Goldilocks (And Co.) Visit The Three Bears

Our trip to visit Michelle and Mark and Elizabeth (the much loved "Lizzie Bear") was so wonderful. 

Upon arrival, we drove to Secret Bunny Beach (pretty sure that's the official name)... 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

...where the pit of Lucy's dreams was dug.

 

 

And where, going and coming,

 

 

 

Spencer ate a cumulative garden full of edible flowers ("Mmmm, so juicy and lemony!" he'd say every few minutes.  Between mouth-fulls.)

 

 

We spent lots of happy time at "home" (Spud said to me a few days ago, "Remember when we lived with Mark and Michelle?")...

 

*early birthday present for Lizzie, which Lucy and Spencer happily "helped" to open*

 

*Conference entertainment*

*Spud played his first game of Angry Birds*

 

 

*Lucy spent most spare moments balancing on a basketball*

 



We spent lots of happy time at two beautiful parks, each just a stone's throw away from the Campbell's apartment. 

 





     

 

 

 

 

*Lizzie's love of dogs, witnessed first hand*

 

 

 

*Lucy's secret hideout*

 

 

 

*Spencer, by Mark's side at every possible moment*

 

* working hard to impress his little girlfriend*

 

 

*tree climbing, this photo being a...mild representation*

*and a plethora of how-darling-can-Michelle-and-Lizzie-be? moments*

 

We spent one adventurous day in San Fransisco

 

 

 

  

 



 

Touring the science museum:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

*including the earthquake simulation Spencer insisted we experience*

(after the shaking, and some brief education about damage caused by big earthquakes, Lucy said, "Good thing we don't live in San Fransisco!"  Michelle and I exchanged a knowing little chuckle over the top of her head.  About a week after we got home there was, indeed, a small earthquake in our next door neighbor city...which I felt momentarily jar the house in the middle of the night!)

 

 

Picnicking outside the museum in Golden Gate Park:

 

 

 

 

We spent one evening walking around a gorgeous little community garden:

 

 

 

    

 

And the evening before coming home we attended a lovely little birthday party.

 

 

Where we met some fun new friends (who helped us build beds out of dry grass.  Classic Lucy project.)

 

 

How beautiful it all was!

 

 

You can surely imagine that during, in between, before, and after all of these events and photo ops, there was much happy, meaningful, memorable, casual, serious, good conversation.  Which was the real value of the trip for me. 

 

On our drive to San Fransisco, Spencer slept in the back seat while Michelle and I chatted and chatted.  During a break in our conversation, Lucy finally chimed in,  "Mom?"  "Yes?" I asked.  "When you were little, did your mom used to talk and talk and talk?"  I laughed.  "Yes, dear."  "When I'm a mom,"  she followed up with a little exasperation in her voice, "I'm not going to talk so much." 

 

Smile. 

Someday, I think, she'll know the value of all that talking =). 

And someday, I pray, she'll have a friend or two as dear to her as mine are to me.

 

 

Lucy was, in spite of all the grown up conversation, more than a little sad to leave.  Her initial parting tears subsided as we navigated our way through the airport and she was soon cheerfully looking forward to our flight home.  Until I saw a dog across the corridor and pointed it out.  Tears immediately filled her little eyes.  "Lizzie would have loved that dog,"  she said, all the pain resurfacing in her little heart. 

 

We do miss that little Lizzie bear!!

 

 

And her mamma and papa too!!

THANKS, FRIENDS!!!!!

*Please note that all the especially high quality photos above were taken by Michelle =)  And can you believe that between the two of us snapping away, we still ended up with unpictured events?  Like the cute diner we ate at one night?  And my first ever Trader Joe's tour???  And..and...and =)