Update

Here's the latest...

Not too much has changed for us in the last couple of weeks. We've been very busy with Heather, Dan, and little Parker. We're over there just about every weekday; weekends, with Dan at home, we've been trying to leave them alone. (Dan went back to work last Monday.)

Parker continues to thrive. She has two nicknames: Perfect Parker, and Parker the porker. That little kid can really eat. You can hear her gulping clear across the room. Heather and Dan say that she sleeps roughly four hours at a time, all night long. When she wakes up to nurse in the night, she nurses and goes right back to sleep. I'm not sure they realize how fortunate they are.

Last Friday, we moved from Anaheim, just up the road from Disneyland, to a beautiful, little-known RV park in Long Beach. This place is right on the water, less than a mile from the Aquarium of the Pacific and all of the other shops and restaurants in the Pike, surrounding the aquarium and the convention center. We really like staying here: we have a place looking out over the harbor, it's quiet, close to where Sherry lives and significantly closer to Heather and Dan.

Looking out our back window at the Golden Shore Marine Reserve

The Queen Mary; this shot was taken just around the corner from the RV park.

In fact, we liked staying here so much that we just extended our stay here another two weeks. We'd already decided to stick around awhile longer. With Parker spending so much time in the NICU, she, Dan and Heather are still getting to know one another and settle into a routine. So, as of right now, we're planning on sticking around until September 21.

So far, we've pretty much been focused on Parker. Sure, we've spent some time with Jill and her family, as well as seeing Sherry, but our prime focus has been Parker. We are starting to see that change. We've started making plans to get together with friends, starting with this weekend. Fortunately, we don't really need to do any sightseeing while we're here; after all, we lived in Los Angeles County over 45 years!

What's next for us? Right now, our plan is to head back north. We still want to see the several National Parks that we missed in our mad dash south at the end of July. Also, we want to spend some time in Seattle with Scott and Sara. Scott took a bad fall a couple of weeks ago and broke all three bones in his left (dominant) arm; additionally, he tore his UCL and needed Tommy John surgery. We've volunteered to help them out, either around their place in Seattle or head back to the cabin on Orcas. We'll see how that works out.

Our newest Dodger fan