July 4th Weekend in Livermore - Friday

Dan, Carrie, and Vivian spent their 4th of July weekend with us in Livermore this year. We picked them up from the Oakland airport mid-morning on Friday, July 3rd. At 15 months old I believe Carrie told me this was Vivian's seventh plane trip. Going to Hawaii in August will be her eighth! Times have changed. My first plane flight was my freshman year at MIT when I flew home for Thanksgiving. Here are Dan and Vivian waiting for their flight at the Orange County airport in Southern California.

It was a relatively empty flight so Vivian got to run up and down the aisle. She fell asleep on landing, though. I guess there is no flight stress for her.

Once we arrived at our house it was investigation time. We'd gotten out some items from Dan's childhood that he was going to take back with him. Carrie and Vivian are flying back but Dan is driving back with their dog Snoopy. Snoopy had been our house guest for a few weeks while Dan and Carrie's landscaping was being installed at their new house. Here is Vivian playing with those blocks from Dan's childhood.

These are pegboards and puzzles that Robin, Dan and Alex had. Vivian loved stacking the pegs but was lukewarm on the puzzles.

 
Our remote took some TLC to return to a functional default mode after Vivian was finished with it. She was very intent and it was cute how she kept glancing over her shoulder to see if her button pushing had accomplished anything ... anything desirable, that is.

Dan and Carrie took a brief nap and then went local wine tasting. I was in charge of keeping Vivian amused. Water play is always a winner!

The best toy of all was the box I'd located to corral the blocks during transport. Vivian loved pushing it around and trying to climb in. She definitely uses her tongue to help herself concentrate! Yes, the photo is a bit blurry but I had a moving target. I am bemused how the Amazon smile echoes Vivian's.



We decided to have our main holiday meal on Friday night instead of eating heavily just before the fireworks display on Saturday. Our friend Vickie came over to see Vivian and joined us for dinner. I broiled sirloin steak and chicken which we accompanied with corn on the cob, asparagus, baked beans, and tater tots. I took photos, (Frank calls them blog fodder), and was surprised how good they came out. They could be in a magazine. Maybe that is because food does not move while trying to take its photo...?

It makes me hungry looking at it all. Here is a photo of the happy diners.

And here is Frank, looking quite pleased with having good food, family, and friends all around. It reminds me of Mr. Banks from Mary Poppins singing "I'm the lord of my castle, the sov'reign, the liege."

I feel a surge of deep satisfaction

Much as a king astride his noble steed

When I return from daily strife to hearth and wife

How pleasant is the life I lead!

...

I'm the lord of my castle

The sov'reign, the liege!

Here is a YouTube link to the song The Life I Lead if you want to listen to the whole thing. It is kind of cute.