Neverending Story

O is fairly obsessed with stories, both hearing and telling them. For naps, he frequently wants one of us to lie down with him and tell him a story beforehand. Then when that one is finished, he wants another. A few months ago, we had the idea to ask him to tell us a story instead, and that's been the beginning of Owen's storytelling career. A few weeks ago he started telling stories about when he was born -- examples included "When I was born, I drove that bus" (while pointing to a passing city bus). Today's was a bit more elaborate: "Once upon a time, there were two boys named O and Z, and their two grownups were named mommy and daddy. They all went to have sushi, and then they went to the park. And then they went home and went to sleep." Solid three act structure right there.

Video games unleavened

Straight from one trip to another! Meh and I returned from an excellent London holiday on Sunday afternoon, and first thing Monday I was on a plane down to San Francisco for a conference. Due to scheduling restrictions with Moscone, the Game Developers Conference was booked to coincide with both Passover and Good Friday this year. On the first night, friends A and E invited me to their lovely family seder; it was great to be able to be with friends and observe a meaningful start to the holiday. The next day was the full-day tutorial I've run for now twelve straight years (yes, I still coordinated it the year I couldn't attend due to some kind of family thing :), but after it completed, I was off to an unofficial Game Developers Passover Seder, held at the open art space of YetiZen (ironically while YetiZen themselves were co-hosting an IGDA party elsewhere that received some negative publicity). It was again a nice drawing together of the fairly disparate community of video game developers who observe (or in some cases were just curious about) Passover. There's a nice blog post on the seder here.

Huge thanks to both the overall event planners and my company's own awesome event planner, both of whom secured kosher-for-Passover meals for breakfasts and lunches during the week.

Ditching the date

London-town! It seems like I was just here last month. Oh, because I was. But this time I was accompanied by a lovely lady -- yes, it was Meh's long-awaited return to her favorite (favourite) city! Grandma and J had graciously offered to fly in for the week and watch the boys back at home while we jetset across to the UK. I had work meetings and such, but Meh of course found fabulous ways to spend the days in my absence, and we had some great experiences together as well. We arrived on St. Patrick's Day which, while surprisingly not nearly as big of a thing as it is in the states, still features a giant crazy parade that ends right down the street from our hotel (thank goodness we took the Tube rather than a taxi!). We tried to explore, but the pedestrian density (and the rain/umbrellas) kept us away; we ended up just walking through Covent Garden, then caught up with friends N and S and their boys J and R, followed by a grownups only dinner at an excellent kosher curry establishment.

The next day, we had a lovely breakfast in St. James Park at the aptly named Inn the Park, before setting off to play tourist at a fabulous museum I've walked past multiple times without even noticing, the Churchill War Rooms -- bunkers used during World War II that are now a surprisingly large museum. Then we set off for what I think Meh managed to acquire nearly every day of our visit, some excellent civilised afternoon tea, at our favorite royal establishment. Alas, while we knew the forecast was for rain and had brought our umbrellas, our choice to walk across the four parks needed to get to our favorite spot was met with first a drizzle, then rain, then a downpour, followed by thunder, lightning, hail, and sleet. We were pretty much soaked to the bone by the time we arrived at the Orangery, but warmed up nicely with some earl grey.

To the title of this post -- we'd really hoped to catch The Book of Mormon in London, and were disappointed to learn beforehand that it was totally sold out (it had just opened). However, I saw that they do a pre-show raffle of returned tickets, and as it was just about the time that we'd gotten back from our tea, we wandered over to the theater. It was really a fun event, with people clustered on the sidewalk while two humorous entertainers from the theater (I never did find out if they were involved in the production) encouraged/harassed people to complete their raffle entries and drop them into the metal cage raffle box. Finally, they started drawing names, and everyone celebrated the winners, who marched inside to purchase their tickets. On the raffle request form, you got to indicate whether you wanted 1 or 2 tickets, and of course everyone had been selecting two, so it wasn't a huge surprise when they indicated there were an odd number left, and finally they were down to what they termed a "ditch the date" situation, with a single ticket left. Meh and I had agreed early on that if only one of us won, she would go and I'd meet up with her after the show. The single ticket winner they drew... was not us. The winner came up and gallantly indicated that he could not ditch the date; he received a lovely parting prize of a Book of Mormon frog. The next name they drew... was me! Before I could even make my way up to the front, Meh gleefully belted out "I'm ditching him!!" to much laughter and applause from the audience. I too got a frog for being ditched, and queued to get the ticket. The raffle-holders closed the doors and were still chuckling about Meh's comment as I paid. Then the ticket seller told me that there had actually been one additional late return ticket - not near where Meh was sitting, but would I still like it? But of course! So I got a frog and both of us got to see the show, catching up at the break with each other. Score! And great fun; I actually ended up sitting next to two other Americans (coincidentally one of their children is a student at my alma matter on a London semester exchange) who were having a great time - I started telling them how I got my tickets, and they commented "Oh, your wife was the one who yelled, 'I'm ditching him!' when your name was called." -- they hadn't won the raffle, but had managed to buy some returned tickets.

