Eighteen months ago today we moved to California (I didnt realise this fact until I just started typing which is a shame since the Coakley Family came over earlier today and we could have turned a pot of tea into a few beers to celebrate this anniversary = a wasted opportunity!)
Im so proud of the life we have created here and am desperate to show our families all we have achieved. So it was with huge excitement that at the end of last month my parents finally arrived!
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| Annie and Tom dressed as Buzz Lightyear waving at Mum and Dads plane that we had watch land. |
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| Mum and I enjoying lunch the day after they landed. |
We had a busy three weeks planned including visits to Sonoma, Monterrey and Las Vegas as well as trying to show Mum and Dad eighteen months worth of life in three weeks! The best laid plans, as they say, often go awry, and a few days into their time here Tom was poorly with a sickness bug. His illness lasted ten days and he was eventually hospitalised for three days due to dehydration.
Thankfully Mum and Dad were able to take care of Annie whilst I stayed with Tom, and Dan flew home early from Brazil where he had been for two weeks prior to Mum and Dads arrival. Tom recovered well and we returned home to cancelled plans but thankful to all be together again! Unfortunately Mum caught the bug and isolated herself for a few days, braving it out by mumbling something about a fast dieting experience.
During the days of sickness, we brought San Francisco into our home by watching a series of films made in the city including Mrs Doubtfire, The Rock and Bullitt. It was a bonus to stumble across some of the film locations when we eventually got to explore the city! Mum got to visit the top of the Mark Hopkins Hotel, which is the one thing she most wanted to see during her trip since it is where the Hanky Panky cocktail was invented. I made Dad's San Francisco dream come true by taking him to see Wyatt Earp's grave in Colma. My parents are truly bonkers.
The day Mum and Dad flew home I took Tom for a routine check up and his doctor found a second lump growing in his chest, which we had tested for cancer the following day at Stanford. Thankfully, as with the first lump we found in his chest last November this one is also a benign growth. We were emotionally drained by the experience, grateful, thankful, happy, exhausted and acutely aware that despite our intentions, none of us make our own plans in life!
More photographs of the 'Griswolds' trip below:
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| A fighting fit Tom and I on Independence Day |
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| Dressing in Red, White and Blue to celebrate Independence Day (This time last year we would have rolled our eyes at the cheesiness of this, but we are totally lapping it up now! Bring it on!) |
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| Mum and Dad watching the sun go down on Independence Day |
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| The cottage we rented in Sonoma |
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| The street view walking "a couple of blocks" to the Mark Hopkins hotel. |
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| Mum and Dad at The Top of the Tower. Despite her illness my Mum ordered and drank a cocktail claiming life is too short to be sensible. This is why my Mum's fighting spirit is one of the many things I love about her! |
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| Visiting the redwood trees via a steam train in Santa Cruz |
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| Building sandcastles in Half Moon Bay |
Last month also saw Tom celebrate his second birthday. Dan was away in Brazil working so we 'celebrated' before he went away with a party and cake, and I spent the day of Toms birthday at the park with friends.
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| New bike! |
And for the first time in eighteen months we have said goodbye to friends whose time in Northern California has come to an end! It has been a month of goodbyes to people who have become part of our every day lives, who we have shared laughter and tears with and who we will miss greatly. Both Hayley and George, and Julia and Martin are returning to the UK, wanting to be closer to their family and eager to start their children in a UK school system. I am so thankful that we got to meet them through this experience. We talked with both families about the reasons for them to stay, and the reasons for them to return to the UK. Even at their leaving party Julia and Martin seemed very aware (and dare I say hopeful?!) that life might bring them back here one day. It goes to show that the only plan you can make in life is one that is ready to change with whatever happens tomorrow.
Hayley and Julia, this one is for you both! We miss you already!
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| Helen, me, Hayley and Julia at Hayleys leaving party. |
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| Julia and I at Julia's leaving party. |
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