Thanks, we had a blast.

We were invited to a beach party.

Last year, Will was in Sam's class. He came to Sam's birthday party and I got to know his parents this summer. The kids have had a few fun play dates since then too.

Every year, Karen and Mike host a party at Stinson Beach. They say, We've got the band, beach, house & 'baisse. You bring the fish, beach toys, family & friends.

We did and had an absolutely fabulous time. We've finally gotten to know enough good people here that when we arrived, we saw friends. Plural. It is a lovely thing.

Sam set to skim boarding right away and was joined by Aeddan and Jarred. At the beach house, they also had small surf boards the kids could try out.

Today, Sam thinks he may want to buy a wet suit. We heard about a place where you can buy used ones (and trade in your old one when it gets too small). We may go check them out today. The boys also had fun digging a hole. The last time I saw it, Sam was standing in it and the sides were up to his knees.

Aeddan's mom, Jayni and I had fun swapping stories of moments of parental panic. You know when all of a sudden, you don't see and can't find your child at the beach or outside the zoo. You are sure they are right there but what if they aren't... We both have had those moments. We talked a bit about surviving their fluke accidents too.

Karen is such a fabulous hostess. She greeted me with an enormous hug then very quickly introduced me to another family who is also new to Tiburon. Before coming to California, Jillian's parents, Peter and Manon, lived in Chicago for 12 years. We talked about the lake, the neighborhoods and that Cameron is there now. I learned that they are originally from Germany.

The song, Ride Sally Ride came on and we started talking about the movie The Commitments and I told them about how we adore the movie Once. Glen Hansard, one of our new favorite musicians, is in both. These new friends and I were on the same wave-length about many things. They were kind, generous and so much fun. I thoroughly enjoyed their company. (photo credit)

The bouillabaisse was extraordinary. Karen and Mike got me cheering with their dancing to Wipe Out. Someone who seemed to have jumped out of a plane, landed near us in a parachute. There were hang gliders flying around above us too. The weather was perfect and the sunset was gorgeous.

We left just as it was getting dark, to make sure we could find our way back to the car, and were surprised to see it was just after 7:30pm. It had been such a full night, we thought it was much later.

It is getting dark earlier. What will we do after daylight savings time?

Well, tonight, we soaked up the sun and cele-
brated the beauty of fall (which is our summer here). Thanks so much for including us, Mike and Karen. We had a blast.