Apparently I'm a blog addict

Because I'm sitting here at my mom's computer, writing, as a way to wind down.

Our flight from OH to CA would have been great, except that we had a seven hour layover in Texas. Accidentally. The flight was delayed two hours, then there were mechanical problems, then they couldn't fix the problems so they gave us a new plane. Xander was a doll throughout though: "Mommy and Daddy here with me, all day?! What fun!" He made lots of new friends at the airport and completely charmed all the flight attendants. The plane rides were actually surprisingly easy, I just made sure to nurse him on takeoff and landing.

We got in and Sandra and David picked us up and took us straight to temple where my mom lead services, and bright and early the next morning we went to Gwen and Sylvan's for Passover breakfast. Oh my goodness, what a spread! Gwen makes the best matzah brei, an egg and matzah dish that's kinda like French toast (no toast or anything leavened with yeast on Passover, since the Jews had to run out of Egypt without giving their bread time to rise). They met Xander for the first time, and we played with their adorable cat Punim (literally face in Yiddish, as in pinching someone's cheeks and going oy what a shayna punim, what a sweet face!).

Then it was time for the four-hour ride to Fresno to see Jonathan's side of the family. My sister is with us, and sat in the back of the car and entertained the baby. He did NOT like going over the Tejon Pass, aka the Grapevine, the mountain area that separates Los Angeles from the Central Valley (anyone remember the yellow umbrellas that some artist put up by the side of the road about ten years ago? That's the area). Anyway, I couldn't nurse him for the half hour it took to get over the pass, he refused a pacifier, and his poor ears hurt. He was not happy. We finally pulled into a truck weighing lot to take him out of the carseat, nurse, and let him calm down.

When we got to Liz's house the place was filled with people for the family reunion. It was so wonderful to see people! Liz is one of four kids, all of whom were there along with some of Jonathan's cousins. And then Jonathan is one of four, and two of his siblings were there with their kids. All in all, I think it was over thirty people, at least. The best part of the reunion, for me, was catching up with Auntie Lois and Mike, who we talk to all the time on the phone but never see. (Xander very much enjoyed their gift of a huge frog puppet. He kept squealing in delight whenever we made the tongue lick him.) Lois and Perry told amazing stories of their father and uncle, Jonathan's grandfather and great-uncle. They lived in the late 1800s, early 1900s, and were in CA back when it was practically still the Wild West. (Grandpa Charlie was a Texas Ranger and once was shot in the neck and left for dead, just to give you a taste of the kind of tales I heard). I love family histories, and I know my own family's saga (Ellis Island from Russia, etc) pretty well. I want Xander to know his father's ancestry in equal detail, so I feel like I'm saving up all the stories so Jonathan and I can tell him where he comes from, from every angle.

Sunday morning was Easter itself, and after a great breakfast made by Kathleen and Gabriella (Xander's auntie and cousin), we went over to my brother- and sister-in-law's to "help" with the Easter egg hunt. It's scary how big our nieces and nephews got in two short years! We ended up staying there til past 4pm, having BBQ for lunch and playing Lego, video games, and catch in the backyard.

The ride back to southern CA was relatively uneventful, except that we took our time and made multiple stops along the way. Anyone who knows me knows how much I love food. So we had everything I'd been craving, that's nonexistent in Ohio. Breakfast dessert was Hungry Bear cookies, for Jonathan. Lunch was In N'Out Burger. And snack was Jamba Juice. YUM!!

So far we have 216 pictures on the camera. And it's only been three days. I see multiple slideshows in my future. :)

Gnight!