Hoo boy! Have I been cashing in some serious parenting points this summer. So far, I have accumulated two child-free outings, leaving Steve alone to play zone defense with our sweet but endlessly spunky children. He hasn’t complained even once, and has even been remarkably encouraging. Stupid? Generous? Just plan crazy? I’ll let you be the judge.

My first trip was a couple of weeks back when I went to Mendocino to celebrate Shannon’s 40th birthday. Then, this past weekend I traveled to the Russian River Valley to meet up with my mom and sister for some bonding time that I have been prohibited by law and notarized confidentiality release to ever detail here on these pages. I was allowed to take pictures, but chose to carefully parse and edit them according to the guidelines enumerated in clauses 3, 7, 9 and 14 – pretty much all the clauses pertaining to “excessive ridiculosity”. Instead, you are left with the safe-for-general-consumption set – which should give you some perspective when you get to the photograph of the heart-shaped sign that reads “Tattoos”.

And that’s about all I am legally authorized to report about that.

(click photo to see full set)

I arrived home to find that not only had my family survived weekend number two (complete with a birthday party outing), but that Stella had lost yet another tooth, AND had learned to ride her bike without training wheels – ALL WITHIN A MATTER OF THREE DAYS! She and Steve had this hilariously choreographed set-up wherein he was going to ask me to stand out on the front porch and chat with him while Stella retrieved her bike from the edge of the yard and then nonchalantly ride down the street in front of the house. Unfortunately their plan hit a small snag when Stella was unable to get the kick-stand up and Steve had to run down there to assist her. The whole thing became so ridiculously adorable, I could hardly contain myself. I couldn’t have imagined a better homecoming.

After dinner and bath I had Steve shoot a little bit of footage, including a quick interview before she and I headed out for our evening dog-walk / bike-ride. Pretty much the only thing missing is a yellow jersey.