the gerbers gather on the west coast

we've been anticipating this weekend for a long time now!

many of the gerbers have started to gather here in san diego this week
for some fun in the sun and lots of family time.

grandpa john and sheila arrived from minnesota on tuesday, 
heidi and greg from phoenix on wednesday, and trevor and his
family arrived from utah last night.  tomorrow, chad and his family
will arrive from california's central valley. 

c and i allowed the boys to stay home from school today,
so they could spend an extra day having fun with their cousins.
the last text i received was from my b-i-l saying they are in coronado.

driving over the beautiful bridge to get there is always fun for the boys,
so i'm putting this picture in as a placeholder.
{when they share a photo of their day's adventures, i'll replace}.

when i was checking in with my b-i-l,
he was in the midst of pedaling 4 kids {his 2 and my 2, in a surrey!
{after a morning run and this, he definitely got his workout in for the day}.

while the out of town guests spend their day enjoying the sunshine,
christopher and i will be working  and wishing we were with them,
but we look forward to a weekend full of fun.

~ almost forgot to mention that c and i saw this musical a few days ago.
i didn't know what to expect going into it and it surpassed my expectations.
the musical is based on the real life story of conjoined twins, violet and daisy hilton,
who were exploited in a 'Sideshow' for many years until they left that life and
became famous vaudeville performers.  it was fasinating.
you can read more about them here.

the women that played the sisters were nothing short of amazing!
they have such talent.  a few of their duets were so touching they left the audience,
including me, in tears. we were all reminded that these two unusual girls still had
hopes and dreams of finding love and happiness like everyone.

our journey

this past sunday c and i had an anniversary - 22 years!
when i've been still, i've been reflecting on our  journey together -
on all the things we've done together before children
and what our life is like now as parents to two sweet boys.

our journey over the years has taken us to so many places,
and the ride hasn't always been smooth, but it's been an adventure
and one i wouldn't trade for anything. i love the life we've created together.

ok, enough sappy stuff.

so how did we spend our anniversary day?
we spent the day scraping popcorn from ceilings and demo-ing various
things in the new {old} home.  it was all very romantic.

we decided to celebrate this past tuesday night.
we got a sitter and had a nice dinner at jai.
from there, we walked to the ljpl and saw a musical.
it was called yoshimi battles the pink robots - and was a collaboration
between the director and the lead singer from the band, the flaming lips.
the entire musical is music from the same titled album.

it was wonderful!!  i haven't seen anything quite like that show.
the lighting and set design had me eyes bugging out of my head,
and the music was pretty cool too. i'm now a fan of the flaming lips.
{two ladies in my bookclub will be happy to hear it - they are HUGE fans}.

~ tonight jen and finn went to see it.  they got a sweet deal and a free ticket
{using a gift card}.  i was SO excited for them to see it,
and look forward to hearing their feedback.  jen discovered the flaming lips
during her college days and should enjoy the music.  finn will enjoy the uber
cool ROBOTS in it.  that kid still has robot fever... it hasn't faded since his 5th bday.

unusual acts of devotion

this was the title of the theater production that christopher and i saw tonight at the la jolla playhouse.
it was one of the most interesting plays i've seen in a long time and since i'm wide awake thinking of it,
i wanted to write about it.
 
written by terrence mcnally, the story takes place entirely on a rooftop of a highrise.
its a peek into the lives a few greenwich village residents who gathered there to celebrate a wedding anniversary. during the evening, they confront some uncomfortable truths about their lives and their relationships. the play looks at things done - and not done - all in the name of love.
 
every one of the actors was amazing!

from the first scene, c and i recognized the voice of the older woman who played mrs. darnell.
we knew the voice, but couldn't place her, and since we didn't get a chance to read the program before the play, we opened it right after and learned it was doris roberts. she plays marie, the mother of raymond, on the television show everyone love's raymond. she was amazing!
 
the other actors had impressive bios - veteran stage actors but they had all been in major tv/films as well. some were joe manganiello, the villian who starred opposite tobey mcguire, in spider man 1 & 3, a woman (i can't remember her name) who was in rachael getting married, and richard thomas from the waltons.
 
this was a wonderful and memorable evening for me and i thank christopher for the chance to experience it as he was the provider of the ticket(s). they were a surprise birthday gift to me as he knows i LOVE theater.

he got tickets for the entire season so we will be enjoying an additional date night every month through november. he told me i don't have to take him, but who's he kidding? he enjoys theater as much as i do, and we can always use more date nights.
 
and a HUGE thanks to madison (maddy) for watching the peanuts.
it was her *first* time watching them and it was a success. the boys adore her.
we will certainly be seeing lots more of her this summer. we've been missing her.



scout (23 months), maddy (14) and finn (5)