They Left Over a Week Ago, But I'm Just Still Happy!

I should have blogged about this last week, but I was busy cramming for a midterm. No matter, because reliving it today makes me all happy inside. The bad thing about living in California, for me, is that none of my family lives in California. The good thing about living in California, is that people tend to come here for vacation. And people that live in Hawaii, who are in the process of moving to New York, have to come to California, and that's when I get lucky. My youngest sister Abby and her family have lived in Hawaii for the last three years and are now being transferred to upstate New York---how's that for a change in climate? Her husband, Orion, is a hard working Army man, and that's the name of the game. So, off they go. And very cool, they planned a cross-country road trip to visit most of the family along the way. I got to be first.

Abby has three adorable children. If you remember from years ago, I traveled out to Kentucky with baby Conor to help her when she had her second little boy, while her husband was in Afghanistan. Now she has a pudgy, delightfully joyful, squishy-soft baby girl, named Kaydence. She is 5 1/2 months old, and I was meeting her for the first time, which I found interesting, since my Lyndsay was exactly that age when Abby and the rest of my family met her for the first time. And now, 16 1/2 years later, Abby has her girl, and mine's about to fly from the nest. I love this picture of us with our brown-eyed girls.

Kaydence reminds me so much of baby Lyns, with her big brown eyes and dark eyebrows. What a little love she is!

Though Conor (as always) was initially resistant to the onslaught of people wanting to play with his toys, he warmed up to the idea, and loved having his cousins, Calix and Maddox, around. After all, Batman is much more fun if you don't have to be the good guy and the bad guys, right?

My kids loved on Kaydence. Aiden will be such a great daddy.

What I was so looking forward to was taking all the kids to the Long Beach Aquarium of the Pacific. I've wanted to go for years! I only had Aiden and Conor by that time, but it was great fun.

Conor took frequent breaks to pat Kaydence's head or hold her hand. He was enamored with her and made comments about how fun it would be to have a baby sister. But that's not happening, sadly. I did love how gentle he was with her.

The boys in front of a large tank: Calix, Maddox, Conor, Aiden.

Petting some baby sharks.

Shark Lagoon was cool! And we had the nicest weather. We spent four hours at the Aquarium, and had such a good time together.

Last I heard, Abby's now in Iowa, having spent some days in Arizona with a crowd of siblings (and our dad) and up in Colorado with another crowd (and our mom). I'm really excited for her family adventure up in New York. I know she's dreading the snow and the cold, but she'll do fine. She has grown up into a capable, wonderful mother with a beautiful marriage and family. I am so proud of her! And her visit did my heart good.