No need to go blow-by-blow through the whole trip (I know, too late), but a few more highlights included touring and a lovely tea at the impressive Wallace Collection, a second excellent show ("Once", where the stage is a bar -- no really, they serve drinks before the show and at intermission), tasty morsels from the Borough Market, visiting with friends T and B (and their Z-aged son T, who we've known since the boys were both infants) near Reading, and Meh even got to experience one of friend N's excellent student programs, an in-person tour that tied British Museum Egyptian artifacts to the Passover/Exodus story.

Along the way, we were of course thinking about the boys frequently and checking in with grandma and J to learn that they were having an excellent time (there might be pictures, though I suspect they'll be locked on grandma's camera for some time :) We of course stocked up on both chocolates (O's permanent expectation for returning from any trip) and transport-themed materials from the London Transport Museum, but also took a number of pictures of British vehicles for the boys to look at when we get back -- I expect this is the one they will be most excited about, the 747 jumbo jet that will shortly be taking us back home! It's been an amazing and wonderful trip (full album here), but it will be good to get back to them (alas for me, for all too short a time; I'm back on a plane tomorrow for the Game Developers Conference in San Francisco -- and for the start of and most of Passover no less, ugh!). Huge thanks once more to grandma and J for spending a full and likely exhausting week with the boys and their hectic schedules!

Down the stunky roo-a-bah

It makes no sense, but "Down the stunky roo-a-bah" is the new song that Zachary and Owen will ask each other sing frequently, generally to the tune of 'London Bridge', occasionally adding a bit of swing/syncopation to the end of the phrase, and then punctuating each verse with "my... fair... [something they think is silly -- an animal, a vehicle type, a name, etc.]". In trying to decode the title's origin, I tried asking them a few pronunciation variants to see if I was just misunderstanding, but O insisted, "No, daddy, it's 'down the *stunky* woo-a-bah!'" I then asked what it meant, to which O replied, "Well, 'down a stunky' is the first name. And 'woo-a-bah' is the last name." So never mind, it all makes perfect sense now.

Fire Works

O's birthday proper was Friday, but we had a nice weekend celebration this morning with a few of O's friends. Of course, Meh outdid herself once more -- O had this year requested a fire truck, and an awesome one was created. He'd been talking all week about how he'd eat the ladder (not even bothering to find out what it was going to be made of), and assigning other parts for consumption - papa would get a wheel, Z would get the front, etc. Alas, O has grown to expect so much of mommy's creations that when she unveiled the completed cake (but prior to adding the final attachments, including the ladder), O looked at it and simply said: "where is the ladder"? All the while Z was smiling and jumping around, excitedly talking about how it was a fabulous fire truck cake.

Nevertheless, with ladder (and a fondant hose - dude!) properly attached, both boys and all of the guests were gushing over the cake. If you're wondering, O ended up abandoning his plan and, soon after happy birthday, proceeded to pluck off all of the flashing lights (Dots candies), and also ate a fire truck wheel (fondant). Meh had an awesome full theme going as well, with kids getting to make their own food art fire trucks, with big rectangular cracker frames, cucumber wheels, red cream cheese "paint", corn chex windows, pretzel ladder segments, and more. O made the excellent version pictured above. Did I mention even the other snacks were all fire truck themed, with burning logs (pretzels dipped in white chocolate with colored sugar), fire truck wheels (oreo cookies on sticks dipped in dark chocolate), and more? Awesomeness. Best. Mommy. Evar.

Great fun was had by all, and I don't even think there were any meltdown moments among the attendees. Happy extended third birthday once more to Mister O -- the celebration continues for one more day tomorrow with a special mima and papa trip to Tacoma's rumored-to-be-excellent zoo/aquarium!

