Nick’s parents (Granddaddy and Grandma) were the first to arrive and Graham was really cute, calling each of them (individually) “Grandparents.” He would look at his Grandma and say “hello Grandparents, how are you today? Grandparents, will you come play with me?” etc.
The days mostly consisted of a morning activity with Graham, an afternoon activity alone (while Graham slept), a late afternoon visiting in the backyard (while Graham finished up his nap), and an evening dinner together and play time before bed. During one of the afternoon alone activities, my parents and Nick’s parents went out together and it was the first time they had all been in Santa Barbara at the same time since Nick's and my wedding. I think everyone was really glad to have that time to reconnect! With one set of grandparents in Sacramento, CA and the other in Tokyo, Japan, it takes a lot of planning to get the schedules to overlap.
We tried to make sure that the grandparents were always around when Graham woke up from his nap because he was just thrilled to open his door slowly and peek around the corner to see who was there to greet him. I think he was on happy overload to have so many days with his extended family.
I wasn’t as good as I would have liked to have been about taking pictures (and didn’t get any pictures of Graham hugging his very special new Mickey Mouse doll that Grandma brought all the way from Japan and that had been Daddy’s Mickey Mouse when he was growing up), but through the iPhone and camera, I got enough shots to tell the story of most of our activities throughout the visit.
Granddaddy’s sister (Great Aunt Jan) and her daughters (Cousin Niki and Jilly) drove to Santa Barbara on Jilly’s birthday so we could all have a family dinner. I knew Graham would be ready to end the evening before the rest of us, so I allowed him to watch videos on my phone (for the first time at the dinner table) when he was done eating. He wolfed down salmon chowder and creamed spinach (while ignoring his kid pasta meal) and then was totally engrossed in a Mickey Mouse video while the rest of us enjoyed a relaxing dinner:
The next day, Jan, Jilly, and Niki stopped by before heading out of town and Graham loved reading stories and playing run-full-speed-and-crash-into-their-arms before he headed off to nap land:
On Father’s day, Nick and his dad got some alone time, while Graham, Grandma, and I headed off to the beach. Grandma watched Graham as he pushed his dump truck over the sand, played in the yucky slough water, and collected shells along the beach, while Mommy relaxed and watched from afar:
Granddaddy and Grandma came to cheer Graham on at one of his swim lessons. Granddaddy taught Graham that it was important to stretch and warm-up before getting in the pool. I got some fun pictures of the two of them doing their exercises together:
After Granddaddy and Grandma left, Graham tried on the new t-shirt that they had given him. I thought the progression of pictures was funny. I told Graham to stand very still so I could take a picture, but he was looking too serious, so I told him to smile and he flashed his awful looking fake picture smile, so I tried to distract him for one last picture attempt. Oh well, not the best faces, but he loves the shirt:
Next it was time for Grammy and Grandpa’s adventures with Graham.
It started with a hug sandwich that Graham thought was really fun:
We only had one full day with Grammy and Grandpa, so we planned a really special treat. Graham got to ride on the trolley for the first time. For a kid who is as obsessed with buses as Graham is, the anticipation and then event of riding on the trolley bus was almost too much for him to handle. I’ll just say that he loved it: he really, really loved it:
We got off the trolley at the pier and then walked to Chase Palm Park after pausing for a quick picture:
First stop was the carousel. Grammy and Grandpa went around with Graham while Mommy took pictures. Graham spent some time picking the perfect horse and then the ride began. It got going pretty fast and Graham looked like he was terrified or about to throw up, but as soon as it ended, he couldn’t stop talking about how much he loved riding the horses and couldn’t wait to go again:
Next stop was the Chase Palm Park playground. We had never been before, so there were a lot of new things to explore, but Graham’s absolute favorite was a huge slide. We got some pictures and a video. When Graham made it to the bottom of the slide, he would ask to be lifted up to the top so he didn’t have to waste time going all the way around the play structure, just to get to some steps that would lead him to the top and let him slide down again:
After the park, we rested on a bench, while I looked up directions to our next stop. Grandpa and Graham enjoyed some of Grandpa’s homemade granola. Graham loves this granola and talks about it every time he knows he is going to see Grandpa. In the video, you can see that Graham has gotten pretty good at using a spoon, just to maximize how much granola he can get in his mouth with each attempt:
On their final morning in town, Grammy and Grandpa also came to one of Graham’s swim lessons. We took pictures of Graham before, during, and after the lesson, posing as a family, showing off his lion towel, and going down the little slide in the waiting area:
When we got home, there was just enough time for Grammy and Graham to have a play session in Graham’s toy box and then the whirlwind trip came to an end:
Thank you Grammy, Grandpa, Granddaddy, and Grandma. We loved having all of you visit and are excited to see you again (as a family of 4)!!
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