Mother's Day Weekend in Bakersfield

Sometimes this transient lifestyle we lead is crazy hard. But one of the perks is that you connect really deeply with people who are on the same path. Way back when Jonathan started his career in the oil biz, he was relocated to Midland, a small town in west Texas.  It was there that I met fellow transplant, Jill, at the dog park, and a few days later ran into her on a jog in my neighborhood. It turned out we lived just down the block from each other. 

We quickly became buds and kept in touch when they moved to Houston. Six months later we joined them in Houston and picked up our friendship where it left off.  They moved on to Bakersfield, California just before we embarked on a relocation to Aberdeen, Scotland. Jill and I quickly became pen pals and I always cherished her detailed emails. I feel like my responses back to her is where I really started my blog and to this day when I write a blog post, I always imagine in my head that I'm just writing an email to her:) 

In Aberdeen one of the first connections I made was with my buddy Nary. When her husband was transferred from Aberdeen to Bakersfield I made sure to get she and Jill introduced. Turns out they ended up moving down the street from each other and the couples became fast friends themselves. 

Jon and I definitely wanted to go down and visit both families in Bakersfield and decided that Mother’s Day weekend was a good fit for all involved. We drove up Friday afternoon, coinciding the start of our drive with Forest’s naptime. These days he is awesome at falling asleep in the car but these naps usually don’t last more than 40-50 minutes or so. Still, he is a pretty good traveler and kept himself entertained with books, magazines, and toy cars for most of the 4 hour journey. 

We decided to stay with Jill and Brian simply because they have a 2.5 year old and an 11 month old so I knew their house could handle the toddler tornado that is our son. Nary and Gerald’s sweet babe is only 5 months and not quite crawling yet so I can only imagine the havoc Forest would wreak on their pristine and not-yet-baby-proofed home. 

Luckily Jill and Brian were super cool about basically hosting a block party at their house all weekend. They have the perfect house and yard for entertaining and have tons of toys and play structures to keep the littles entertained. Forest was in heaven with all the push toys at his disposal. 

The first night Gerald brought over supplies to grill pizzas and we had a feast. The next day the husbands watched the kiddos so that us girls could get mani/pedis. Nary made a reservation and brought along some red ‘sparkling wine’ and chocolate strawberries as an added bonus. 

Unfortunately, Nary’s reservation was stolen by someone else (!)  so they still got us in right away but we couldn’t sit next to each other while getting pampered. It was still a treat and very relaxing! Thanks for arranging everything Nary! And red sparkling wine? Yum!!! I think I found my new favorite summer drink. 

After mani/pedis and naps we got the older kiddos in the pool for a spell. It had been chilly and overcast that morning so the pool was quite cool. 

Of course Forest is a little fish and didn’t mind the frigid temps one bit, but we still got him out after about 20 minutes to warm up a bit. He had a blast air drying in the sun. 

That night we were treated to another feast of ribs and grilled veggies. I even got to catch up with my friend Megan who I met 10 years ago when visiting my parents in Nigeria. She just moved to Bakersfield and is friends with both Nary and Jill. It was just a fantastic reunion all around. What a small, small world! 

That night we played Cards Against Humanity for a spell after the babies went to bed before hitting the sack ourselves. Nary, Gerald and Ella left early the next morning to see the Houston Rockets play in LA, so unfortunately we didn’t get to see them on Sunday morning. The men made Jill and I (and the kids) pancakes before we packed up and headed back to San Ramon. 

Forest once again took a 45 minute nap right off the bat and then read books and watched Sesame Street for the rest of the ride home. He is really becoming quite a patient little traveler! He did soooooo good. Granted this was an easy trip with lots of babies and toddlers to entertain him and a very kid-friendly house and family to host us- but for a guy who doesn't like to switch his routine up, he did fairly well. 

He had a few episodes of fussiness due to overstimulation but after some quiet cuddle time he’d usually snap out of it. 

For us, it was such an awesome trip. Hanging out with old friends who knew us before we were parents was such a soul-nourishing experience. In this lifestyle, your friends really do become your family and this weekend definitely felt like a family reunion. 

Thanks so much to Jill, Brian, Mirabell and Jacob for letting us crash at your place and keeping us well fed and caffeinated. And thank you to Nary and Gerald for being so flexible and for whipping up delicious feasts for us. Your families and your beautiful kiddos mean the world to us. I can’t wait to see where the next reunion takes place;)