After Wedding. Before Bedtime.

After the wedding festivities in Sonoma for Jared and Courtney, we were able to enjoy breakfast with the family at a great breakfast spot they’d scouted out. We probably didn’t get my Dad’s birthday its proper birthday celebration. After stuffing ourselves on delicious made-in-the-restaurant sausages and pancakes, we packed up our stuff (no small task to pack, nor to carry the items to the car) and got on the road. The trip back to San Francisco started inauspiciously as Ryder had an epic meltdown even before we were in the car.

We’d been planning on staying with Jamie, Shelly and Hank since we hadn’t gotten our full dose of the Alexanders, but after learning that Sunday was the day of San Francisco’s Pride Parade, we started to reconsider staying in SF. Not to protect our youngsters from the sights and sounds of the Pride Parade, but simply to avoid having to park 8 blocks away from the Alexanders’ house.

Our backup plan was to ravage Nate and Rosie’s house in Menlo Park, after Nate foolishly offered to host our family. We took them up on their kind offer, and we able to get to spend some time with our friends Bobby and Susanna, who were also stopping over in Menlo Park. (More news on Bobby and Susanna later).

Dining al Fresco

As hosts, Nate and Rosie rocked. They cooked us fabulous meals, and we got to stay with them from Sunday until Tuesday morning. Getting to spend some additional time with a few close friends in a smaller social setting was a real treat; it made us miss California, the weather and culture of the Bay Area, and most importantly, having really great friends around us.

On Monday night, the Lipscombs hosted a BBQ for some of the peeps in the Bay Area; we figured in advance that we wouldn’t be able to see all the friends we’ve got in Northern California. It was great to see everyone – the only problems were that it went by too fast and we didn’t take near enough pictures. We did get some fantastic pics of Ryder and Jackson playing in the backyard. Nice backyard Lipscombs! Keep up the good work.