California dreamin'

All the leaves are brown
And the sky is grey...

For the past few days, I've been feeling a little melancholy.

Last week, we went on a family trip to northern California. It was my second trip to San Francisco this year. In the summer, during the second trimester of my pregnancy with Nolan, I had gone on a solo trip to visit my sister and some friends. It was Nico's first trip back since moving to Ohio four years ago. It was Nolan's first trip anywhere, really, since he's only two months old.

For me, it was quite a trip down Memory Lane as we visited the hospital where Nico was born, the apartment complex we lived in when Nico was a baby, restaurants we used to frequent, etc. My sister joined us for most of our visit and all of us met up with several friends, from San Francisco to San Jose.

We had a great time reconnecting with old pals and marveling at how much our lives have changed over the years. Everyone was happy to see Nico and see how much he has grown since they last saw him at age one. Most people seem to think he looks more like Vic now, mainly because of the long eyelashes! Everyone was delighted to meet Nolan too and thought he was so sweet and cute.

One of the highlights of the trip was taking the boys to Muir Woods. Vic and I used to take Nico on hikes and long walks all the time, so we were looking forward to taking both boys this time. When we got to the park, Nico's first reaction was, "Where are the rides?" Then after he got his bearings and started to appreciate the natural beauty all around him, he exclaimed, "I want to climb to the top and see the horizon."

If we had more time, I would have loved to walk across Golden Gate Bridge with the boys, but we really didn't have much time to do any sightseeing. We spent most of the trip visiting friends and that was really fun. We also had some great Chinese food!

On Tuesday, the boys and I flew back to Cleveland, while Vic stayed in town to work on site with his colleagues. As our plane took off, I felt wistful watching the Bay Area grow smaller and smaller below me. I know it's easy to idealize something (or someone) after it's gone, but I couldn't help but feel sad to leave San Francisco again. It was the place Vic and I both moved to - him from Cleveland, me from Los Angeles - when we decided we had both had enough of our long-distance relationship and wanted to be together all the time. It was where we got engaged, planned a wedding, got pregnant and became first-time parents.

But here we are, back in Cleveland, Ohio again. We are home.