Bunk Mates

As a special birthday present, we finally transferred the top mattress in Z's bunk bed back to the top bunk so O could sleep "up high". (As you may recall, it's been sitting on the floor where O has been having slumber parties nearly every night.) Alas, he bailed on it the first night and ended up sleeping back in his own room (a very rare event for Mister O). But last night O talked all the way home about sleeping in the top bunk, and after bathtime and a few stories, he eagerly climbed up the ladder all by himself. He got snuggly with another of his birthday presents, the ladybug equivalent to Zachary's turtle night light. A short bit of chatting later, both boys were conked out in actual beds, Z's floor once again accessible to all.

I forgot to mention, Meh also had our amazing organizer friend S come over while I was out of town, and the boys' playroom and other converted areas are now complete. We have a newly smaller but cozy bathroom, a separate laundry room (soon to be supplemented with fancy organized wall shelving), a bunch more space freed up in the furnace room (which is now a more proper pantry), a cozy understairs 'office' space for Meh, and of course the boys' aforementioned new playroom and hidey hole. Everyone is very pleased with the changes and updates, and we all feel like we've gotten some fun new spaces to explore and use.

Today I am fhree!

Happy third birthday to Mister O! He's been talking about it for the past few weeks with anyone who asks. A sample commentary: "Well, right now I am two. Actually, I am going to be fhree. I will be fhree on March 8!" This morning, mommy made him sprinkle pancakes and we all sang happy birthday. Strategically waiting until after Z went to school, we gave him one of his presents, which (shock of shocks) was a car. Then at his nanny L's house, all of the girls and he had cupcakes (courtesy of mommy), which L then added three little candles to. The dad of one of the girls who can't attend his party this weekend stopped by my office to drop off her gifts, two more cars (we haven't quite been brave enough to give him these vehicles yet). And when I went to pick him up from L's after work, she had given him gifts as well: 5 more cars (well, two were monster trucks). Hey, at least everyone knows what he likes! We then had Shabbat dinner at friends M and A's house, where O once again got to hear a rendition of happy birthday with a piece of chocolate pie featuring "3" and "O" candles. A very exciting third birthday celebration that will stretch throughout the weekend, and even into Monday as mima and papa plan to take him out for a full day of fun with them!

What's up doc

Today was Owen's three year wellness checkup with his pediatrician. Meh reported that he kept asking when he'd be seeing Doctor R (his dentist), but had some good interactions with Dr. P., and overall everything is looking very good. I asked him about the experience tonight and he said she looked at his teeth. I asked if she'd also looked at his eyes and ears, and he replied "No, just my ears."
The stats:

• Weight: 31 lbs (50th percentile)
• Height: 37" (50-75th percentile)
• BMI: 25-50%

Deep thoughts, by O

Home! I'm back from my whirlwind trip to both Jerusalem and London. It was so good to spend time with friends T, S, and their kids M, R, and A in Jerusalem, and to visit with N, S, J, and R in London. And my conference went very well. But home is goodness. Meh captured a list of O quotes while I was gone - she reported that some of the most excellent comments Owen had occurred at 5 in the morning (and thus weren't recorded), but here are some daytime and pen-at-hand ones:

"Can I have some? Cuz I do sure like it."

"I can't see you cuz I closed my eyes."

"Mommy, you are the beautiful princess"

"They're 5, they're 6, they're ninety ten, Thomas and his friends!" (actual lyric: "They're 2, they're 4, they're 6, they're 8")

Extreme Pond Jumping

Close college friends T and S and their super fun kids M, R, and A moved to Israel several months ago, and when I learned I'd be speaking at a conference in London, I figured that would be close by and a good opportunity to try to see them beforehand. Alas, my European geography apparently failed me slightly, as this meant a 5+ hour flight (and another 2 hour time change forward) less than 18 hours after I landed in London. Still, I got to get into London, have dinner with friends N, S, and their boys J and R, and then hop the Tube the next morning back to Heathrow, getting to friends T and S's house in Jerusalem by early afternoon!

