Stranded!

Our attempt to leave California was foiled by a snowstorm in Chicago. This gave us another chance to eat more and see a few people we missed on the first round. We also may have managed one last trip to the beach...because it was 75 and one really shouldn't not be at the beach when it is that warm in January. Although I was more than a little disappointed when I found out we wouldn't be heading back as scheduled (seriously, I was missing Jeff and loathed the idea of re-packing our bags), by the end of the beach day I was feeling less out of sorts. It also helped that I didn't unpack much, so re-packing was not the ordeal that the initial packing turned out to be. Below are pictures of our Chic-Fil-A date (at the new "sit-down" restaurant) with Aunt Emily, Aunt Annie, Molly, and my parents, and our time at the beach. The kids both really loved the beach this trip. Tommy has finally plucked up the courage to go in the water a tiny bit by himself, and to go pretty deep with help (my mom took him and tells me he was singing "Oh the Deep Deep love of Jesus" as the water rose). Nic still prefers splashing in a bucket and playing in the sand, but he also dipped his toes in on this trip. You will note there are no pictures of me at the beach, despite my mother's attempts to photograph me in her old, stretched-out Land's End tankini (for the record this is nothing against tankinis. There are many cute tankinis in this world. This is not one of them). My dad's comment on this was that I was wearing a very old-lady like suit. It was true, I looked like a grandmother. My own mother looked way better than me because she has recently upgraded to a much cuter tankini. But nothing else fit. I will endure that humiliation on the beach for my children, but NOT ON MY BLOG.