Pappy birthday.

A few weeks ago I was home in California for a week with the fam. Well, most of them--Allison and her family stayed in North Carolina since she recently had a baby and they just moved into a new house. But the rest of us were lucky enough to spend a few days hanging out, overeating, watching the Olympics, and celebrating my dad's 60th birthday.

My first day there, we drove to Santa Cruz for a morning at the beach, followed by lunch at Sarah and Joel's favorite Brazilian place.

On the way there, David made friends with Lily, Becca and Austin's new puppy.

We quickly discovered that Lily likes to dig in the sand:

  This sand is makin' me thirsty.

   The rest of us had an okay time. Although maybe I ended up with some semi-permanent red socks as a result of rolled-up jeans and a sunburn. I don't want to talk about it.

  Brazilian lunch with my peeps.

That night we were joined by Krissy for some cut-throat go-karting and mini-golfing.
  I'm not going to lie to you, it got a little intense.

On Saturday morning we drove into San Francisco to have breakfast with Jeff and Jess at the farmer's market at the Ferry Building. The day was pretty gorgeous even without the aid of Instagram filters.
  The Bay Bridge.

  Outside the Ferry Building.

  We took a quick look back at the city from Treasure Island.

Then it was time to get back home for the main event--my dad's party. While we got food and decorations ready to go, Lily and Posey (Jess and Jeff's French bulldog) wrestled pretty much non-stop.
  This picture is my new happy place.

The party went off without a hitch, complete with great food and dozens of friends and family members who came to pay their respects.  The best part was knowing that even at 60, my dad (and mom, for that matter) can put me to shame at the gym and can most certainly leave me in the dust on a bike.  I'm okay with it.      Mom toasting the birthday boy.

  Gemma, helping the old man extinguish his birthday candles.




Gemma had the right idea.


The girls. We'll just Photoshop Allison in there, okay? Okay.

I also got to spend a little long-overdue time with Marisa, her husband Rob, and their adorable daughter Fara.  Sometimes I forget that we're grown-ups.  Like, who is this child and isn't her real mom wondering where she is?    

We also spent many hours watching the Olympics, naturally. I especially loved how some fringe sport would come on and at first we'd be like, "Ugh, not synchronized swimming," and then we'd end up getting seriously into it. Don't you think Spain was robbed? I really think they were robbed. How about that BMX biking? We definitely watched that. Canoe sprint? Check.

Sarah, Joel, and the kids were the first to leave, and when Sarah came out of their room to say her goodbyes and was already crying, Becca shouted, "OH GREAT" and immediately burst into tears.  You'd think we like each other or something.  I guess it's a good thing we'll all be getting back together (everyone, this time) in a little over a month.