I am so overdue on updating the blog. I've been swamped with preschool and elementary school galas, so I'm just gonna throw up a bunch of pictures. Many of these are taken by my beloved sister-in-law, Tiffany, or my beloved niece, Kendall.
One early morning in March, a couple days after Oscar and I returned from Kaeti and George's wedding, we took off for Cabo.
That is five suitcases and five backpacks.
We've been going to Cabo for over ten years. Evan's folks bought
a couple timeshares there and have been extremely generous in subsidizing our vacations there. We took a couple years off due to pregnancies and moving issues. But our yearly trips to Cabo have always been a touchpoint for our Metcalf-Healy family -- a week where we loll around the pool or the beach and reconnect every night for dinner. It has always been the easiest and most lovely vacation. I gossip and swap magazines and novels back and forth with my mother-in-law and sister-in-law. My step-father-in-law organizes a million group gatherings and lords over the kids and the beach chairs. (He spent a lovely afternoon on the beach with Arlo this year. We found them sprawled out on a beach chair under an umbrella -- Jim was checking the news on his phone while Arlo snoozed away on his lap, clutching a giant rock to his chest. We never figured out what was up with that rock.) Evan and his brother spend evenings on the beach with a couple of beers, and our kids and their cousins get to reconnect and have fun with each other.
At one of the sister-resorts: Evan and the kids at the infinity pool.
Sulkly almost-teenage boy practicing his scowl.
Family picture night! I haven't organized these pictures since I want to get this post up and out. But this is by far my favorite. My oldest and my youngest. Oscar looks so old here.
Arlo and The Goose prepping for Pirate Camp. It's a half-day camp offered by our resort where the kids suit up and search for treasure. Oscar spent years watching Hayden go off to camp and was thrilled two years ago when he could attend. This year, all three of our kids were old enough for the fables Pirate Camp and even sweet Hayden, who grew out of such childish things years ago, insisted on attending with his younger cousins. THAT is why we go to Cabo in lieu of any other vacation-- to strengthen the relationships between the cousins. And for us to get tipsy with Bart and Tiff and Loretta and Jim and swap photos and munch on pistachios.
Here you will find two pictures of my Goose and her cousin Kendall.
They break my heart, they are so beautiful.
Check out Kendall clutching Froggy Friend.
Oscar would rather be reading.
Arlo wants to do a dive.
He's thoughtful after the dive.
He reminded me of many other times in Cabo.
Like this one. Be still my aging, breaking heart.
Cousins.
Grandparents and grandchildren.
FAMILY!
The formerly-New-Jersey-and-now-California Metcalf family.
And now we are older and wiser and pudgier and happy and have a million kids.
Jim and Kathy, Seattle friends who add a bit of I'm Not Related To You spice to our family trips.
A smootch from my sweetie.
I bought that vintage Hawaiian shirt for Evan around 1997, years after
we met and became co-workers and friends. It was before we were dating. His high-school friends Ned
and Jed were having a Luau party in their railroad apartment in NYC and
he didn't have anything appropriate to wear. I went to Cheap Jacks on
Broadway and 13th and found this awesome vintage hulu shirt with metal
buttons and an overdyed hulu girl pattern. My boyfriend at the time was not pleased.
Evan smiles just like Arlo.
Arlo and The Goose on the beach. Photos by Kendall.
Scarf night! Evan is a good sport.
Photos by Arlo.
Painting pottery.
Upset that I am taking pictures when she is CLEARLY not done yet.
At the swim-up bar at the
sister resort on the Pacific side on the peninsula.
At one of our favorite outdoor restaurants, with the always-present mariachi.
Due to our different spring breaks, the Texas Metcalfs left a couple days after we arrived. But that meant we got Gretta and Papa Jim all to ourselves.
I just want to take this picture over and over, as The Goose gets taller and taller. You can see how much they dig each other here.
Mi Casa is overpriced and has subpar service. But Evan and I love it.
It's basically what I want our Southern California backyard to look like.
Check out the lovely tortilla lady's smile. The Goose and I watched her for about ten minutes making dough and starting to knead and then form tortillas. She gave The Goose of ball of masa to munch on.
Me and my sweetie, in the 2013 version of the photo we've taken almost every year for the past decade.
Maaaaahm. My eyes are down HERE.
More backyard inspiration.
And then there were balloon animals.
The next night we discovered a new place -- complete with many salsas in a dish I want for family taco night.
Our last night there, we had a beach dinner -- complete with a bar with swings.
Arlo was exhausted this night, and lasted about five minutes. I grappled him down and took him back to our rooms. He pitched a fit and then conked out about seven minutes later.
Evan returned with the other kids and we put everyone to bed. We spent the rest of the evening packing and shuttling back and forth between our rooms and Loretta and Jim's room, trading pictures on our flash drives and gossip and leftover food between our fridges.
The next day we went for a family breakfast and a quick dip and made our way back home.
