Jim was working in California all week, and I had a couple days off, so I hopped on a plane with our Tank (who now weighs as much as a Tank) and met my hubby in Santa Monica for the weekend.
Southern California had many attractions for us. Among them:
1) The pier, the park and the beach were within walking distance of the hotel - critical when you have a toddler who needs a mid-day nap.
2) We have two sets of good friends in California, both of whom have little boys close to Scott's age, which equals built in entertainment for the kiddos, plus gives us the opportunity to hang out with other adults who walk a fine line between sanity and lunacy (just like mom and dad.)
Jim and I met our friends Russ and Monya about three years ago, by pure happenstance. We were planning our honeymoon trip to Europe, and so were they. Russ and I "ran into" each other on a cruise line message board because we were both looking for other people to share the cost of tours/shore excursions, etc.
The four of us actually met for the first time in Santorini and forged one of those weird friendships that results from drinking, laughing and almost being left in a foreign country (Mykonos) together, without a passport, cash or a change of clothes.
I think, technically, the drinking and laughing came after we got back to the ship. Believe me, the prospect of getting stuck in Mykonos with no way home was pretty stressful for all of us, except Monya, who kept trying to shop.
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| The four of us in Mykonos, after we got un-lost, and realized we would not be marooned there after all. |
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| Cheers! |
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| Drinking in Turkey on our respective honeymoons. |
Anyway, post-cruise, our couple friendship continued, despite Russ and Jim's divergent views on what constitutes a good football team (Russ=USC, Jim=ASU.)
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| Post ASU-USC game, Nov. 2009 |
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| Wine tasting in Napa, May 2011. This was our first weekend away from Scott |
As luck and/or fate would have it, Monya and I became pregnant at almost exactly the same time. Scott was born September 10; Bryce the first week in October.
Santa Monica was the first time we got our little boys together.
The first night -- dinner at a Mexican restaurant -- went OK. There was an initial hesitation, as the two kiddos sized each other up, stole toys from each other, and assessed each other's strengths and weaknesses.
But they quickly bonded over a staircase and a koi pond at the restaurant, splashing each other and the fish, and climbing up and down with the blessings of their permissive fathers, who chose to ignore the great big NO CLIMBING ON THE STAIRS sign placed prominently nearby.
Saturday went even better. We met up mid-morning on the pier, and Scott and Bryce chased each other up and down the steps, along the boardwalk and at the playground. Before long, they were best buddies (still stealing toys from each other), but also mimicking each others efforts to bang on the table, throw things, shout, and play "night night."
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| Bryce is plotting... |
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| The aforementioned "night-night" game. |
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| Big boys doing the stroller thing, cause that's what the cool kids do. |
We're planning on getting the kids together again mid-to-late-summer, this time for a Disneyland/theme park extravaganza.
Like I said, I think this may be the beginning of a beautiful friendship. (At least for the next 18 years, 'cause by then, let's face it, the two will probably be meeting on opposite sides of some football field somewhere and Scott and his fellow Sun Devils? Horned Frogs? will crush Bryce and his USC Trojans.)
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| They look so much like their daddies here, it just kills me. |
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