March

Jill’s mom Sue was still with us at the start of the month. Wednesday the 6th what was supposed to be a big snowstorm still dumped some snow on us, but the rain that followed it later melted most of it. I slept in ’til 8, made cheesy sausage biscuits and moved my massage to late morning, then started working from home when Nina went down for her nap. It was a late night for me, but a nice morning. Friday the 8th Jill and I had a late dinner at Ford’s Fish Shack since Sue was leaving the next day – very good fish and chips. Saturday I took Nina to see The Diggity Dudes at Jammin’ Java – she spent most of her time climbing on the tables in front.

Nina and Jill

Monday the 12th Nina had a fit that she couldn’t try my beer – it’s hard to explain to someone that she has to wait 19.5 years to try it. Saturday the 16th we had my mom over for lunch to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day – I thought one piece of corned beef would be enough, but she and Nina cleaned us out at lunch. I needed to resupply for Reubens the next day. Later that day I got my first tattoo – it’s “Smiley” (aka “Cosmic Cutie”) from The Hitchhiker’s Guide To The Galaxy, done by Anya at The Body Gallery. I picked up some BBQ at Willard’s for dinner – Nina likes BBQ.

tattoo

So it was on Monday the 18th that the Nina first ran with scissors (to be fair, we had not told her she couldn’t before). I’m pretty sure that’s the 247th gray hair she’s caused. At least 3 that day. Saturday the 23rd Nina got her first haircut, from Blanca at Shear Pleasure (my regular stylist). I was working some long hours at work for a project, and had already worked 8 hours on Monday the 25th, after going in the night before (6:30PM, after a sensible dinner of hot wings from the Buffalo Wing Factory). I thought Nina would still be sick from her cold and might need to stay home, but it turned out daycare was closed due to snow. Oh well, same result – I just wished I had more than 3 hours of sleep. Nina enjoyed her introduction to sledding, though.

haircut

My sister, Sharon, was getting married at the end of March – in California. So ready or not, we flew out on Wednesday the 27th. We managed to make it through a 5 hour flight with a screaming toddler – in the row behind us (though Nina did her share of screaming, the extra room on Virgin really helped). We landed in LA, then drove down to Carlsbad (nearest place to Laguna Beach using resort points). We stopped at Pizza Port Brewing Company for lunch, then found a nearby farmer’s market (which ended up the only place we shopped in Carlsbad besides the minimart in the resort). We checked in at the Sheraton Resort and it wasn’t long before we crashed (most of us – Jill went down to the bar for a couple glasses of Pinot Gris and a chili/grilled shrimp mini concoction).

airplane

I don’t know if it was the early morning or short nap, but Nina slept for 13 hours, putting herself nicely on California time. We went to the aquarium at Legoland (Nina loved it), then had a very nice lunch at the hotel. Bonus: she’s started saying her name (Jill thinks it’s especially cute how she says it: Neee NAH!). After her nap, we drove up to Laguna Beach to have dinner with Sharon, her fiancé Tom, and all the parents at The Lumberyard. We had to eat early and still left after Nina’s bedtime.

aquarium

Friday morning, my dad and his cousin Vernalee came to visit us while his girlfriend Patricia did some coursework, then I rode with them over to the wedding site to help set up. After a nap, Nina and Jill joined us and we went through the rehearsal. At dusk, we drove over to the Aliso Beach Park to have a BBQ on the beach (Nina touched an ocean for the first time).

rehearsal

Saturday the 30th was complex. We had to check out of our hotel, bring our stuff over to my dad’s room at the Aliso Creek Inn in Laguna Beach where we were also staying that night, change, and get over to the wedding on time. It was tricky, but we managed. Nina was a flower girl, and the only problem was they practiced so much putting the petals back in the basket, that’s what she did during the ceremony.

petals

But everyone thought that was cute, and the rest of the ceremony went off without a hitch. We took pictures afterwards, then had dinner outside (at the very nice beachview house friends had let them borrow). No nap meant we couldn’t stay long (not even for cake), but my Dad and Patricia joined us for some drinks later back at the hotel. The flight home Sunday wasn’t quite as smooth as the trip out, but we got back home safely – she’s a pretty good flyer. Also, the BBC audio adaption of Neil Gaiman’s Neverwhere was an excellent road trip accompaniment during our drives. Besides her name being favorite word this month, she liked to wave hi and bye and play with her ball.

wedding