Vacationing Part Uno

We are home from our summer vacation that took us through St. Louis to Los Angeles and dropped us in an island in the middle of the Pacific.

In St. Louis we got to catch up with Jacob's sister's family.

We got some quality time with our niece

and nephew

*Commence gushing*

My goddaughter has just the sweetest little temperament. She's a little bit shy, but she took a shine to Jacob and my heart melted every time she snuggled up to his knees.

We got to see Jacob's mom who walked hand in hand with the toddlers to a Waldorf park (so she was in Hog Heaven.)

I emailed my oldest blogging buddy, and we met up at a deserted park. She brought all four kids, donuts, iced lattes, and still posted on her blog that day. (Grace, how do you do all these things?) I didn't even manage to bring shoes for my three year old.

We went to the St. Louis Zoo, and no offense to the uncommon, threatened, very threatened, and endangered animals, and the lone (short) giraffe

but my favorite moment (besides the Dippin Dots) was this little get up:

After three days in St. Louis, we headed west to see Jacob's brother.

Visiting our former stomping grounds in LA had us hopping from old friends to old friends, and between all the great people and the great weather, I almost forgot why we ever left.

We stayed with my old grad school buddy and her family. Every morning she and I got some quality time watching our infants flap their arms at each other while we drank coffee. It was perfect.

I'm bad at corralling people for group pictures, so for all the people visited, we only tried for the group shots once when we were with Jacob's old roommate and his family. You'd think this blog would have turned me in to Mrs. Document That by now, but alas it has not. After about fifty pictures, we had about three with all the kids in focus and looking at the camera and not trying to hide behind someone or hurl themselves on the floor.

Here was the keeper of the huge effort to get a pic of the families.

Visit them here!

More Blogger Fodder: Popes!

We had an afternoon with these buddies and meeting babies and talk talk talking, and it was awesome if woefully underphotographed. (Updated to beg Meg to please PLEASE start a blog so we can have a week by week update of her baby boy's hair because it's magical:)

Fikes!

Blythe and Kirby Leg and dinner at their super awesome firepit, flanked by garden and blossoming tree. No matter what you say, Blythe, your backyard is so awesome. The old high chair camped out by the chicken coop only adds to the charm.

So marks the end of the first leg of travel. The second half of the trip involved more swimsuits, but unfortunately not this one because Lucy June outgrew it before we'd even left St. Louis.

That will have to do for today because it's 2pm and I am only one cup of coffee, three pieces of bacon, and zero unpacked bags into my day. Also. Jake just spilled his smoothie and said "Oh shet!!" and is now slurping it off the table...so I need to go...you know...mother or something.

But it's good to be back. I've missed this little corner of the internet.