Being in Israel was definitely a change from my last visit, which was more than 20 (!) years ago. The airport is gorgeous; in addition to the self-proclaimed largest duty-free shopping by square footage in the world, there was a giant mezuzah greeting travelers. T and S live in Baq'a, very near where I was based when I came to Israel in high school. In fact, on our first evening, we drove past the new home of the education facility where I'd stayed (which is now the second story of a car dealership). The visit was a nice combination of visiting with the family, playing tourist, lite shopping on Ben Yehuda Street, admiring impressive indoor and outdoor artwork at the Israel Museum, eating excellent kosher meaty food (the big new thing in Israel is apparently fancy burgers with dozens of different sauce options; they looked disappointed when I just asked for ketchup), and getting a brief dose of immersion with R's evening school activities, a doctor's office visit, and general hanging out. It was so great to get to spend time with friends as they adjust to living in a new country and culture. Of course I couldn't leave without a few souvenirs for the boys: a kippah with Pixar Cars, and another with Curious George. Oh, and some rugelach from an excellent bakery. Full pics here.

Back to London, where I had a good and productive conference, and got to see my friends once more before I head back to the US. A good but exhausting trip; very happy to be getting ready to board the plane back!

Slumber party

O has been, shall we say, exploring his sleeping options in the past week or two; last week, he apparently ended up in Z's bed, which Z was none too pleased about. Meh found Z quietly sitting (sulking?) on his stuffed bear seat at a concerningly late hour when she got home from work. And a few times in the past week, I've put him to bed only to have him open his door and then both boys to dash back and forth between bedrooms - this was particularly frazzling when I was solo while Meh was at a conference. So in some ways last night's experiment was bound to occur sooner or later: O was climbing into Z's bed during story time, insisting he wanted to sleep with Z. So Meh pulled down the mattress from the top bunk onto the floor, brought in O's blankies, and the experiment began. We almost immediately had a Berenstain Bears moment when the boys simultaneously declared that they wanted the lights on (Z) and the lights off (O), but managed to make peace with the compromise of the lights off but Z using his night sky-projecting turtle. We heard a very cute conversation from downstairs, but they did indeed both go to sleep in the same room successfully. Perhaps this is the start of a shared bedroom?

Hidey Hole

O had his bi-annual dental exam today, and Meh reports that he did fabulous with all of the related activities. His favorite parts were getting to brush the teeth of a pink dinosaur (with a giant toothbrush) and of course picking out a toy at the end of the visit. He also did great with the various parts of the exam, including his very first x-rays, where he got to wear the heavy vest (when I asked him if the heavy blanket was okay to wear, he said "it wasn't a blanket daddy, it was a jacket!") and hold said dinosaur while biting down on the film and everything. Actually, he was very intent on bringing home a toy for Z as well, so they gave him a second token - what a thoughtful brother! His teeth themselves were healthy, though it seems pretty clear already that some kind of orthodontics may be in his future; the x-ray that came home had some pretty seriously skewed baby boy teeth.

The remodel continues to progress, and the boys' "hidey hole" is just about complete. They're huge fans, both spending a fair amount of time bringing toys and pillows into it. Hopefully all of the downstairs will be wrapped up soon as well; as Zachary continues to remind us, "there's NO POTTY downstairs!" There's also an impressive pile of what used to be in the new hidey hole space that we need to weed through, including high school and college documents as well as plenty of other detritus that one collects when they have an attic to store things in. Meh and I have been trying to take quick tours down memory lane when the boys allow - today I found a Microsoft newsletter from when I was an intern there (yes, they used to have a printed 'newspaper') and some college pictures. Hard to believe this stuff is more than 15 years old!

Let's close with a video; one of the final items that came in the excellent Costco Disneyland vacation bundle was a gift card to the Disney Store. Meredith went over there earlier this week and picked up some excellent Buzz (O) and Woody (Z) pajamas for the boys. They were pleased to say the least, as demonstrated by their high energy bedtime, um, sprint:

Tear down this wall

With a major renovation to at least three rooms about to start, we're going to have workers going up and down the stairs. This meant that it was time to at least temporarily pull down the safety gates that have been fixtures at the top and bottom of the stairs for years. We actually pulled them down for nearly a week when Z was around three, but then O started to crawl/walk, and back up they went. As to the renovations themselves, we're pretty excited even if they're mostly minor rooms -- we're fixing up the bathroom and mudroom (the previous owner was apparently a, um, self fixer-upper, with varying quality results - highlighted recently by tiles cracking and/or starting to come up from the floor), moving the washer/dryer from the furnace room to the bathroom (hopefully opening up some storage space), and perhaps most exciting for the boys, finishing out the little subattic into a tiny room that will be an extension to the guest bedroom (which itself will be turning into their playroom). So a fair amount of change is coming - look for pictures when things start to shape up!

