After 2.5 years...
...it was time for Nathan and Sheri to finally have a getaway. It was Kim's 40th bday and she and Mannie rented a house in wine country and invited 4 couples to join them for a long weekend. None of us really knew each other (except Kim and Mannie), so it was like MTV's Real World--Oldster Edition.

We were nervous about saying "yes" to leaving Lucy, but Grandma and Grandpa were excited to stay with Lucy for 4 days and they all did great. Lucy made a gingerbread house, went to the children's museum, went out to eat, and took a ride on a carriage in Old Market. They all had a wonderful time together and the parents' number of phone calls home to check in became fewer each day.

Meanwhile, Sheri and Nathan flew into San Francisco and had a great lunch and conversation with some old friends before heading north to the house.

We got to know some wonderful people, tasted the fare of several wineries, helped Kim celebrate her big birthday, ate too much, enjoyed beautiful downtown Healdsburg (a place we had stopped on our honeymoon 8.5 years ago), and drove through a redwood forest to Hwy 1 in a mustang convertable to explore the coast. We came home exhausted but refreshed and pledging that we need to do this more often. As if we didn't already, we now owe Grandma and Grandpa BIG TIME!