Julie's Visit

Having Jewels here just sooooo totally rocked, people. No pressure, no "go here, do this, get this done, enjoy this, why don'tcha!" It was all about relaxing and only doing what we felt like doing, which at any given moment could be absolutely nothing.

Jewels left RooRoo with Mom&Dad2 and rode back with us all the way home, arriving in CA at the ungodly hour of about 3 in the morning. Needless to say, we slept - yes, we! (minus the kids, who should have!) until NOON, or close to it. (Okay, Julie did...we were up at 10:30.) :) That was Wednesday, which day was spent...shopping at Goodwill. Yes, Goodwill, and Julie found some awesome stuff...not to mention a $30 handbag. $30 at GOODWILL, you ask? Yes. And here's why: she bought an authentic, genuine Coach handbag - that perfectly matched her earlier splurge on a Coach wallet! - for $29.99. (We're guessing that purse retailed somewhere between $300-500 originally, and it was in brand new condition!) She found some other awesome things, bought ME a brand-new-looking leather coat (from Wilson's...100% tan suede leather!), and then we, in turn, bought little miss ReillyRooRoo a gigantic (sit-on-sized) white-and-pink stuffed Swan...in what ALSO appeared to be brand-new condition...with all sorts of fun little details, for exactly $1.50! The clincher on that one, though, was a particular detail: it had super-long curly eyelashes! AWESOME. And it'll go perfectly in her white, pink, and chocolate brown bedroom, heehee!

Thursday was kick-back as well, and other than hitting up the Anaheim Farmer's Market (and sharing a divine Nutella-and-banana crepe) and having dinner at Portillo's (of the famous Chicago-based Chicago dog chain) our big outting was Laguna Beach...pictures herein. See, Jason is auditing Montage Resorts right now (rough life, I know...) and is down there most everyday these days, looking out on the ocean from the converted hotel room, now an audit conference room. In fact, just yesterday morning he called me from "work" down on the beach as he was watching a humpback whale and a school of dolphins swim along the beach, the dolphins leaping through the waves and the whale spouting from its blowhole. I've been out WHALE WATCHING and never seen that! Sigh. Anyway, Julie. Yes. So, he took us to the beach adjoining the hotel, and we basked in the sunshine, played in the (first foot of the) waves, wandered the tidepools, took advantage of Jason's binoculars to inspect a flock of seagulls and a seal lying on the rocks, enjoyed a sandpiper racing back and forth in and out of the surf seeking sand crabs, and just generally had a blast. Tyler got DRENCHED, Julie was soaked from the thighs on down, Mikayla was terrified of the water and sand (so, the beach as a whole) and never left the blanket, but all around, we did what we planned: gave Julie some time at the water's edge, and she loved it. (Didncha, Jewels?)

Friday was a day unto itself, courtesy of the Korean Bathhouse, which will feature in my next blog entry, and we got to enjoy it child-free thanks to the Emergency Backup Care Plan at Jay's work: I took the kids to their day care center with their lunch, diapers, clothing changes, what have you, and they had a TOTAL BLAST for the entire, I don't know, 6 hours or so they were there. Oh, and did I mention it was free? And that I have 9 more check-ins per child through the end of the year to use whenever I need, for any reason? Yeah. Looooove it! So, thanks to Bright Horizons for my kid-free, happy-child day!

Saturday was super-laid-back, too...Jay, the kids, and I went to Bella's 3rd birthday party, where we were later joined by my folks, while Jewels went to see Roman for a complete hair overhaul (including cut and color). She stopped at my favorite nail salon on the way back for a spa mani and pedi, and returned with perfect, multi-faceted chocolate-blend hair color, an awesome stacked-and-layered cut, and hibiscus-bright matching nails with little white flowers on her big toes. Aaaaaaah, the refresh. :)

We were devastated to see her go on Sunday, but we know how eager she was to get home to her little Reilly, and how much she missed her (both parties), so we put our saddness in check and wished her a safe flight. She's now been home safe and sound for a week and and a half, and we look forward to the day that we can be closer.

The highlight, people, really was the Korean Bathhouse, and I'll get to that, but I want all you crazy squeemish anti-nudist girls to know...it's AWESOME. ABSO-STINKIN'-LUTELY AWESOME. Julie had been worried about what she was getting herself in to, but she will attest to the fact that after 2 minutes, no matter how embarrassed or tentative or modest you are, it just doesn't matter anymore. AWESOME, people, did I mention that? Because it was AWESOME. But more on that later. Enjoy the photos for now!