A California Adventure

We are back and on the road to sleep recovery after an excellent but exhausting trip to southern California with mima and papa. We'd long wanted to get the boys to Disneyland, and with Owen only having a few more months before he would become a paying customer, that time was now. The plane tickets were prohibitively expensive until mere weeks before the trip (a big JetBlue sale was brought to my attention even more recently that would've knocked down the fares further - ah well), but we finally found a reasonable fare and got our first taste of the newish uber-trendy airline. Costco Travel also helped out with a fine bundle of hotel plus park tickets plus fun extras.

The boys dug the trendy pinkish overhead lighting in the plane, which of course followed the usual exposure to multiple modes of transportation: Z got off his school bus on the last day before break to get in our car, then take a shuttle into the airport, a couple of elevators, a walk through security, play time at the terminal, and of course the airplane proper, followed by more escalators, a baggage claim, and then a shuttle ride to Anaheim.

The driver complimented our hotel as being very close to the park. He was not kidding - it is literally the closest you can stay to the pedestrian entrance, and the next morning, after a filling continental breakfast, we were into the park by around 8:05 am. The park was shockingly quiet (it had apparently rained the previous day, keeping the crowds down) and fully decked out for the holidays (with faux snow on the castle's turrets), and we managed to quite nearly walk straight onto Peter Pan (the boys are still talking about the "pirate ship" ride as their favorite) then hit a line-free Fantasyland carousel, Dumbo flying circling elephants, the similarly functioning Tomorrowland rockets, Buzz Lightyear, Pirates of the Caribbean (O was distraught by the talking parrot at the very beginning, and covered his ears through much of the rest of the ride; Z was mostly concerned about the early splashing, where both he and I got a little wet - but overall both boys seemed to like the pirates, boats, and music), the Haunted Mansion (impressively fully updated for the holidays with a "Nightmare before Christmas" theme), and the train ride around the entire park. Papa and I even got to ride the Indiana Jones ride while mima, mommy, and the boys went on the jungle cruise. Then, with our main initial goals accomplished, it was time for lunch. And it was only 11 am.

As seen in the pictures, the boys were wearing some excellently cute matching Buzz Lightyear sweatshirts that mommy had gotten them for Chanukah - it was amusing to see the number of Disney employees who greeted them both as "Buzz" or "Space Ranger". In the afternoon, we continued to hit a few rides until O conked out (clutching bits of a Mickey Mouse cookie no less), at which point we mostly moved into strolling-the-park-mode. We eventually parked at a spot outside of the castle to watch the twice-daily parade; O impressively slept through the very loud music and floats, while Z seemed only mildly interested in the parade until the Toy Story characters grabbed his attention with appearances near the tail end of the route.

Los Angeles friends M & L and their kids C and I were coincidentally across the street at California Adventure for the day, so we decided to meet up for dinner in Downtown Disney; on the way papa ducked into the giant Disney Store to redeem one of the many coupons in the Costco package, for a set of (Cars-themed) Disneyland pins and lanyard pass-holders that the boys would wear for the rest of the LA trip. Z conked out as we strolled, so he missed the Lego Store's epic Buzz, Woody, and Beauty & the Beast displays - O was very pleased to see the various shuttle buses and of course the passing monorail cars. Dinner itself was a bit rough; the restaurant does a 'monsoon' every 20-30 minutes that startled the kids despite our warnings, and Z woke up a bit disoriented and cranky. It was still very good to catch up with M & L before heading back into the park for the fireworks (and bonus rides of Buzz Lightyear, the updated Finding Nemo (previously 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea) submarine, Winnie the Pooh, and snack time). The fireworks turned out to be a dud, they scrubbed them 5 minutes in due to high winds, but the boys were both very happy and pretty wiped with an epic first day behind us.

