My dad came out for a visit this weekend, and just a few days before he came it occurred to all of us that since most of the family was going to be here now, and since we won’t be here on Christmas, why not celebrate now? It was a whirlwind of shopping and preparations to get ready for the weekend, since we only decided this with two shopping days to go, and I hadn’t done anything. Actually, I’d already bought the twins’ Christmas present and we’d set it up the weekend before:
The new bunkbed!
They got a new bunkbed. It is a twin over full, with a trundle below. The ladder is removable so we pull it off during the day when Soren plays in there. We figure this is a good solution if they ever want to have friends stay over, or if Ronin and Soren decide to share a room in the future. However, it’s been so exciting that they have not been able to go to sleep very easily, and we’ve been hearing thumps and monkey noises and kids going up and down and up and down for hours every night. We assume the novelty will wear off. We hope. They have been taking turns sleeping on the top bunk.
Docks near Shoreline Park, Berkeley
We spent several days in a row going for walks or scooter rides on local trails. It was sunny and brisk. On Friday, we went on a scooter expedition near Shoreline Park, and had a picnic lunch overlooking the Bay. My Dad took turns spending time with Claire and Ronin, and he ended up wading in the Bay to show Claire some sights. Meanwhile, a friendly squirrel begged for sandwich bites and entertained us by taking a dirt bath and then warning us, possibly of Dad’s off-road antics.
Ronin atop the tail end of "The Guardian" statue
Claire and Soren both started coughing right before Dad’s visit, so we mostly stuck to outdoor venues to avoid being around other children in closed spaces. We canceled gymnastics on Saturday morning because we figured it would be hard to do a make-up class for 2/3 of them. Saturday morning we went on a frosty walk in Redwood.
Claire, Ronin, and Grandpa Bruce in a grove of redwood trees
Soren carrying a big stick
Saturday, after Soren’s nap, we had a family get-together at Mom’s house for our Christmas celebration. We had food, presents, and family. What more could we want?
Ronin and Claire, opening presents
Dinah and Soren
Reading about cats
Another thing that Grandpa Bruce did that they loved was that he let them have unfettered access to his camera, his phone, and his computer. He didn’t stop them from pushing buttons, turning them on and off, or clicking whatever they wanted. When a System Restore warning box appeared on the computer screen, I told Ronin to not click anything, but my dad just waved a hand and said it didn’t matter. I have them stop whatever they are doing with my computer and come get me if a pop-up appears, so this was really exciting to them. Claire took thousands of pictures with his camera, mostly extreme close-ups of Soren.
All the kids messing with his stuff
Sunday morning we went for another walk, along Skyline Ridge.
Soren and Grandpa Bruce on Skyline Ridge
With grandchildren
While Soren took his nap at home with Justin, Claire and Ronin and I took my Dad to Children’s Fairyland for the last few hours before he had to fly back to Wyoming. We got to see a puppet show performance of The Velveteen Rabbit, a magic show, and a Christmas dance performance done by little girls of various ages dressed up in sparkles and tutus. A few hours after Grandpa Bruce left, it started raining. I feel very fortunate it stayed dry and clear for his visit and that we were able to show him so many pretty places around our area. The children begged him not to go, but he said he’d be back.
