked like a tunic with a cream and red sash, belted at his waist. Mom and Dad well.....we were lame and didn't dress up, partly due to the costume crisis 5 minutes before we needed to walk out of the house (I hear that is normal for 10 year-old boys, as in.....they didn't get their costume together yet and needed to dig through boxes). So we were either saints in the making, or sinners. Due to the chaos of leaving the house, I vote for the latter.