My cousin, Patrick, works for Delta and used to work at SFO, so my mom dropped his name at the ticket counter and God Bless Richard, who let both my parents have gate passes and they greated us as soon as we came out of the jetway. Huge sigh of relief! We made the long flight to CA.
The weather was absolutely gorgeous. Each and every day. I forget how lovely it is to live in a place that is temperate pretty much year-round. Yes, you may need to layer, but there is not a whole lot of extreme hot or cold; certainly no mugginess. It was AWESOME. I realized how much of a genius I was to leave muggy NYC for two weeks. Leaving Nate behind was brutal, but at least he was now able to go on his annual golf trip with his college friends, so I hoped that would break up the time.
My parents were so excited to have some quality time with Harper. My sister and her family were up in Donner so it was just the four of us for the weekend. Saturday we caught up. Lazed in their beautiful backyard. Gave Harper a bath outside. Put her to bed a little early, given the time change. I went to be early too. My dad had installed black-out shades in my bedroom which was amazing. Harper slept from 6p til 2a!
When I switched on my phone to see what time it was, I got a text message from my best friend, Hannah...who was pregnant with her 2nd child and due to have a scheduled c-section on the 7th of August..."I think my water just broke"!, it said. How exciting! I get to be here when her second baby is born for two whole weeks, instead of two days! I went back to sleep, and when we woke up at 6a (yay, Harper! Good Sleep!) I discovered that baby H's arrival was moved up to 8:30 that morning. Texts flew back furiously between Wade (her husband) and me. Hannah even got snuck in a phone call before her epidural! It was so amazing to be in the same time zone as it was happening and know that I'd see them all before the end of the day. For someone who lives across the country for nearly everyone nearest and dearest to her, this meant the world.
Sunday Mom, Dad, Harper and I strolled down B'game Ave and went to see a Beatles Tribute Band and have a picnic in the park. It was a lovely way to spend the day. When the music was done, Harper went back to the house with my parents and I jetted off to meet Grady Patrick, 6lbs, 13 oz (a bit smaller than his older brother who was 9lbs, 2 oz when he was born two weeks early). When I arrived, it was just Hannah and Grady in the hospital room. He was such a little peanut! You forget how little they are when they're brand new! Wade and Ethan (the big brother) arrived just after me. Ethan was very sweet with his little brother. Kept wanting to see "my baby." I was so thankful for that afternoon.
The next two days my Mom worked, I shuttled back and forth to the hospital while Dad babysat H and we prepped to drive to the mountains. Tuesday night we drove over to Kristie's and had a great dinner with Harper's cousins. The night took a scary turn when Matthew bonked his head on a chair and promptly got a big goose-egg on his temple. But within the hour and a unrealized trip to the ER, all was fine and Mom, Dad, Harper and I were on our way to Donner...in two cars, because of all the stuff we had... exersaucers and strollers take up a lot of space!
Donner was amazing! I was so excited for Harper to be there for the first time. For those of you who don't know, my family has had a cabin there since 1979 and my entire childhood is filled with summers (and some winters) up there. The lake is fairly small. Only 3 miles long, 1 mile wide.
..to be continued...
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