March was....AWESOME

March is usually one of the toughest months of the year for me - the gloom feels like it will never, ever end and without a Winter Escape this year I had little expectation this one would be anything but depressing. So imagine my surprise and delight when it turned out to be one of the better ones thanks to the Guanci family and a trip to the ballet.

First, the Guancis. Myk and Mel brought their beautiful boy Greysen out to see us for a long weekend and it was absolute perfection. Not only is Greysen one of the most charming 8-month-olds you'll ever encounter, it was such a treat to see my old friends evolve into utterly devoted and amazing parents. Lily has always referred to Myk as "you mean MY Myk?" and the trip was made better by the fact that she still got LOTS of special play time with them both. Myk taught her the joys of a Thumb War and Mel transformed a car seat box into "Lily's Princess Boat"....which Lily insisted on giving rides to Sammy in (he later peed on the boat in a show of defiance). It was fantastic to see Lily with Greysen as well. She definitely let us know when TOO much attention was being paid to him, but all in all she handled being around a sprout non-stop all weekend like an old pro - giving us hope for how she'll be as a big sis as well as teaching us what to look for when she's not so keen on the job.

My favorite quotes from their visit:

• "MOMMY! THIS PLACE IS RIDICULOUS!" complete with hand gestures when Myk, Mel, Greysen and I introduced her to The Rainforest Cafe.


• "Wrappers!" Her response when I asked her what she will keep in the Ranforest Cafe candy treasure box when she was done with the candy

After their visit we still had some fun left. Since The Nutcracker has always been such a hit, we took her to see the ballet version of Pinocchio. True to form, her comments caught me off guard and cracked us up...

• "Mommy! Daddy! Where's Ariel?" when King Poseidon began the underwater dance with the mermaids


• "I hope she doesn't get cold!" when she noticed one of the puppet show dancers had a bare midriff


• "But those boys are NAUGHTY!" observing the kids in front of her after I congratulated her on her excellent behavior

Here's to many more Marches like this one...gloom I can handle when it comes with good times and good friends.