Back home, safe and sound

We had a lovely weekend away, with lots of fun and visiting. It is still kind of fall-like in MA, so it was a far cry from the winter wonderland that we left back home. We got 4 inches of snow last week on Friday, if you can believe that. Hello winter, my old friend. When one of the local radio stations started playing 24-7 Xmas music, it felt way too early for that. But then the snow came and now it feels just right. It is really Thanksgiving (ALREADY?) this week?

So, we had a nice visit walking around my alma mater with Jean, and her friends Jeanna and Jess from Boston and their 1 y.o son, Oscar. He is so cute!

Our hotel was nice and I was psyched to have spent so little on it, since I booked it through Hot*wire. We took the kids swimming in the pool for the first time and they loved it...until they were cold and their lips turned blue. Pics to be posted on the blog soon. This hotel was not a super fancy one, but it was one of the ones that is now providing higher end beds, bed linens, and pillows. I love this trend! The mattresses were super comfy, the duvet was a down alternative comforter that was a perfect weight, and the pillows were lofty and yet also a perfect squishiness. There were two types of pillows (and a little sign told us so): down and down alternative. Thank you very much, Hot*wire deal of a hotel. I am rarely let down with bookings through Hot*wire.

Jude and Jen from "judecorp" called us on Saturday night and asked if I was serious about an email I sent out before we left home, inviting people to come swimming with us. But, of course. Their little punk (and I only use that endearing term because they do!), Gus was having a fussy day and they thought maybe the pool would help. So, they came over and we all went swimming. So much fun and it was great to meet the three of them in person! We were the only ones in the pool, which was cool. After said swimming, Gus and our two promptly fell asleep (after proper warming, of course) and we all contemplated ordering in sushi. By the time we got ourselves together enough to order, Gus was waking up, so Jude and Jen decided to head home rather than tempt fate too much. Penny and I had sushi in the room, and it was yummy. Oh Berkeley, with your 10,0000000 sushi restaurants how we miss you so. The sleeping kids proved to be short lived, with our two, mostly Jordan, having a not so great night's sleep. We made it through though. Jude and Jen, however, reported on Sunday that Gus had a great night's sleep after swimming. Glad we could help!

Sunday brought a lovely brunch with the "judecorp" gals, E & A from "two moms," and my cousin Jess, her husband Steve, and their daughter Anna. We had such a fun time and I was sad when it was over that we did not live closer so that we could all get together on a more regular basis. E & A were lovely and we are excited to have them as new members of a weird extended family, made through donor sperm! It was neat to see them interacting with our kids, holding them and cooing at them, knowing that E is carrying the 1/2 sib of our duo. WOW! We can't wait to meet the wee "moon," expected in January. And, it was great to see my cousin, Jess, again, after not seeing each other for so many years. Great, too, to meet Steve and Anna. Now that we are a mere 2.5 hours away, we should stay in better touch.

Before heading home, we stopped at Tar*get. In CA, this was not such an exciting outing. But now, we live in a state where there are NO TAR*GETS, if you can freakin' believe that! We also wanted to hit Trader*Joes, but time did not permit it. Oh well. Better luck next visit.

On the drive home, Jordan slept for 2 of the 2.5 hours and Taylor slept for 2 hrs 15 minutes. We were so blessed. But the last 15 minutes was pure hell with much screaming, which I believe could be translated to, "We're starving over here and our giant thighs and rolls on our knees are dwindling so much, that if we don't get some bottles right now, we might just cease to exist!"