Hello Everyone,

We have had such an amazing month visiting all of our friends and family.  I can't thank everyone enough for putting up with all the Circus in their homes, cars, and farms.  We have missed you all so much and seeing everyone again and getting our fill on all the hugs and laughs that we could possibly get was so fulfilling and wonderful.  Now I need time to get back home and relax, and detox from the wine and all the good food.  I think my system won't know how to process the food that I cook on the boat which consists of one pot meals... chili, spaghetti, soup, chicken, rice... I think that is about it, nothing special there. 

After we left Shasta we had some time with Chris's brother Andreas, Heidi and baby Luca.  They joined us in Shasta as well but it was really nice to have a few nights just to hang at the house with them and we got Luca all to ourselves....

Chris with little nephew Luca... so sweet and cuddly... Luca too.

New Phone finally arrived... Yay... just testing the camera.. .Yep it works :@)

After Andreas and family left we were on our last whirlwind tour of seeing family and friends.  So for the next 5 days we traveled around to a few different homes trying to catch the friends and family that we didn't get to see much of.  Fairfax, Petaluma, Lafayette, Capitola and then back to San Francisco for packing and last minute errands before we go.

Heading over to see the siblings on the other side of the gate we just had to stop and do the tourist thing and take selfies of the bridge... just had to!

Time to start heading over the bridge to see Chris's brother Mike and my sister Morgan on her little farm (so jealous).  We stopped in Fairfax to see Mike and Shannon's new home and to catch up with the kids on a rainy day.  Super fun walking around the little downtown and stop in for some Bikes, Beers and Brats.  After a rehydration we went back for dinner at the house then it was time to move on up the 101 hwy to Morgan and Matt's farm in Petaluma.  

Hee Hee... sorry this was childish of me.... great picture of the brothers though!

So fun to be there and back on the farm again.  I jumped out of the car and ran up the driveway in the dark to help put the little guys to bed.. Dave (the pig) Sonny and Cher (the goats) and the dixie chicks (self explanatory, not sure what their names are I just know one is called banana).  We got to Morgans a little late and settled in for the night after a little chit chat catch up time when the kiddies went to bed and a nice bottle of wine (or two).  The next few days were just hanging out and helping where we could... I mostly took some pictures and hung out but we got to help stack some wood, Alexia covered a short trench and then Lexie, Tristan and I helped Morgan to put up some fencing on her gates... it was just small projects but it felt good to swing a hammer and not worry about dropping it in the water and losing it.  Mykaela and her bestie Sydney joined us for some animal time as well and it was super fun seeing them out there with the beasts... We also got to go and see Matt's shop for his business... Chris got to go spend the day and watch the master artist at work... We are so proud that he is part of our family and Chris can't wait to get home and go play in the shop and weld something spectacular.... I am sure our garden will need some more spinning things when we get home... or maybe even some metal vegetable statues if we are still in a drought around here.  (Morgy we can't wait to come back to the farm and see how far you have come with your sustainable living, so impressive and so much work to get your property all put together and working for you... I know it will be so amazing when you are done... )

A little plug for Matt Devine http://www.mattdevineart.com/  Super cool stuff... 

Alina's Blanket from birth... This blanket has seen more of the world and it shows it... No the animals didn't get a hold of it... This is all from Alina and her love of her blankie.

It is always a great feeling when you see the cousins hanging out and playing together... Family is so important to us and it is really special when everyone gets along so seamlessly... Fun to see all their little imaginations fly!  Silly, Giggle, Silly, Giggle.....

We had a great time visiting big brother Kava and Arielle down in Captiola, Ca.  Mykaela and Kevin joined us as well for a super day of Family Fun.  It was wonderful to see their new home and it is always fun to hang in the little surfing town and eat great food.  We went on a walk to of course a dog beach and then saw a little bit of a surfing competition at steamers.. it was a lot of fun to see them out there and then a little later we had seen that the competition was for 14 year olds and under.... You wouldn't catch me out there that is for sure.  We really miss the family and treasure the time that we get to spend with all of them while we are home.

My legs are tired.... 

We are sad that our time is up but also excited for our next journey to begin... we have lots of exploring left to do and we now realize our time is running out for our 2 year adventure.  We will be in New Zealand until at least May when the weather window will open up for us to set sail for Vanuatu and New Caledonia in June and July and then we will be selling the boat and heading home... only 8 months left and I feel like time is running out already. 

Thank you again to everyone for being you and and making our trip home so warm and full of fun memories... we look forward to our return back to the states and the anticipation and anxiety of trying to re-acclimate into our old lifestyle with a new twist of independence from what hope is our new sense of norm.  

Hugs and love to everyone,

Heath