Finally, after a long quarantine and Kristen bringing a new baby, Elliott, into the world, the aunties were vaccinated and could visit Rosalee and family in North Carolina! I went a couple days early to ease the kiddos into a full house. The highlight was taking Rosalee to her first swim lesson!
Rosalee with Tia Kelly
Family action shot post-swim
Rosalee kept asking, "Is your friend Brittany coming?" Brittany and I hadn't seen her since she was 19 months, on our San Diego trip in early 2020 and Amanda hadn't seen her since our last visit to NC when she was only five months.
The aunties are here!
Mornings at the Brookshire residence would start with reading. Rosalee would run down the stairs calling, "Aunties!" and come jump in bed to read Elephant & Piggie books (these are truly wonderful for adults and young readers alike). If we were really lucky, Elliott would join us, too.
My happy place
C'mon.
After breakfasts of french toast or farmer's market pastries or some other yummy thing topped with fresh strawberries, it was of course playtime.
Playtime with Elliott mostly involved cooing at his cuteness
These two are perfectly paired for a partner yoga pose!
Lizard on a rock
Anything can be a toy
Tummy time
Extreme tummy time
Playing the "Poop Game" Auntie Amanda gifted,
where you match the animal with their poop
Hide and go seek was another crowd favorite. Rosalee would hide under the bed covers every single time with us pretending to look for her inside drawers and under shoes. She'd get so excited to watch us searching for her that she'd throw back the covers and giggle in anticipation. The aunties had to keep upping the ante on their hiding spots, though, and she loved searching as much as she did "hiding".
Sometimes we all want to be a baby again!
Brittany going full court jester
Most days, once we'd get our act together, we'd head to a park. We might go to the local neighborhood park...
The queen and her royal subjects
Big girl sunglasses
The whole crew strolling
...or sometimes we'd drive to the big "green" or "orange" parks.
The aunties in all their refinement
We did a lot of this:
...and this:
And then it was home for lunch and nap and snack times. Then we'd play some more, often watch an episode of Rescue Riders, and get ready for dinner!
Snack time, looking just like her Grammy
This is how Elliott looks at Amanda,
like she's a T-bone steak
This, whatever it was, was a very popular activity
Playing Farmer's Market
The right way to hammock
On our last afternoon together, Daniel busted out the giant dinosaur fountain! Non-stop squeals.
Just a girl and her dinosaur
One night we Zoomed with the other aunties in CA, Pree and Ari, and Rosalee was gobsmacked by Auntie Ari's backyard setup. She kept talking about how she wanted to go play at her house.
It was such lovely weather, we'd often eat outside. A couple nights we ordered in (pizza and tacos) and other nights we'd cook. Barbecuing burgers was a particularly fun night!
Ruby on the prowl
Becca sent us Levain cookies, Amanda's favorite!
One night we braved dinner out - their first with both kids post-quarantine! - at a favorite local Indian restaurant called Vimala's.
Flashback to the last time we were at Vimala's together in 2018
Bath time was always a fun affair. If Rosalee invited you to bath time or bedtime stories, it was like getting picked first in gym.
After the kids went to bed, we'd chat, listen to the birds (even an owl!), play games, and a couple nights Daniel got the fire pit going. One night we gathered for Kristen's favorite, Scattergories, and another we played five rounds of 20 Questions around the fire pit. I think I won for hardest/most random with "man hole cover". Still, Daniel guessed it!
Still playing Scattergories together, 16 years later
An ongoing joke over the weekend was making fun of Amanda for having referred to herself very formally in a birthday video she sent Rosalee as "Aunt Amanda" even though they call her "Auntie Manda". This turned into us calling her "Auntie Amahnda" with the Queen's accent and saying things like "Auntie Amahnda insists upon [fill in hoity-toity quirk here]."
Rosalee, sharp as she is, caught on. One day she turned to Amanda and said, "Auntie Manda, sometimes we call you [she dropped her voice an octave and put on a British accent] Auntie Amaaaahnda." We were dying laughing at how spot-on she understood the joke!
Y'all get it. After well over a year apart, and such a tough year at that, this was incredibly special time together. Every snuggle, every belly laugh was paired with immense gratitude. What a beautiful long weekend we had!
And finally, a few Rosalee quotes:
Referring to a woman with ripped jeans: "Why are her pants broken?"
In response to asking if she wants to do a certain activity: "Of course!"
Pointing directly at Brittany: "I spy a big...neck neck!" (It's important to note that Rosalee calls necklaces "neck necks," but still.)
And I'll leave you with our favorite, Rosalee's complete non-sequitur:
The first week in May, Maryana and I headed south for a five-day road trip to Ojai and Santa Barbara. No remote work - just five days of pools and sunshine and spa days and ocean waves and fancy dinners.
First, we spent two nights at the Ojai Valley Inn, which is a completely worthwhile splurge. The best word to describe the property is expansive - the antithesis to how many of us have felt this past year, cooped up in our homes under quarantine. This is a pictures-speak-louder-than-words kind of place.
One of several pools on the property
Huge oak trees everywhere
Gorgeous Spanish-inspired architecture throughout
Dinner at The Oak on property
Our full day there we made a spa day, both of us getting massages and facials for the first time in over a year, spending the remaining hours by one of the spa pools. A highlight was ordering poolside food - they'd bring it on a pop-up tray and place it right over your legs in your lounge chair. The service was fantastic.
Much of our days were spent lounging in the shade of our giant umbrellas by the pools, sipping margaritas, reading, napping. It was not a bad time.
Not all the Ojai Valley Inn restaurants were reopened post-COVID yet, so one night we went out to dinner in Ojai at Osteria Monte Grappa, which we'd highly recommend! Everyone was so laid back and friendly in Ojai - we loved the vibe.
After enjoying the pools one last day well beyond checkout, we headed to Santa Barbara and checked into the Kimpton Canary downtown.
First stop was dinner at Loquita, which we absolutely loved. This was probably our favorite meal of the trip, as it was so unexpectedly fun and delicious!
Cocktails at Loquita
The next day we spent exploring Montecito: enjoying brunch, perusing the shops (especially Jenny Kayne and Lost Horizon Bookstore), hiking the Ennisbrook trail, rubbernecking every driveway to catch sight of the wondrous houses hidden from view, and driving by Ellen's house.
After a rest, we returned to Montecito that night for dinner at Caruso's at the Rosewood Miramar Beach Hotel. We ate an incredible three-course (with an extra pasta course added on for good measure) Italian prix fixe dinner within a stone's throw of the ocean. Looking it up before we arrived, the place had looked so fancy that we joked we were going to celebrate our 20th anniversary.
The best surprise of the evening was when Maryana said, "Hey, is that Rashida Jones?" She was just one table over from ours, and within direct line of sight for Maryana all evening. We enjoyed pretending to take selfies to snap this one, as well as imagining what new project she was discussing with her Hollywood friends.
The weather was less than optimal the next day, but we made the most of it with visits to the Botanical Gardens and the Mission Rose Garden.
For our last afternoon we decided to go back to Rosewood for a drink.
And who did we find stalking us? Yep, Rashida Jones again. Just one set of chairs over. She couldn't get enough of us!
After our final dinner at The Lark, it was time to head back home. We had such a fun, recharging week together!
