November Fun

We've just landed from a great Thanksgiving week Biegansky birthday getaway.  The whole Biegansky/Mather/Yeadon crew basked in the Palm Springs sun with plenty of pool time, tennis, and even pickle ball action.  We had grand plans to explore the area, including Joshua Tree National Park, but the inertia of the house proved too great to overcome.  There were November birthdays round (Nicole) and not (Oma, Opa, Emma) to celebrate, and the sunny break from descending winter weather in Portland and Chicago was just perfect.

Whole family enjoying the pool and all the inflatables the house came with...including a giant swan and a riding bull.  I kid you not.  

Lots of family tennis and pickleball.  Here are the cousins playing.  Private tennis court was a dream come true for our tennis playing family especially Lily who enjoyed playing in her pajamas.  It was great to see Opa showing off his strokes and drop shots again.

 Group shot of all 13 of us

81 year old Opa rode a bull...props for trying

https://youtu.be/lApZit95124

Before the magical California getaway, we also celebrated Nicole's big four zero with a big party of friends.  A dance class, good food and dancing were the official fun, but it was really about bringing together all of Nicole's groups of friends - tennis, Social Saturday, Chapman parents, neighbors, Intel - to meet and have a good time.  It all came off without a hitch and maybe took away a bit of the bad taste of rolling into the 40's.

Dance class snapshot

Happy couple right before guests started arriving

Group shot during speeches

It is again hard to believe the holiday season is on us as we plan to head out on the yearly pilgrimage to cut down a tree next weekend and nail down plans for Paul & Elise's 7th birthday parties.  Time is again moving too fast, and as I look out the front window at our neighbor's Christmas lights I add another item to the list of things to do...