Quick, before I forget.

This weekend was family fantastic. Ashley and Jeff arrived late Friday night, and we wanted to go to bed but were too distracted catching up. I set the alarm for me and Ashley to wake up early for the shower that my mom threw me from CT. My aunts had sent me boxes chock full of baby goods over the last few weeks, and it was my mom's brilliant idea to open them over Skype while she served up a French Toast casserole and filled their mimosas. We quickly put on dresses and our glasses, but no makeup and our hair was all mussed up.

It was essential that Ashley was here for my virtual shower- made it much less lonely. When we signed off, we sat on my bed and dished about pregnancy. Then we both went back to sleep. These days I'm up early right on through the weekends. I'm a great sleeper but I always wake up when it gets light out and feel that I should seize the day. Being an early bird isn't so bad, but sleeping in seems so enticing and indulgent. Sometimes I wish I could just sleep all morning.

When we finally got up, we helped Jeff get on his way to Sasquatch (with borrowed camping gear and ever-useful garbage bags), and went to get Saturday morning scones and Americanos. Since we were on a schedule to get out of dodge, we got ours to go. Then we parked in the driveway, eating in silence.

Ashley thinks my belly is "so cool" and can't believe how hard it is; she kept feeling it, and she is one of the few people with license to do that all day. At first when she tried to feel some fetal action, she said it was like waiting at the zoo for the bears to wake up and do something worthwhile. She definitely got to feel some baby hiccups and acrobatics over the last few days.

Our weekend in central WA was great, except Dave's allergies hit hard and basically put him out of commission. Ashley led a mini-boot camp for me and Julie on Sunday, then we went on a hike through rolling hills with some of the others. We hung around with the ladies while the guys played Frisbee golf, monkey balls, and cribbage. For dinner we ate chicken falling off the bone, from the homemade cinder block smoker. We all brought side dishes- fruit salad, potato salad, quinoa salad, and cole slaw. We ate s'mores and my homemade brownies for dessert around the campfire. Ashley later asked if I they were really from scratch, because she didn't know I baked (I do, sometimes).

Although Dave and Jeff were sort of out of the picture, it gave me and Ashley a lot of time together. I feel like I have money in the bank, or a full tank of gas, after spending the long weekend with her. Jeff returned from Sasquatch late on Monday, sunburnt and satisfied. They left this morning as we bid them a fond farewell.