Last weekend we had a belated birthday celebration for my Dad, since he was in Chicago for his birthday and then we were in Southern California.
We had a nice dinner, and of course gave him a personalized calendar (his birthday present of choice), and this year also gave his a watercolor painting of his California home--which he has hung next to paintings of his Chicago homes that were made years ago.
It is so nice that he is so close and we can celebrate like this! Cheers to his "new" home!
This past week we have been on Spring Break. We headed to southern California, to visit Jason's parent's new place in La Quinta, near Palm Springs, and Jason's brother Jeremy who has been living in LA for about a year.
Gary and Eileen are settling into their new place--it is brand new, so very exciting--though it also has been a lot of work for them! They have done a lot in the past few months, though, quite impressive. We all enjoyed a passover seder together, which was nice.
On Sunday, we took a short hike in La Quinta and checked out the town. It got very hot--almost 100(!) so we couldn't stay out too long.
On Monday the kids and I headed to Joshua Tree, while Jason worked and Gary and Eileen did house stuff. I haven't been to Joshua Tree in a long time, but it was really beautiful, especially the northwestern park of the park. We headed there very early before it got too hot--and did some short hikes and boulder scrambling before having lunch in town and heading back.
On Tuesday, we headed to LA, where we dropped off Ethan with his uncle, and then met our medical school friends Andreas and Jenny for dinner in Pasadena.
Wednesday was a Jeremy day--we visited the Getty museum, he toured us around his neighborhood, and saw the first home he sold! Unfortunately, that afternoon, I came down with food poisoning, so I hung out in the hotel, while everyone else had dinner.
Thursday was our Universal Studios day--we had told Alaina that if she read at least 4 of the Harry Potter books but spring break, we would bring her to Universal Studios (Grandpa had gotten her the set form Christmas). She lived up--and then some, being in the middle of the 7th and last book by our visit--a lot of reading in 3.5 months!
The kids really loved universal--I was still feeling under the weather, so I didn't enjoy it as much, but I am glad they had a nice time.
Friday we headed home! So a whirlwind tour, but a nice break from the routine. And, due to all the rain we have had this winter in California, the wildflowers on the drive were amazing--check out this shot I took form the car--all the orange dots are fields of poppies!
This week, Ethan got his braces off!
He is pretty happy with the result, and the fact that he can eat popcorn and sticky candy. In fact the dentist gave him a bag of stick candy on the way out of the office!
He has a retainer, which is very different from the kind I use to have--it is basically a clear plastic mold that goes over his teeth, like an Invisalign, and he only has to wear it at night.
Not surprisingly, the first night when I went to bed I went to check if he was wearing it, and of course, it was not on! 😬
He is definitely becoming a teenager.
Last weekend, we were finally able to make it up to the cabin. We were astounded by the amount of snow, which covers most of the second story windows! There is seriously nowhere else to put it.
Thankfully, we have been keeping up with deck and driveway shoveling. Those who have not are in serious trouble. We took a walk around the neighborhood and saw homes that literally had decks falling off, or were so buried that they were accessible only by ladder--one was only accessible by a long rope!
Two MORE feet fell this week after we left. It may not all melt before next winter!
