Family Miscellany

Steve and I went down to Southern California a couple weeks ago to hang out with my parents. My brother Jim and his fiancee Brooke coordinated the visit with us so that we could all spend some time together.

In an exciting bonding activity, my mom and Brooke sort my parents' CD collection:

Jim gives me stink-eye for taking a picture while he does his homework (he's gone back to school to study computer programming, his first degree is in mechanical engineering) and Steve assembles storage boxes for the aforementioned stash of CD's:

Steve zests limes for key lime pie preparation:

Brooke and Steve "working" on said pie:

My aunt (my father's sister) and uncle visited, which was the first time I'd seen them in nearly a decade. My mom set up a nice lunch for us all in their front room:

(me looking nervous for some reason, Aunt Teri, Brooke and Jim)

(Jim, Uncle Bob, Mom and Dad brandishing dessert fork)

We stopped in to visit briefly with Steve's brother Philip (while dropping off a planer for him to borrow). Philip's boys demonstrate their father's sturdiness for our viewing pleasure:

Later that evening, I sit around casually in my wedding dress (and a bunch of my mom's jewelry) as one does on a typical Saturday night:

I was trying on the wedding dress to see how it fit after 9 years. It was actually a little loose, but still pretty close. My parents had been storing it, but I finally took the dress home with me as I plan to get it altered (shortened and possibly dyed or re-lined) so that I can wear it around (since I am presuming I won't have need for another wedding dress in my lifetime).

*          *          *

On my brother's birthday (the big 3-0) this past week, Steve and I accompanied Jim, Brooke and their friend Patrick to the Chabot Space & Science Center in the hills above Oakland.

Steve and Patrick give the "black hole" demo a whirl:

Patrick, Brooke, Jim and Steve enjoy the plasma globe:

I am ready for space travel (in that I technically fit in a Mercury space capsule):

Observatory grounds:

I read about and admire one of several telescopes:

My hair has been thinning somewhat dramatically for awhile now, but I was still taken aback by the hair loss at the crown visible in that last picture. Eh, who needs hair anyway? One of these days I'll just buzzcut the whole darn mess.

We are awesome at selfies:

More exciting adventures undoubtedly to come as summer heats up...