I received awesome news during the holiday season when one of my best friends, Janelle, told me she was buying a ticket to come visit. It had been way too long since we had seen each other. In fact over a year, which is very crazy for us. She came out to visit for her birthday when I was pregnant, but with Daxton being born early and then the craziness of summer, soon school was starting again and we weren't able to see each other til February. I wish I could put into words how much Janelle means to me. She's like the sister I never had and has such a depth and understanding to her. She is one of the few that not only allows me to be utterly myself, but also pushes me to be better. I love my life in California, but I have truly missed being able to see her daily. I'm just glad that we have still been able to visit each other over the years and continue our adventures together.
Janelle's flight was supposed to come in Valentine's Day evening, but was cancelled due to weather conditions back east. It was rescheduled to Friday afternoon so we didn't get to see her til that night. Daxton immediately fell in love with his "Auntie Nellie" and made sure to give her lots of smiles and hugs before going to bed. With Dallas working til late, Janelle and I stayed up talking for hours and then spent Saturday morning catching up some more. Needless to say, we had lots to talk about! Luckily Daxton was super sweet and loved the extra attention. We had a fun day going out for lunch and then a little shopping for Daxton. That night Janelle was so kind to babysit our little guy so Dallas could actually take me on a date for Valentine's day (blog post on Singing in the Rain.)
Sunday we decided to get away for the day.
Dallas watched Daxton which gave us a great break to drive out to Stinson Beach. I hadn't been there in a long time, we usually stop and go to Muir Beach since it's closer, but it was fun to take Janelle somewhere she had never been. The sun was shining beautifully, but the wind was pretty chilly off the water, so we bundled up and watched the waves crash while eating our picnic. It was the perfect, relaxing setting to detox from our stressful lives.
Nothing like seeing a huge sign warning of Great White Sharks to keep you out of the water!
Janelle's flight was supposed to come in Valentine's Day evening, but was cancelled due to weather conditions back east. It was rescheduled to Friday afternoon so we didn't get to see her til that night. Daxton immediately fell in love with his "Auntie Nellie" and made sure to give her lots of smiles and hugs before going to bed. With Dallas working til late, Janelle and I stayed up talking for hours and then spent Saturday morning catching up some more. Needless to say, we had lots to talk about! Luckily Daxton was super sweet and loved the extra attention. We had a fun day going out for lunch and then a little shopping for Daxton. That night Janelle was so kind to babysit our little guy so Dallas could actually take me on a date for Valentine's day (blog post on Singing in the Rain.)
Sunday we decided to get away for the day.
Dallas watched Daxton which gave us a great break to drive out to Stinson Beach. I hadn't been there in a long time, we usually stop and go to Muir Beach since it's closer, but it was fun to take Janelle somewhere she had never been. The sun was shining beautifully, but the wind was pretty chilly off the water, so we bundled up and watched the waves crash while eating our picnic. It was the perfect, relaxing setting to detox from our stressful lives.
Nothing like seeing a huge sign warning of Great White Sharks to keep you out of the water!
We are both total beach bums and would lay out on the sand and listen to the waves all day if we could.
Some of my favorite pictures from the day...
It wouldn't be a true outing without some sort of crazy series of face shots...
We stayed through the sunset, loving every minute of it, even our freezing toes and faces.
One of the reasons last summer was so difficult for both of us is because we lost our dear friend, Jason. He took his life after a long battle with depression. I wasn't able to attend his memorial due to a family wedding in Oakland and Daxton being only four months old and still breast feeding. It's been hard to process things, trying to find closure with everything that took place. Janelle and I spent a good part of the day sharing memories, laughing, and crying while we spoke of Jason. It was right as the sun was setting that we noticed a guy standing along the beach. He looked deep in thought staring out at the ocean. Janelle and I both stopped talking as we thought the same thing...we had seen this before; the last time Jason was with us at the beach. It was common for Jason to lose himself in thought, staring out at the vastness of the ocean. Then the stranger pulled out a camera and started to take pictures of the sunset. We couldn't help but tear up at the feeling Jason was with us.
We miss you, brother.
When we got home that night we were welcomed by this adorable sight...a naked baby hanging out with his daddy while watching basketball. It doesn't get much cuter than this!
I love his tired facial expression and teeth showing.
Beautiful sunset! Glad you guys had so much fun!
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