Since my brother was getting in married in Northern California in September I decided to call my two Northern California friends Jess and Caroline to see if we could get together! Turns out my brother was getting married in Santa Cruz just a couple hours from where they live normally in Fresno and just steps from Jessica's family beach house in Aptos. So we got to planning! Jess and Caroline and I were in and we invited the rest of our BYU Seven and Susan and Erin decided to come too! Even though Jess and Erin have 2 kids and Susan has 3- we all decided to just bring one baby each!
So it was 5 babies and 5 mommas and we were together all at different points for about 4 days! It was such a great trip catching up after being apart for a couple years! We definitely missed Molly and Ellen but hopefully the next reunion all 7 of us will be together- Austin anyone??
Jessica and I arrived first and we drove from San Jose to Aptos stopping for some yummy Mexican food in Capitola. Then we settled into the beach house before heading back out later to pick up groceries for the week! Since we had a wide array of food allergies we decided to try and cook lots of meals at home and to save money! Jess and I had a hilarious trip where we both tried to decipher food labels figuring if things were indeed "gluten, soy and dairy free!" Nora was a wreck-pulling things off shelves and it was a memorable trip to say the least. Not to mention I kept saying to Jessica..."this costs twice as much here as in California." Which was true albeit annoying I'm sure!
The next day Caroline and Susan and Erin arrived! We had Thai food and hung out on our beautiful seaside balcony and of course, stayed up WAY too late chatting and laughing. We went on a few walks and had lots of time at the house with 5 babies on 5 different nap schedules! We went to a great burger place one day and we watched our "BYU Seven Slideshow" from college and it made us laugh and cry until our sides hurt! We talked about motherhood and our struggles and shared tips that work for us. We discussed husbands working late hours and our own ambitions. We discussed heartbreak from various events and I just felt safe in the presence of these ladies and their beautiful minds and spirits.
It's crazy how far we have all come since freshmen year: moving around the world, babies, marriages, jobs and new jobs, trials and joys, and yet it's wonderful to reflect on those more carefree years. We all agreed- we can't ever replace those hilarious truly unforgettably fun and adventurous years! But things are good for all of us now, even with our adult struggles, we are grateful for our lives, our families, our kids and each other.
I'm so grateful to have these wonderful ladies in my life for now and forever. And I hope we keep doing reunions-eventually with kids and husbands! And one day- I hope we will all drop our kids off together at BYU to start their own lives and adventures...
So it was 5 babies and 5 mommas and we were together all at different points for about 4 days! It was such a great trip catching up after being apart for a couple years! We definitely missed Molly and Ellen but hopefully the next reunion all 7 of us will be together- Austin anyone??
Jessica and I arrived first and we drove from San Jose to Aptos stopping for some yummy Mexican food in Capitola. Then we settled into the beach house before heading back out later to pick up groceries for the week! Since we had a wide array of food allergies we decided to try and cook lots of meals at home and to save money! Jess and I had a hilarious trip where we both tried to decipher food labels figuring if things were indeed "gluten, soy and dairy free!" Nora was a wreck-pulling things off shelves and it was a memorable trip to say the least. Not to mention I kept saying to Jessica..."this costs twice as much here as in California." Which was true albeit annoying I'm sure!
The next day Caroline and Susan and Erin arrived! We had Thai food and hung out on our beautiful seaside balcony and of course, stayed up WAY too late chatting and laughing. We went on a few walks and had lots of time at the house with 5 babies on 5 different nap schedules! We went to a great burger place one day and we watched our "BYU Seven Slideshow" from college and it made us laugh and cry until our sides hurt! We talked about motherhood and our struggles and shared tips that work for us. We discussed husbands working late hours and our own ambitions. We discussed heartbreak from various events and I just felt safe in the presence of these ladies and their beautiful minds and spirits.
It's crazy how far we have all come since freshmen year: moving around the world, babies, marriages, jobs and new jobs, trials and joys, and yet it's wonderful to reflect on those more carefree years. We all agreed- we can't ever replace those hilarious truly unforgettably fun and adventurous years! But things are good for all of us now, even with our adult struggles, we are grateful for our lives, our families, our kids and each other.
I'm so grateful to have these wonderful ladies in my life for now and forever. And I hope we keep doing reunions-eventually with kids and husbands! And one day- I hope we will all drop our kids off together at BYU to start their own lives and adventures...
Thug baby!
Auntie Jessica reading to Nora and Eleanor.
Sailor baby!!
Cutest sailor baby and smiles!
We took daily walks on the beach and one day (only!) we even ran out in it! It was cold but so fun to laugh and laugh with these ladies whom I love.
Group beach selfie!
Babies touching the water!
My baby crush Levi!! Those thighs :)
Cute ladies with their babies
Roommates reunited. This was our first time to meet each other's babies! Isn't that crazy? And Caroline is pregnant too! Plus our babies are named Nora and Eleanor and I think they are destined to be best friends and future BYU roomies.
Nora loved playing on the deck with the buckets and water. She's becoming more of a beach girl!
Look at us in our patterned shirts!
Silly braid selfie. This was for Susan's benefit while nursing in the car.
These girls were so cute together! And they loved this fountain, playing in it and trying to drink it!
Let's hope they don't get giardia....
A beautiful beach sunset. Seriously this area was breathtaking!
Erin made us an out of this world dinner one night! Soooo good.
(Also Erin, what is your hand doing here?)
Perfection!
Jason arrived for my final day with the girls and he took care of Nora while we went into town to the cutest gluten free bakery!
Erin was in heaven with beautiful scones, popovers, sandwiches, muffins etc. all gluten free! And they were yummy too even for us non-celiacs!
Before I left we just had to take some epic photos to remember the trip!
Pure happiness when I'm with these ladies. They make me feel young again! lol
5 cute babies sitting in a row. . .
Eleanor, Winnie, Graham, Levi and Nora
Until next time ladies, I can NOT wait!
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