and... I'm spent.

Hello friends and family,

I'm blogging live from my own couch in my own home with my stinky feet on my own carpet in my underwear.  Ah, the forgotten joys of home after living seven weeks with my in-laws.  First, let me wrap up our last-hoorah vacation days at Redondo Beach.  With eight people in the Rosa house there was never a dull moment.  We did normal daily life things together, which was my hope since we arrived.  I didn't want to do all the tourist stuff.  I just wanted the 4 Webbs to enjoy their company and be a part of their lives.  We stopped by a park for a bit to get some sun and activity for the kids.  The park had small bonsai looking trees, which were perfectly sized for the twins and Layla Ruth to climb.

As they climbed up and down and all over I stood close by to give them my attention, but didn't interfere too much.  After the Big Fall incident when Easton was a baby, it is difficult for me to trust him up high, but I'm working on it.  this was a good confidence builder for both of us.

Jason and I treated ourselves to a guy's night out.  chips and salsa at the beach side eatery followed by burgers of epic proportions at Umami (they stamp each bun with their logo) and gelato good enough for Jason to approve.  We walked  out on the pier and watched the life guard Olympics as they swam around buoys in the dark ocean.  

We re-packed the Pilot and Thule cargo box using every cubic inch of space to haul our crew and gear back home.  Only one challenge on the ride home:  A shredded truck tire tread flew up from under the car in front of us and slammed into the hood of our Pilot.  It bounced off up over the roof and from there I have no idea where it went.  The hood and grille were both damaged so we are down to one car while the Pilot get's repaired in the shop.  That just added $500 to the cost of our trip.  That's OK, I didn't have anything special to spend my bonus on anyway...

I love how the story of our lives unfolds bit by bit.  Or in this case, byte by byte.  Remember the pictures of Nate and Easton dancing to xbox Kinect?  remember the picture of Landon and Easton's Jedi training on the xbox Kinect?  Well, now we got our own!  Easton and Layla's faces of joy are as genuine as they get.

The best part of this is the cost.  Ouma and Oupa gave us the brand new xbox that was given to them by Oupa's sister.  I found a new-in-box Kinect sensor on Craigslist for less than half price.  Add $20 for a game and viola!  we are dancing and grooving to our own new gaming system.  I'm excited for them to experience the dance game and the Disneyland game where they get to interact in the virtual world of the theme park.

We are finally home and ecstatic to be in our own bed as we get back to normal.  I'll have to wait for the next blog post to describe the tactics we used to successfully live with my in-laws for seven weeks.  We didn't just "survive", we thrived and grew.  I wouldn't trade that experience for gold...  unless gold becomes worth $3,500 per ounce  then I'll have to think about it.  Just kidding!

See you soon.