Road Trip for Three

You might remember back in May, I posted about attending JD's wedding on Whidbey Island. Here's a photo I obtained of JD himself, Steve, a gym buddy whose name I completely spaced (sorry!) and yours truly. It's a nice shot, I think.

This last weekend flew by. Movie night consisted of Benchwarmers with the kids before J arrived and we watched the Fox production of Robin Hood with Patrick Bergin and Uma Thurman (I've always loved this very underrated version).

Saturday was a work day for moi, while Tyler's best friend Miles (they've been tight since kindergarten) came over to hang out. Tyler seems to be having all the symptoms of adolescence at once: he's gone pretty much nocturnal, sleeping 12 hours a day, eating everything in sight, growing out of his clothes like a pissed off Incredible Hulk, breaking out on his face, and his voice seemed to drop an entire octave overnight. My goal through this process is to be available for him if needed, but to really let him have his teenager space and privacy - it's an uncomfortable change!

On Sunday, Kayleigh, J and I drove up to Bellingham on the premise of attending my niece's birthday party (the kids and I had already been up for her real birthday two weeks ago), but it was really to have J meet the rest of my Washington clan. It was great - singing in the car all the way up, partying with a bunch of 10 year-olds, chatting with my mom, stepdad, sister, niece and a bunch of their friends, then going out to dinner at this nice Thai place with my grandparents. The best thing ever occurred when J had excused herself for a trip to the restroom, and my grandfather (who will be 91 in November) looked down the table at me and gave a big "OK" sign.

Kayleigh slept in the back seat most of the way home, and J and I had a nice chat. That's the stuff I miss about being in a relationship - the mundane stuff. We arrived home and J met my neighbor Darlene and her boyfriend James, and ended up hanging out at the house with the kids, my brother and his wife (and me). We watched The Sandlot, drank a beer, J and Gavin had a brief pillow fight with the sofa throw pillows, then everyone went home. I put the kids to bed, and J and I said goodnight. She had to be up early today to take her little sister to the hospital for surgery.

It was a really good day. Now a new week begins and Kayleigh starts clarinet lessons... here we go!