Family getaway

We visited Tom's sister Patrice in Ventura over the long weekend, and definitely picked the right weekend to be out of town...Ventura-ites were complaining about the 84 degree weather there, but it was well over 100 degrees here. We came home Sunday around noon to a house that was 84 degrees inside because we had turned the AC off...we probably should have had the thermostat set at 80 degrees, because from the time we got home until we went to bed, the AC was only able to cool the house down to 79 degrees. Today is hot again, but not as bad as the past few days.

Anyway, we had a WONDERFUL time hanging out with family. Patrice and the kids and I went to the the beach on Saturday and saw Patrick and Tom off in their sailboat for a 3-hour, no 4-hour tour of the California coast. Lukas drove Patrice's French Bulldog, Lilly, crazy the whole weekend...I'm sure she was happy to see us go because then she could be the "little kid" of the house again.

Natalie practiced crawling everywhere...on the beach, after Lilly, after the cats...and pulling up on furniture she hadn't experienced before. Lukas bugged his cousin Ryan to play Ryan's guitar and electric piano (we brought Lukas' guitar along so it wouldn't be so bad for him). Lukas also made progress on the tricycle pedaling front...our driveway is sloped just enough to make learning a challenge, so I'm hopeful that he learned enough riding his trike on the flat back porch so he'll be able to ride on our driveway now.

Tom and I really enjoyed nice long chats with Patrice and Patrick, and Tom's other sister Chris and her husband Jim, when they visited on Sunday...it was easier to have longer conversations over the weekend and also because we normally see them on occasions when there are 20 OTHER family members there too.

Another reason we had a wonderful time is that we HAD to relax...we weren't at home to work on all the home projects we have hanging over our head, so there was nothing we could do BUT relax. But the best reason we had fun was such terrific hosts. Thanks, Patrice and Patrick, for a wonderful weekend.