Visit from a Lao Pengyou

Me and Jenna on a nice January beach day.

Zadie and Lucy were nuts and went in the water!

My closest friends from the Peace Corps are Jenna and Erin.  We were so tight during training that people called us "the tripod."  Erin is living in Africa right now, but Jenna and I got to have a mini-reunion last week for six wonderful days.  She might as well be in Africa considering how infrequently I see her, but she actually lives in what she calls the jewel of the Midwest...you know, Milwaukee?!
It was great to have Jenna staying with us because she definitely makes me laugh like few people do and this time was our first hanging out as full-blown parents.  One time she came to visit when our two girls were just a few months old, but that wasn't really parenting.  That's really just keeping your baby alive.  Dealing with older kids and all their fighting and needs and negotiating -- now that's parenting.  So it was the first time we've ever seen each other with our mom voices on.  Not really a pretty sight, but it is what it is.

The really nice part about having Jenna here was that she brought her super positive attitude along with her.  As I've written before, I am typically a very content and happy person, but parenting has challenged my optimism, I must admit.  Enter Jenna.  She's one of those people that is genuinely amused by her kids and loves babies (she kept calling Charlie a "squishy baby").  So it was nice to see our crazy household through her eyes because sometimes when people stay with us they (understandably) look like they're ready to run for the door.

While she was here, we had two nice beach visits with the kids (see photos above), two amazing Sichuan dinners (from the region where we lived in China), and a really invigorating trip to the mountains east of San Diego.  My parents let us stay at their beautiful home and we also invited another couple and their kids.  It was really wonderful time with our combined families.

Thank you, Jenna, for a great visit!
p.s.  Lao pengyou means "old friend" in Chinese!