Nothing is better than family

Here are some pictures of our family-filled weekend in San Francisco and Alameda! Many of my siblings and their families came to see Ben and Esther's "Baby Izzy" blessed. We stayed in a fabulous condo with a personal dock and boat (though we didn't take the boat out), a gourmet kitchen, a jacuzzi bathtub, and lots of cable TV (we love Netflix but oh, it's great to have lots of variety on TV sometimes).

The first night we were able to take a ferry across the bay, eat near Fisherman's Wharf and then literally run back just in time to catch the last ferry. The next day we ventured farther, crossed all the famous and not-so-famous bridges, saw hundreds of boats on the water, measured ourselves against the high-reaching Redwoods, dug in the sand, played games, watched movies, etc. But best of all, we got to be with family!!!! Xavier was beyond ecstatic. He was non-stop energy after five minutes of getting used to the situation--running around in circles or running out to the deck and back (scaring me every time since I was sure he was going to slip through the rails and fall in the water), talking non-stop, and getting into the middle of everything that was going on. At one point he had all his Lincoln Logs out and smashed through them, kicking them all over the room, yelling that he was a giant. You might wonder how two (mostly) introverts made such an extrovert, and I would just have to say, he must've gotten some of his grandparents' genes! X is definitely going to keep us social as he grows up! He just loves people.

I tried to keep some semblance of his normal routine while we were there. During the afternoon of the second day, there were tears when he was torn away from his beloved cousins and forced to go upstairs with mom for a little "quiet time." (I figured everyone else needed some calm, too!) After reading a few books and running around, X was given a stern warning to stay on the bed, and he obediently flopped on the bed face first and instantly fell asleep. His super-charged energy was amazing and I can see that his love for family members is incredible. He loved sleeping next to Noelle, insisted Asher and others play with him constantly, ran around yelling everyone's names and giving hugs, and was perfectly happy playing without mom and dad because he had so many other great people to choose from! Whew! Just thinking back on his whirlwind energy, I am getting tired. Or maybe it's because it's almost 1am... Goodnight!