Birthday Weekend

La Quinta, California: First things first: we both went to our hairdresser, Imelda, and have returned to our normal selves:

The Four L's arrived early Friday evening to celebrate Dave's birthday. The pool was heated to 90° and everyone dove-in immediately. Mary & Captain Jim gave us a new pool toy, and the kids played with the giant duck all weekend.

With two cupholders and a flip-down foot rest, Captain Jim claims he can fall asleep in his DUCKY WOW/WOW DUCKY.

It was a hit!

Friday evening, we had a Taco Party! Margaritas! Grilled chicken tacos, Impossible tacos, and black bean taco choices, along with all the usual toppings, soft and hard shell tortillas, plus a fruit salad. The avocados were from Lisa & Lenny's tree. S'mores for dessert... plus a late-night swim.

Saturday began with a momentous occasion for Lucile - she rode her bike without training wheels for the first time. Within two days, she was confidently cruising up and down the street. Most amazing? Leo was key in teaching her. He held-on to the back of the seat and ran along-side Lucy until she was able to do it on her own. What a great big brother! (Lenny and Dave were happy for Leo's help - they are both 6 feet tall, and it was back-breaking trying to run along with Lucy, bending over so far to hold her bicycle!)

More swimming Saturday, followed by lunch at the clubhouse. This was the first time our family had been to a restaurant in over 400 days. Lisa was worried her children would have forgotten their table manners, but everything went well. We dined outside and the servers wore masks. We were far from the other few diners; Lisa and Lenny are also fully vaccinated. We wore masks until our food was delivered and felt very safe.

The children were very well behaved!

Our beautiful girls - serious and smiling.

For his birthday dinner, DT chose macaroni and cheese (seriously, he did) and a Greek salad.

Gosh darn, but it was good. After dinner we had a bingo tournament and played a round of charades, followed by - what else - birthday cake:

The Birthday Boy was quite pleased with his weekend and happy to spend so much time with his family (especially the grandchildren).

Until my next update, I remain, your celebratory correspondent.

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