Homeward Bound

DC was mostly a blur.  We stayed with friends from B School.  They have a new baby and I have to say Im a bit jealous.  I think in the 5 days we were there, she cried once.  She was very low key and would even lie in her basket while awake without being held.  Amazing!!

We also spent a lot of time with Chris' folks, brothers and their kids.  I do care a lot about Chris' family but they have a different philosophy than me on practically everything so it can be difficult for all of us at times.  This visit was esspecially challenging as Chris' brothers showed off quite a bit about how much they spoil their kids for Christmas while blowing off my concerns about the rising cost and importance of college which they are not saving for.  This year was fine because she is too young to know whats going on, but Im not sure how I am going to manage two years from now to explain to Lilah why we did not buy her a gazzillion Hannukah/Christmas gifts and her cousins get a lot of gifts.  They are also pro kids-watching-TV which, again, is not the end of the world this year but will be more difficult to manage as Lilah gets older. 

Still, it was quite nice to spend time with them and for Lilah to play with her cousins who all seem to adore her.  

Lilah also had her first 1st birthday party which was fun for everyone!

 

The flight home was very easy thanks to United finally doing a good thing and moving the person sitting next to us so we could set up her car seat.  She slept for the first hour and a half or so and only had a couple crying fits during the 6 hour flight.  Then, of course, United was back to their usual antics and lost our largest piece of luggage.  Luckily they had it back within 24 hours. 

It is great to be home. 

We were definitely gone long enough for it to require some adjustment coming back, from little things like learning that some of our favorite stores and restaurants going out of business while we were gone, to more structural things like getting back into our routine of classes, play dates, going to the Y, etc. 

Today is the first day we have been doing anything normal as the days right after our return were dedicated to preparing for and hosting Lilah's 2nd first birthday party celebration. 

 

 

I decided to cook a whole bunch of stuff from scratch and amazingly it all came off with out a hitch. 

Lilah seemed to have fun and it was wonderful to connect with our Bay Area "family" including actual family members and friends who might as well be. 

The weather was phenomenally beautiful and the icing on the cake of why Im so happy to live where I do.

Now that we are home and not adventuring, I will most likely only write when I have something to say.  Its been fun doing this blog on our trip.  I'm so glad I took the time to do it so that when Lilah asks about the trip I will have something to show her. 

  Butt Up Sleeping