Our trip was originally intended to last only two weeks. But it stretched into four. There were plenty of challenging things about this but plenty of blessings too. The fact that our trip to Southern California over-lapped with Lori's by a day and a half meant we could finally meet each other! Yay! After praying for her family for so long and getting to know each other through blog-land, it was super sweet to put a voice to a face and a name and get to bond on a common alma mater. So we found a McDonalds halfway in between her and I and let our kids eat french fries and smoothies and play in the play-structure.
It was fabulous. We gabbed and snacked and marveled at each other's cute kids. And gabbed and got to know each other more.
She's really truly fabulous!
And when we were almost done and our nap-deprived toddlers had had enough, we decided we ought to get some pictures before we part ways...
So we tried. I have no idea who this cute Asian little boy is. Neither did Lori. But that was no deterrent for him. He plopped right down in the middle of the picture and "helped" keep Matthew facing forward. Ahem. Or something. He even smiled for the camera and said "cheese!"
When Matthew decided he was having none of it, he read to Danilo and made sure he kept his hands to himself.
I just couldn't keep from laughing! There we were, two white as white moms from Southern California with a Latino baby, a black baby, and a white little boy (Garrett is Lori's oldest). So why not add a little Asian boy to the rainbow? Or the melting pot. Or the tossed salad. Or whatever. It was fabulous! I love that kids care nothing and notice nothing about cultural and racial differences... But that's an entirely different post and I'd better get off this rabbit trail and back on course.
Anyhow, here we are attempting a smiling picture with Garrett and our two toddlers who had obviously hit the proverbial wall and were ready to go. Yes, our smiles are a little forced. Yes, the picture is blurry because we were only half-way still for a fraction of a millisecond in order for Lori's mom to snap the picture. They really were both ecstatically happy every moment we were there, except when we tried to pick them up for a picture.
See... here's proof.
It's truly miraculous that I managed to get this picture at all because Matthew was going about 90 miles an hour in circles around the play-structure. It was the cutest thing ever.
Now in this picture, we actually were smiling... Er, laughing hysterically at the mayhem that was our toddlers and the spontaneous combustion that occurred as we attempted another picture. Yep. This one's blurry too.
My cheeks were sore from laughing so hard by the time we said farewell. Thanks again, Lori! Your family is beautiful!!
