Tuesday 7/8 in California

Today we visited my high-school friend Sierra and her four daughters for lunch at her home. It was a delightful break from constant vigilance for me! First of all, the house in which they are temporarily living is only 900 square feet and is still mostly babyproofed, even though their youngest daughter is three years old, so I could let John have free run of the house without having to shadow him and constantly intervene. Second, I got a glimpse of the future of having multiple kids. John had so much fun playing with the girls and is even too young to know when he was being bossed around. I didn't have to provide any entertainment or interaction! Every so often, John would come to me for a snack, but that was it. For three glorious hours, I got to sit almost the entire time and talk to an adult. Except for when John has been unconscious from sleep, it was the most relaxing time I've had on this entire trip.

Sierra's family just adopted a house bunny the day before, so the girls were eager to show off their mini-Rex named Brownie to John. I was delighted to see the house bunny, as I had one (during my adult years!) named Gertie. My son was thrilled and kept pointing with a guttural grunt. Mostly we had to keep putting the bunny back in its cage because John is just too young to know how to be gentle, especially with a species known to drop dead from fear.


Photo of us (all but one of Sierra's four girls):