April Shower

Cora's future mother-in-law (Julie), who is an angel, hosted a bridal shower for Cora in April. May and I drove there for it, and it was so great. Everyone was there. The decorations were beautiful, the food was delicious, the games were fun.

There was a "how well do you know Cora?" game, and I was DETERMINED to win it, to prove to Cora's cousins that I actually know her better than they do, even though they think they know her better. Ha! As if! Well, I pulled off a win in the end, but guess who knew her even better than me? Andrew! He wasn't there, but Julie had recorded his answers for the game and played it for us. He really showed me up, and I didn't even feel bad.

By the way, I am SO thankful for Julie and Dan (Andrew's parents) for everything they did do help with this wedding. They were right there in Utah, so it was easier for them to help, but they also had ALL the resources/contacts that just made everything extra special. Cora is as lucky to get them as we are to get Andrew.

My Sweet Baby Boy

Alex turned the ripe old age of 16 in April. So weird. My youngest kid is sixteen. He had a party with his friends, and he got himself a special birthday crown, which he wore with pride.

A few days later he busted open his chin and got stitches.

This is my Alex. He's got a great sense of humor. He loves to goof around. He loves to dance. He's also a risk taker. He's constantly trying to climb or jump over things. He's broken more glasses than I can count. It's a good thing he wasn't the older brother, because NONE of his clothes or shoes would have survived to become hand-me-downs. He's rough. He's soft. He's all the good things. Happy Birthday Alex, we love you!

Home Again, Home Again, Jiggity Jig

We had an EPIC spring break in 2023. It had been 9 years since we had lived in Monterey, and we all couldn't wait to go back. This time Andrew got to come along too, because, ya know, he's Cora's +1 now. The Monterey Bay area has always been expensive, but I must say, it was a lot more expensive than we remembered. Prices are UP! But we didn't let the massive debt we were incurring distract us from our fun (Guys, I'm just kidding. We did not incur massive debt from this trip. In fact, we were pretty good with our budget. Calm down.). We revisited some of our favorite places to eat, including Baldemiro's for some good Mexican, Fisherman's Wharf for some delicious clam chowder in sourdough bread bowls (sadly, the different restaurants on the Wharf don't give out free samples any more, because Covid ruined everything), Compagno's for the best sandwiches anywhere (a 1/2 sandwich is still the size of your head, I swear), and Phil's Fish Market for great seafood (although they've moved locations, and it's just not the same).

We also visited some of our old favorite stomping grounds. We went to Asilomar Beach at low tide to look at the tide pools.

We went to Fisherman's Wharf, which is not only good for clam chowder, but also for souveniers, treats, and just enjoying the views of the bay. (Unfortunately they don't have the platform for the seals any more, so we could only see/hear them from a distance. So sad)

We went to Lover's Point, and some people enjoyed getting their feet wet.

We did 7 mile drive out to Pebble Beach, drove to Carmel-By-The-Sea, and stopped at Del Monte Beach. (We were trying so hard to find our old sea glass cache at Monterey Beach, but they've changed some of the access points to that beach and we couldn't find our old favorite spot. So sad).

We went to Cannery Row, in all of it's glory, and enjoyed Ghiradelli's and a bunch of the cutest little shops you've ever seen. Oh man, if I were only rich. I'd buy stuff, ya know? We love it so much, we went during the day, and then we went back at night.

And, of course, you can't visit Monterey without a trip to the Aquarium! It's expensive, but so worth it. FYI, there will be jellyfish in heaven.

One of the last things we did while we were there was to drive out to Fort Ord to see our old houses. The 2nd one was there, with a fresh coat of paint (I'm pretty sure this is where they go the saying, "lipstick on a pig"). But our first house was long gone, replaced by a nice neighborhood of brand new houses. In fact the road/cul-de-sac we lived on isn't even there anymore. Leyte Road is now Anaconda Road, and it just keeps going. It was so strange to the see the changes there, but we had pretty much expected it. It was such a great trip. We all agreed that we would live there if we could afford it. I loved having Andrew with us, and watching him fall in love with it as much as we did. I hope it will not be our last trip there.