Quick visit home

We had a whirlwind 72 hours home in California. We got home Wednesday morning around 8am, Bill was off to the dentist at 9am while I took the kids to the ortho in Sonoma at 10am and the dentist in Napa at 11am. Quick stop at Stanley Lane (our tradition) and at the storage unit to pick up some stuff on the way home. Dropped kids in Novato to work on Halloween costumes with mom while I went to my PT appointment at Kaiser. It was a crazy day! We got home around 5pm and started to unpack from the first leg of our travels. And, of course, get some Clyde love.

Halloween morning was spent catching up on schoolwork and checking in with M & Z’s IST teacher, Tracey. We headed to Sonoma for Halloween evening festivities as this was a promise we made to the kids when we sold our house. Trick-or-treating with their Sonoma friends was a must for them. It was total chaos and we definitely overcommitted, but seeing their huge smiles made it all worth it. Friday, Melina had 3 appointments in Sonoma and we all had planned on staying up there for the day, returning to Novato at 7pm to begin to pack for the next leg of the trip. I have NO IDEA what we were thinking! It occurred to me somewhere along the way Thursday that there was no way we were prepared. Fortunately, a good friend was headed to Marin in the morning and I hitched a ride back to mom and dad’s with her - thank you Kathleen! It took ALL day with the help of my mom to organize all our stuff and pack for this leg of the trip. The medication alone needed hours of prep time to organize! Fortunately, it all got done and we were able to have dinner with my parents, brother, sister-in-law, niece and nephew before heading to bed for our 5:30am wake up.

(My mom took a picture of the packing “in progress” but it is so disastrous there is no way I am posting it!)

Stanley Lane Pumpkin Patch, Napa CA 2019

Zach, Halloween 2019

Mel and her friends, Halloween 2019