At Carolyn's

Had a lovely day at niece Carolyn's. I got the 9:35 train from Ventura and she picked me up in Santa Barbara 45 minutes later. We went to a little seaside place for coffee and talked and talked and talked. By the time we left, it was almost lunchtime. I was taken on a short tour of this lovely town (where I've been many times before), then we were both hungry for lunch, so went to the Paradise Cafe. I had met Betty and her friend there years ago and right across the street was a little place where Ellen and I met Greg, his mother, and his son for Christmas morning breakfast last year.
Had a leisurely lunch, then went to Carolyn's, where I was introduced to Calvin, the family's new Dutch Shepard (looks like German one and I don't know the difference) mix. He's a mere pup, but oh, boy, judging by his paws and ears, this is going to be a big dog.
Carolyn sits in once a week on the after-school Spanish lesson attended by daughter, Claire (fourth grade), and I said I'd love to go. Did, and enjoyed it immensely.
Son Finn (14, high school) was home by then and we had a good time with hot chocolate and Calvin. Carolyn made dinner for the kids (I begged off, still full from lunch and hot chocolate), as her husband, Dana, had a late meeting. Luckily, he came in fifteen or so before I had to leave, so I got to see him, too.
We said goodbye and Carolyn drove me to the station. I had been a bit nervous about driving home in the dark, but had no problem at all and I got in by 8:00. Happy to have been there and happily looking forward to having them here.