This Week in Review (Nice)

Nancy and Carole landed at SFO within hours of each other Tuesday afternoon and were at my flat by 5 or so. Maybe an hour and a half later, Connie and Julia arrived and we decoded to order food. julia is usually in charge of that in our family and she uses an app called Eat24. It delivers food from restaurants all over the city, most of which do not deliver on their own.

Julia suggested Indian food, because that is Dylan's favorite, and though he couldn't join us for dinner because he was working late, his favorite dish (chicken tikka masala) would be waiting for him when he got home.

We had a great conversation, a lot of it centering around Julia's time at Oxbow School of the Arts. My sisters got to see the pieces hanging on these walls and to hear from her directly about how she felt she changed during her time there last fall.

The next morning my sisters and I took a long walk, up to Mission Street and back, as I showed them some of the iconic establishments of this neighborhood. We ended up at one of our favorites, El Matate, on Bryant Street, where we ordered Mexican food for lunch. Dylan had the day off and joined us via Lyft.

He was his usual conversational self, regaling us with his various political opinions, movie reviews, and musical insights, among a wide variety of other topics. Dylan really is the definition of the life of the party.

Before long there was a knock on the front door and little Oliver stepped in with his wide smile and shy style. Then came Leif, Sarah and James. The boys had so much energy we quickly determined to go to the park that is about six blocks from here.

When we got back home after 5 p.m. we cooked Mac and Cheese for the youngest kids and heated up Indian food for the five adults plus James. Dylan played with the boys, both at he park and here, while the rest of us talked. It was a great chance for sarah to reconnect with two of her aunts.

On Thursday, my sisters and I drove across the Bay Bridge to El Cerrito, where we were greeted by Loic and Laila and a very sleepy Sophia, who had fallen asleep in their van on the way home from preschool.

Soon, Daisy woke up and joined us and finally Luca, home from school. The girls remained very shy but Luca shook hands with his great aunts and talked a bit. He got excited by a "salamander habitat" he is creating in the family's front yard, so we all went there and saw a few of the wiggling creatures.

While I am not quite sure they are actually salamanders, they are good enough playing the part for him. And who knows, they probably are, as he is scientifically inclined.

Sophia discovered that the third of the family's six chickens in the backyard coop had laid a egg and this one was light blue in color. we all decided it was an Easter Egg. we had tea and then a proper Scottish meal -- meat pies and haggis, followed by shortbread.

A wonderful time for Laila to reconnect with her aunts, and for Loic as well.

Back to San Francisco as the sun set and we picked up Chinese food at Alice's and drove over to Bernal. Connie, Dylan and Julia hosted dinner for us and we had a great evening meal together.

On Friday morning, we used Facetime to visit with Aidan and Zaira in Missoula. Today is Zaira's birthday!. Aidan used the video feed to show us their very large apartment and how they are decorating it, plus the views of mountains and snow from their large windows.

All too soon it was time for Nancy and Carole to catch their flighst home to Arizona and Virginia, so we higged goodbye and the visit came to a close.

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Family Time

Two of my sisters, Nancy and Carole, came out to meet four of the iids and all six grandkids. A great visit!