Visit from Grandpa Brian

At the beginning of February, my dad caught Amtrak up in Eugene, Oregon, and took the over-24-hour train trip down to Los Angeles.  This was a pretty big deal, because I hadn't seen him in person in over seven years!  (We talk on the phone, but distances and finances and timing had never cooperated quite right for either of us to visit.)  He spent a week with us, and we had a great time watching the Superbowl, watching Connor play video games, goofing around with the kids, running errands (hey, I like doing that,) visiting the La Brea Tar Pits, hiking, and eating at all our show-people-from-out-of-town favorite places.  My dad even made me his legendary 1-pound yogurt granola fruit salad, which he swears keeps his immune system healthy.  (It was good, but I couldn't finish it!) 
  

  
The Tar Pits were awesome, but smaller than I remembered.  The older kids actually learned a lot, but Evan mostly just wanted to hold the stuffed animals and swing on the railings. 
  

Evan wouldn't put the stuffed animals back.

Evan's "Funny Face"

The saber-tooth and sloth were animatronic.  I think it freaked Evan out.

  
We were able to convince the kids to go on a hike Saturday morning, although Elise was not in the mood.  She started complaining two steps out the front door.  She snapped out of it eventually, though, when we started looking for a geocache.  This was Connor's first official find.  We dedicated it to Evan, since his birthday was the next day. 
   

  

Green Pepper Toy (Evan's Choice)

   

 Then we celebrated with a picnic, including oranges off our tree.  Ryan bragged about the oranges a lot, that's why I'm mentioning them.  I have to admit they were pretty awesome, for oranges.
  

  

Grandpa Brian's Emergency Whistle

 

    

  When it was time to head back down, Elise remembered she was grumpy, so Grandpa Brian volunteered to give her a lift.  She liked hiking after that.
     

The hillsides were filled with these white-flowered trees.  Turns out they're "Big Pod Ceanothus"

  
It was really nice to see my dad again after so long. We told him he's welcome anytime!
  

Little Things

January was filled with chores, being sick, and little things like that.  Here are the kids showing off their Lego skills (this was Elise's first time really building something from her imagination.)
   

   

      Corinne finally learned to sleep without being swaddled.  She just fell asleep all splayed out one night and never looked back.  Elise spent lots more time treating her like a dolly and taking pictures of her.
   

  

  

    

    Elise and Connor did their "show day" performances in their gymnastics classes.  I had the flu, so I missed Connor's, but our friend Claire got pictures.
    

  

    

I measured the kids on our growth chart, just like every January.  I had to lay Corinne down on top of it on the table :).  It's amazing how much they change without me noticing.
    

   

      Ryan and Elise both broke out in hives in late January.  It wasn't at exactly the same time, but I have to assume it was related.  Ryan pulled all the poison oak off our hill one morning, and that evening, Elise started itching on her hand.  Two days later it had spread to her whole body.  We just assumed it was poison oak, and at first the pediatrician and a dermatologist agreed.  But it kept coming and going, even weeks later.  The poor girl was too embarrassed by her scabby, itchy arms to wear short sleeves, especially to school, so I had to go buy her some long sleeve t-shirts to wear under her uniforms.  Ryan, on the other hand, started to puff up about a week later.  He woke up one morning looking like he'd been attacked by bees, and had to go to urgent care for antihistamines and a shot of prednisone.  He also broke out in hives which lasted about a week.  Anyway, we took both of them to an allergist, who didn't really have any good answers.  They may have been allergic to something on the hill, or it could have been a reaction to a respiratory virus they'd both had.  They both got scheduled for allergy testing a month later.
   

Itchy

Aaaaaaah!  The kids were kinda freaked out.

   This is what my kids do for fun.  They make messes.
    

   

      A few weeks after learning to sleep unwrapped, Corinne learned to roll over!  I walked into my room to check on her during a nap, and the first thing to come into view were her upside-down feet (I haven't left her on the bed since then, just f.y.i.)   I think she's always wanted to be a stomach sleeper, but we wouldn't let her.  Now she gets stuck in the corners of her crib at night and howls to be rescued.  I'm not sleeping much.
   

Weekend in San Diego

Ryan had a conference to attend in San Diego over the first weekend in January, so after two days' rest at home, we packed up again and went with him!  
  

Corinne Showing off her Grabbing skills

   We stayed at a hotel near downtown, so Ryan was able to bike to the conference each morning, leaving the kids and I to explore on our own.  
  

Hanging out with Dad at the Hotel

   Friday morning, as my first big outing with four kids, I picked Sea World.  It was probably too ambitious.  There was quite a lot of chasing naughty Evan around, and losing the older ones, but it was fun anyway.  We saw Elise's beloved dolphin show, and Connor sat down near the front by himself in hopes of being splashed (turns out, dolphins aren't that splashy.)  A good chunk of our time was spent at the baby playground/bounce house/climbing nets.  I remember doing this with Evan when he was eighteen months, and he still loved it.  At the turtle exhibit, the kids mostly stared at a turtle video game.
  

Dolphin Show

  

Connor's Turtle got the High Score

Saturday we went to the Birch Aquarium, which was awesome.  The kids decided ahead of time which animals they wanted to learn about.  Connor picked jellyfish and squid, Elise picked octopus and seahorses.  Fun, and less stressful than the day before (also 1/5 the cost.)
  

     

On Sunday, we went to church at the closest ward, which happened to be one that covered the naval base nearby.  A lot of people thought I was a new move-in with a husband on deployment - I guess single moms with lots of kids are a common sight there!  
    

This was on the way back from church, but the behavior was about the same.

   

   Later that day, we went with Ryan to see the USS Midway aircraft carrier.  It was fascinating, and something I knew practically nothing about.  Ryan and I have started watching that "Carrier" documentary on Netflix since our visit.  
    

Chatting with the Admiral

Navigator's Chair

   

    Monday was our drive home, but first we headed to the Himalaya Tourmaline Mine north of San Diego.  Connor wanted to learn about crystals for his passion project, so the kids got to dig through and screen mine tailings!  They found some pretty little gemstones, so they were super excited.  They worked for about an hour before their hands got too cold in the muddy water. 
      

  

   We got home tired and happy.