Three of my best friends live in the San Francisco area. We all grew up in Dallas and have known each other since the age of 4. We all grew up in families of all girls. Now, we all have boys! My girlfriend, Stefani Hood, has three boys - Tripp, age 5 1/2, Reid, age 4/12 and Jack, age 3. They just moved out there not long ago so we had spent time with them before. However, I hadn't met my girlfriend Laura Presnell's son Tucker, age 8 months and Kristy Kohli's son Ryan, age 16 months before my trip to California.
My mom, Brooks and I took a 4-day trip to the San Francisco area to visit all my friends and get the boys together for the first time. Let me tell you, it was a hoot! This was Brooks' second time on a plane but the first time he was 6 months and non-mobile. The flight was 3 1/2 hours, which is a long time for an adult much less a kid; however, he did GREAT! He slept for an hour, we brought lots of snacks, we read a couple of books, watched a Baby Einstein and walked up and down the isles multiple times. He played with the nice man sitting next to me across the isle and others on the plane who thought he was pretty cute :-)
We arrived in San Francisco on Thursday at 4:30PM (PST) / 6:30 (CST) - this is when Brooks goes to bed at home - rented a car, took 30 minutes to put in the freakin' car seat (not bitter can you tell) and drove into Oakland to stay with Laura, Bart and Tucker Presnell. Laura's mom, Jeanne (Gigi as known by Tucker and now Brooks) came up for the reunion as well. We finally arrived at the Presnell household around 6:30PM (PST) / 8:30PM (CST). I thought for sure Brooks would be cranky and exhausted since he was so off schedule but he was awesome! He stayed up until 8PM (PST) playing with Tucker and getting to know everyone. We immediately gave hugs all the way around, introduced the kiddos and took them upstairs to play on the bed. Tucker is not mobile yet but a pro at sitting up. Brooks on the other-hand, is a crazy child who is everywhere at all times! Tucker sat on the bed smiling while Brooks crawled laps like a crazy person up and down the bed. It was quite amusing to say the least.
The first morning Brooks was up at 5AM (which is 7AM his body time and the time he always gets up) so we played in the guest room for a couple of hours until the rest of the house got up. We took the boys for a walk every morning for coffee and fresh cool air. Brooks acclimated well to the time change and started sleeping in until l6:30AM and both boys ended up napping every morning around 9AM. The grandmas would arrive at the house by 10AM, just in time for happy babies to wake up from their naps.
We took the boys to the park on Friday morning for some swinging, sliding and playing in the dirt and leaves. The park is close to Laura's house so we walked over and enjoyed the amazing weather we had. It was nice and cool - great jeans and long sleeve weather!!! We played on the swings for a while - we even put Tucker and Brooks in the same swing and they were laughing and talking up a storm. We took both of them down the slide and Brooks liked it so much that he would turn around and climb back up the slide on his own (well, he would try but mommy and Gigi helped). He went down on his own, with us holding just his hands, a few times too. We then took the boys to play in the leaves and dirt down by the creek. I know how boys like to get dirty and they enjoyed it.
Friday night we had a girl's night out while Gigi and Nana watched the boys. Laura and I met Kristy for dinner by the Stanford University campus. We had a fantastic Vietnamese dinner and wonderful conversation. It was a relaxing night for us mommies! While we were having a fun dinner, the grandmas were at home enjoying the funny antics of the boys. We were told that while Tucker was lying on his back, Brooks crawled on top of him, gave him a kiss on his face and laid his head on his chest - SO FREAKIN' CUTE!!! They were laughing so hard they got no pictures. Then they were drinking their bottles and Tucker finished first. He was laying on his back, arched backward trying to look at Brooks drinking his bottle while holding each other's hands - instant buddies I say. I wish I could have been a fly on the wall. Needless to say, I think Gigi and Nana had a good time.
Saturday morning we made pancakes for breakfast. Brooks helped me stir the batter :-) After naps were over, we headed out to Stefani's house right outside the city. It was a really beautiful drive up to her house - very steep and very windy up into the mountains. And the view, AMAZING! And the house, INCREDIBLE! Of course I wouldn't expect anything else as the Hood's have impeccable taste. Kristy and Ryan met us out there as well so we had all the moms, six boys and two grandmas - what fun! The first thing Brooks did when we got to STefani's house was start pointing at and freaking out over the stairs. There were lots of them and he wanted to climb them - so he did - a couple of times. Stef gave us a tour of her beautiful home and we ate a delicious lunch. After that the boys ran wild and the adults sat around outside, drank wine and had nice conversation. The Hood boys were so amazing with the little ones. Tripp played with Brooks almost the entire time, showing him the deer outside, reading to him and even showing him his cool guitar. It took forever but we even got pictures of all six boys together on the couch - that was a chore but really funny. It was such a fun day with all my friends and our boys. It made me wish we all lived much closer together.
Saturday night, we put the boys down to bed and Bart cooked us a delicious dinner. We were all pretty pooped and climbed into bed by 10PM!
Sunday morning we woke up and headed out for an early breakfast. I can't remember the name of the place but it was a home cookin' little restaurant with very good breakfast food - eggs, grits, turkey sausage and biscuits that melt in your mouth. Not much healthy about it but that is why it is SO good! While the boys napped, Bart stayed at home and Laura and I took a trip to the Farmer's Market. We picked up some fresh fruit and veggies and I tasted lots of different peaches and berries. It was packed with families, kids in strollers and dogs. The weather was perfect - what a great morning. Unfortunately, we had to leave once the kiddos woke from their nap. I was sad to leave my friends and I did not look forward to another 3 1/2 hour plane ride. Especially knowing we were not getting into Dallas until 8:30PM - way past Brooks' bedtime. But, once again, he was great. He napped, snacked, walked up and down the isles and played peek-a-boo with the nice gentleman who sat behind us (the gentleman actually started the game thank goodness). He was fascinated by the lights when we flew over the city and stared out the window the last 10-15 minutes of the flight.
We had so much fun on our trip and I have looked through the pictures at least ten times. It made me realize how much I miss my friends and how much I wished we lived closer together. Laura and I plan to talk via computer camera as often as we can so the boys can see each other as well. At least this way we can feel like we are just down the street.
Thanks so much to Laura, Bart and Tucker for allowing us to invade their beautiful home for four days. We had so much fun and can't wait to see you guys again.
Love to my girls and their sweet boys!
XOXOXOXO
