We don’t even HAVE fall break any more as empty nesters, for crying out loud. But Lucy happened to. So this is what happened.
This Newport trip turned into a can of worms speedy quick.
But a good can of worms.
You see, it was supposed to just be me and Dave having some quality time with Elle and Carson who we haven’t seen in forever. They were staying at place there for their first week of their three-month-rotation in Southern California, and we were pretty excited to have some one-on-one time with them.
But then we figured out that Lucy had one day of USU fall break at the same time and she was pretty anxious to see her beloved Elle and Casron. Plus we needed to get our eyes on that girl. We’ve been so worried about how lonely she is up at USU.
And then Grace happened to have that whole weekend off (crazy business since she works so much).
So we finagled a way to get those girls over to meet us (much to Claire and Max & Abby’s chagrin because they would have loved to come too).
That can of worms worked out pretty great.
Time with Elle and Carson
Dave and I got a few days with just Elle and Carson first.
We talk-talk-talked with just me, Dave and Elle at the beach one afternoon, Elle and I went to hot yoga together (before the others arrived).
A few of their friends were in town too…trying to figure out if they’d be moving there.
I LOVE that these two have created a group of such incredible friends in Palo Alto, and that they all take such good care of each other. Made me teary when they got back from Carson’s dad’s funeral hearing the things those friends did to lift and love.
Their baby is the one you’ll see in some of these pictures.
Elle and I got a LOT of work done together too.
Grace & Lucy Arrived
Then Grace and Lu arrived and it was just so good to be together.
We rode bikes, did some good paddleboarding with Lucy, made her favorite home-made meal:
And of COURSE, played lots of games.
A Tik-Tok dance…I’ll have to post that on Instagram.
I love her.
Knott’s Berry Farm
We even did a splurge to Knott’s Berry Farm at the last minute for one morning while Lu slept (she was NOT going to be convinced to go to that place!).
Grace, Elle and I tried on each other’s clothes and did a little shopping, golden hour Duffy rides a couple of the nights, one of them we happened to run into Elle and a baby shower on a fellow Duffy ride.
We missed these guys, and Claire! But lucky we had FaceTime.
If you can tell by these pictures, this last night of games was cracking us all up, laughing to almost tears, while Lucy tried to teach us a new game from college.
Oh I love that game girl of mine.
And that time was so very precious to be together.
It was such a good trip, maybe that’s why my heart is so heavy as Grace, Lu and I fly away. I guess I can just never quite get enough. How can I ever convey all the love in my heart? How should this empty nesting look for us? How can we be better and do better? What is the best path for progression with our kids as well as with each other and ourselves?
Lots of questions for life, with a little snippet of togetherness wrapped up in my heart.