Lancaster La La

How lucky are we? Very. This past weekend the Ribclan family ventured down to southern WI for a now-annual reunion with dear college friends (many of whom were Resident Assistants with ribB). Folks fly into the state from LA and CA, and those of us "locals" make the scenic 4.5 hr drive to our friend's parent's house to reconnect for the weekend. I can't even begin to gush my gratitude for friends like the ones we have in this group. They are each amazing and interesting, and I always leave the weekends inspired, relaxed and just happy. As I get older, I find it's quite rare to have friends that you've known since your wild youth. Sometimes living through life's lessons can make your ability to maintain friends hard--so these friendships are all the more a blessing. Each night we managed to stay up until at least 1am laughing, crying and playing games with silly names like "Whonuit". I love that I still learn new things about each of these special people when we're together. I also love that when my children throw frustrating tantrums, they don't judge but rather support me/us with a knowing smile and sentiment (like, "it'll be my kids next!"). I love that we each have different, yet similar, backgrounds that allow us to mesh while providing unique insights for the many fun and complex conversations that we're known to have. Many thanks to Becky's parents for kindly opening their house up to this fun-loving group of people, patiently enduring our late-night ruckuses. Their house is so beautiful, so accommodating it's really a retreat for us. And those acres of groomed gardens and trails...amazing. To all these friends, I admire each of you deeply and am grateful to know you. We can't wait to see you again!

During our drive home, we stopped at ribB's parents home to visit and allow the kids some running time. 4.5 hrs in a car is a long time for an adult, let alone highly energetic children. We had a nice time unwinding and playing with our nieces/nephew who were at their house until their mom (Christina) joined us later. ribB's parents were very gracious to be so flexible with our schedule, it was an enjoyable time.

Our week has been a good one. little B's caregiver is off on vacation this week, so ribB and I have been taking time off to play with him. Grandma Honey also came on Wednesday for most of the day, which was great. I think little B has been loving all the one-to-one time with each of us, and has been in such great spirits. He has been very enthusiastic about clocks (even to the point of running every 15 minutes to Grandma & Grandpa's grandfather clock to hear it chime when we were at their house). Listening to him yell, "GOCK!!!", for every clock he sees is pretty funny.

Kdee has been going through a major growth spurt, complete with lots of sleeping, eating and meltdowns--the classic 3 "warning" signs of a growth spurt. We have had some fun conversations lately, including the one about her and a friend deciding they are going to start doing chores in order to save money for a trip to Disneyworld...or at least a playdate. Supposedly, the chores are happening now on Saturdays...but I'm not holding my breath!

Murphy's Law has struck our vehicles=both breakdown or require major repairs at the same time. The worse of the two is ribB's Jeep which wouldn't even start on Monday. We've since found out that the problem is the computer...eek. We'll see what happens now. My car got a flat tire during the fun weekend, which was easily plugged, but is also ready for new CV joints. Hmm. What next?

The food column I'm writing officially made it's debut on Friday, much to Chef Jim's delight. His 13 year old daughter skeptically asked him if he wrote it and told him, "Dad, you're a pretty good cook, but not this good of a writer.". Ah, kids. We also did some great press release mailings that got a lot of buzz almost immediately, and within a day Chef Jim was scheduled for a radio and TV appearance (with other interviews coming the day after that). Needless to say, my co-worker and I are so excited that he's getting the attention he well deserves, and that our hard work is paying off. (If you're in the mood for garlic, you should head over to the Bayport Cookery...the grand tasting menu consists of 9 courses that incorporate garlic, right down to the ice cream with the dessert. See the menu at: www.bayportcookery.com.)

As I always say, it's almost the weekend...such a perfect time to enjoy all of the summer fun!

Pictures:
1) College friends & families (t-shirts courtesy of Mike/Kelly--thanks guys!)
2) College friends acting normal (please disregard my typical "goofy" face...yikes!)
3) Better Homes & Gardens, our retreat spot thanks to Becky's parents