For day two we adjusted our plans (originally we'd wanted to save the new Cars Land for the afternoon, figuring the boys wouldn't want to leave); based on the success of the early entrance, we decided to get into California Adventure early to knock out as many sights as we could before our booked 'character experience' lunch with Goofy and friends. Good call because the crowds were already way up from the previous day, and there was a giant queue just to get Fast Passes (!) for the big new Radiator Springs Racers ride. We went right into the very cool Cars Land, which is an impressive life-size rendering of the town from the first film. The boys had an immediate opportunity to meet Lightning - O ran immediately to his back, I think either hoping to push him or perhaps climb up on his trunk? Anyway, the boys were big fans of the talking and eye-movement-animated McQueen. We then rode some of the Cars Land rides: the hydrofoil Luigi's Tires and the wildly spinning Mater's Tractor Pull (mima was a late scratch for that ride once she saw what was involved), both of which the boys thoroughly enjoyed. We exited the second ride to find that Mater had replaced Lightning at the Cozy Cone for photo ops, so one more queue to get our pictures with him. (Z, upon touching Mater's rusting frame: "Mater is a little bit dirty!") Afterwards, we walked through more of Cars Land and appreciated the many little touches (I liked that all drinks there are served in orange traffic cone containers), before the music moved O enough to get him and mommy dancing - a cast member even complemented his moves.

We then headed onward to the Paradise Pier, a boardwalk full of rides and games, where papa took Z on his very first rollercoaster (he loved it) and the kids had a blast on the slightly dizzying giant ferris wheel with gondolas on separate tracks that caused them to slide around as the ferris wheel went up and down. (This was the first and only ride I noticed to have prominently displayed motion sickness bags, in a pocket inside the gondola.) We then doubled back to "a bug's land" for some kid-friendly bumper cars.

Then it was lunch time (again, before 11 am), so we exited the park and strolled the length of Downtown Disney to the original Disneyland Hotel, home of Goofy's Kitchen. The boys mostly had a nice time even if the actual eating was at a minimum; O was initially very shy/mildly scared of the life-size characters - before being seated, you get your picture with Goofy, and ours features O's face buried in mommy's shoulder. But he did much better once the staff brought him a "bravery" button (again, both boys added these to their increasingly adorned Buzz sweatshirts), and even gave Chip a nice hug. The meal itself was nice, with a large buffet of kid-friendly food (I particularly liked that many of the stations were positioned at their height) and a steady stream of photo op visits with Goofy, Pluto, Baloo, Chip, Dale, and the Mad Hatter. (My favorite moment was when Z asked the Mad Hatter what his favorite vehicle was; he hesitated for a moment, then answered a very Disney-appropriate "Lightning McQueen!")

The afternoon featured more rides, including the fancy stereoscopic 3D "Toy Story" ride (I tried to explain how it worked to O, but he was much happier just watching me "play" the ride). O then conked out through yet another parade (this time the Pixar-themed one at California Adventure), Z and I rode on a number of other rides, we walked around Cars Land some more (where Mater, McQueen, and a slightly more obscure Cars character made appearances), then O woke up in time for the repeat performance of the parade, which both boys enjoyed immensely. Then mima and papa generously took the boys out for dinner so Meh and I could have a slightly more grownup meal -- at the same place we went on our third anniversary trip to Disneyland, six and a half years ago! It was a wonderful ending to our time in the Magic Kingdom.

The next morning we headed back into Los Angeles, where O was thrilled to be able to pick out which rental car we drove out of the lot (a shiny red one) for a day of visiting with friends (at a local park) followed by driving out to Malibu for both tasty cupcakes and a drive-by visit to two of mima, papa, and Meh's previous residences. We then relaxed at the hotel for a bit, where Z decided he wanted to head for pajamas early; I stayed with him while everyone else fought epic Friday night rush hour traffic to find some conveyor-belt sushi; O was apparently a big hit with the restaurant staff.

Our last day featured visits to our favorite restaurant supplier (O picked out sprinkles; mima and papa some utensils; Meh some lovely-looking chocolate and cocoa), my new favorite tea makers (Meh picked out five fabulous types, including a new favorite alternative to hot chocolate), and then another brunch at friend E's house - huge thanks to her for hosting us! The boys were beyond stir crazy, so we took them to another fabulous park for a bit more playtime before hitting my traditional pre-LAX-flight meal, where we sat at an outdoor table with a fabulous view of both incoming planes and the many cars/trucks queued up for the drive-thru. Then a bit of time in the thankfully not-too-crowded terminal, and we were back in the air for our flight back. Again, a wonderful and exhausting trip, with many great memories - but as both O and Z were saying, "first blue car, then home".