I came back to NC for my first visit to the US since January 8th.  I’ll be here until July 7.  The main reason for my visit?  To see my sister, my brother-in-law, my 5 year old niece Laine, and my brand new niece Summer!  Sadly, Eric had to stay in Panamá…although I think he’s enjoying the peace and complete authority over temperature control.

I started the trip out with, what else, sushi.  Florida roll and Crunchy Shrimp roll, thanks for asking.  Oh yeah, and there were some wonderful friends there too!  Dan, Sarah, Daniel, and Kevin were sweet enough to meet me at my favorite sushi place so we could catch up.  I miss my sweet friends so much!  It was great to catch up, although one dinner is never long enough when it’s been so long.

The next day, Tuesday, June 30, I finally had the pleasure of meeting my sweet niece Summer!  Here are a few pics.  I think they should keep her.  I like her.  Such a snuggly baby!

I may have been the one to train her to stick her tongue out…

Big sister Laine helping Daddy to feed Summer at dinner.

Fun moments of awake time!

Drew, the multi-tasking master.

Two younger sisters bonding.

So tiny! Almost back up to her birth weight of 6 lbs, 8 oz.

Sweet face! So peaceful and snuggly!

Jennifer, Laine, Summer, and I did a photo shoot on Wednesday night, and I can’t wait to share those pictures!  So precious!  Jennifer had some great ideas for poses, Summer was wide awake and happy for a good 20 minutes or more, and Laine was a sweet big sister, as usual.  Those will be up soon…

Also went back to my natural hair color…being super blonde requires too much maintenance for this girl!  Plus my hairdresser won’t move to Panamá with me, despite my best efforts.

Back to my natural color.

I also got to catch up with folks at NCPLS (aka work, aka North Carolina Prisoner Legal Services) and have drinks at Tyler’s with Lindsay and SJ.  Much needed catch up time with those two.  So grateful to be able to come home to my NC family.

My folks came up yesterday and we’ve been staying with Eric’s parents, who have been very gracious hosts.  This morning my mom decided she wanted me to teach her some capoeira moves, so I taught her a fairly complicated sequence in about 45 minutes.  She’s pretty quick at picking it up, particularly for someone who had never even ginga’ed (done the basic movement) before!  I was really impressed and proud.  We sent a video of our doing the sequence to the CDO group, and they were pretty impressed with her too!  Between that, picking up my new pandeiro (tambourine), and having my knees checked out by another orthopedist, it’s been a good week for my capoeira life, even if I am on vacation.  Now, if only I can make myself do my PT for my weak hips and IT band issues.  Luckily, this guy – who I trust more – said I didn’t have the meniscal tears that the last doctor said I had!  Woohoo!