OKC Visit when Isaiah Turns ONE – Part 1 of 2

Earlier this month Frank and I flew out to Oklahoma July 12th - July 20th to visit and help celebrate Isaiah's turning one year old on July 16th. We had less than a week from Dan and his family's departure back to SoCal until we set out to travel. Robin and Jeremy did not have leave from work and so Frank and I would be on our own during the day while at their house. Oh, darn. Maybe we would have to relax, read, and take naps. Boredom... surely a fate far more desirable than exhaustion...

Tuesday, July 12th – travel day
Frank and I left in the early morning to be at the airport a couple hours before our 9:30 am flight.

The sky still had a pinkish tinge to it that was kind of pretty. Along the way we passed this HUGE piece of equipment. I am not sure quite what it was but it was big and the crating was very creative.

We pulled alongside and I still didn't have a clue as to what it was but it was impressive that such a long hefty object was tooling along down the highway.

As we passed the truck that was hauling it, I took one last photo in the rear view mirror.

I was reminded of that scene from Jurassic park when the main characters are racing along in a jeep being pursued by a dinosaur.

We arrived at the airport with adequate time to spare – too early in Frank's opinion but just right for me. He humors me, otherwise I stress out. We are getting better at our traveling procedure since we have been doing more of it now that we are retired. We mare not making exotic trips to far off foreign lands, but rather mostly family visits. That is what we like and enjoy. I pack gifts and stuff for the kids so we do not travel light on the way out. For example Robin loves these Svenhard's buns and they are not available in Oklahoma, at least not near her. They can be ordered on Amazon at the bargain price of  $36.50 a tray of 30 or $124 for a carton of four trays; but, whoop-de-doo, shipping is free. I buy them at our local grocery store, can fit three trays in a suitcase with other stuff, and Southwest Airlines does not charge for the first two suitcases per person. Once there we can toss the buns in the freezer for them to enjoy even after we've returned home.

Once at the airport, Frank drops me off at the curb and I rent a Smarte Carte for all our paraphernalia. We load it and I get in the line to check our luggage while he parks the car. No more hauling baggage from the far out boonies of the parking lot. He just walks back unfettered and more quickly without me. By the time he gets to the counter I am already at the head of the line and have often let other travelers pass by me. The rental fee is well worth the convenience. At least this time we did not also bring a carseat in its specialized back pack like we did for our May visit to SoCal. We had a fourth suitcase instead for Oklahoma.

Our flight was uneventful and our transfer in Las Vegas went off without a hitch, even though it was Las Vegas with all its wedding chapels (groan ... two thirds of a pun... hitch ... P.U.) We arrived at Robin's house about a half hour before she and Jeremy got home from work. I heard the fornt door key and hid behind the couch. I leaped out and hollered "boo!" when Robin, Autumn, and Isaiah walked in the door. A huge grin spread across Autumn's face as she yelled "Grandma!" in return.  Isaiah was not so thrilled but within a half hour I was forgiven and allowed to hold and cuddle him. Dinner, some chit chat, and a bit of horseplay with the kids was about all we did before bedtime that first night.

Wednesday, July 13th - settling in

This was the trip of big equipment. We awoke the next morning to the Cox cable company upgrading its lines directly across the street from Robin and Jeremy. Their street is not very wide and when another of these rigs arrived it had to park on the other side of the road offset from the first. Drivers down their street had to slalom their way through. They were there about half the week.

Once Robin and Jeremy arrived home from work and Autumn and Isaiah were home from day care we opened up the extra suitcases we had brought. Never mind what was in them, Isaiah liked the suitcase itself. He parked himself amidst the Pottery Barn shark towels and alligator totes.

Thursday, July 14th - demos of prowess
The next morning Isaiah demonstrated what a climber he was. No part of this rocker fire engine was inaccessible for him and he was fearless in all his poses on this moving target o a ride-on vehicle.

Autumn was willing to let Grandma style her long hair into Elsa braids (from Frozen) and she modeled her flamingo outfit for the day.

That day Jeremy refreshed the batteries in Isaiah's pirate ship and he trolled around on it, more so with renewed interest since it kept spewing out the sound effects of a honking horn, a firing cannon, and voicing phrases such as "Ahoy, Maties."

We opened one of his birthday presents a toy called Spin Again by Fat Brain Toys. Gears in graduated sizes stacked on a spiral grooved central post. They spin as they descend. Autumn liked it. Isaiah did too except that his method of play was to bang and beat everything he could with the central white post. Boys are definitely different.

Later on Autumn was testing out if she could fill Grandpas's shoes. Isaiah's growth progress had been monitored earlier in the week by more traditional means when Jeremy took him to his one year check up at the pediatrician. The pediatrician's motto is "Food before one is just for fun". He wanted the mainstay of the child's nutrition to come from milk.  Isaiah was now cleared for solid foods of any type at all.

Friday, July 15th - casual day
Like mother, like daughter are dressed alike for casual Friday. Jeremy chose Autumn's outfit after he noticed what Robin was wearing. Bummer. Robin was unable to locate her sunglasses until after this photo was taken. She'd just had them in her hand, too! They were found later on the floor of course - where else?

Robin was able to take a couple hours off work at the end of the day and we went to Gymboree. I had $150 worth of Gymbucks burning a hole in my pocket. They had to be spent by the following Sunday or they would become void. For those uninitiated to the grandma apparel shopping world, Gymbucks are accrued on purchases made at a Gymboree store, outlet or mainstream, during a certain time frame. Then several times a year they can be redeemed. They are worth 50% off ALL merchandise – sale, clearance, and new – so savings can be compounded. I have to spend $300 to capitalize on $150 worth of Gymbucks but that is easy to do with four grandkids. And just think, by buying while in Oklahoma I also saved the mailing costs on Autumn's and Isaiah's clothes. It was just Robin and me without the kiddos on a weekday during work hours so we were efficient and fast in our shopping!

That evening, on the eve of his first birthday, Isaiah reminded us that he could have any food type at all.  Corn chips... hmm certainly sounds like a good option.

Saturday, July 16th - Isaiah's birthday
Isaiah's birthday party was not until the early evening that day. Just over a dozen guest were invited over for pizza and cupcakes. In the morning Frank and Jeremy began to assemble Isaiah's gift from Frank and me, a Little Tikes Cozy Truck ride on toy. It was not a simple assembly operation.

The partial assembly shows the truck still needing its front axle with wheels and some of its decals.

It reminded of Mater from the Disney Pixar movie Cars

It is all together now but there is one part leftover! Looks like big sister has to check it out to be sure it is safe for little brother.

Isaiah looks pleased when he is introduced to his truck. Every man has got to have a truck! In his right hand he is clutching his favorite sleep aid dubbed The Precious by Robin and Jeremy.

Turns out that leftover part is a floorboard so younger drivers with short legs can have a place to rest their feet while they are being pushed around.

Or that plate can be used to climb out the front window. It appears to be very versatile component.

Isaiah took a nap through about two-thirds of his party. When he awoke it was time for his "smash" cake. He was tentative and did not really get into mooshing it up like some kids do.

Most of the attendees at Isaiah's party were little girls close in age to Autumn. They enjoyed the truck and pushing Isaiah around in it. Note Isaiah is hanging on to that ubiquitous white spiral pounding post from the Spin Again toy.

Playing hard at parties can be exhausting. It is the end of the day and Autumn collapses against Grandpa. Frank looks trapped but I think he secretly loves it.

🎈 HAPPY 1st BIRTHDAY, ISAIAH! 🎈

Dan, Carrie Viv, Lil, Visit: Part 2 of 2

Friday, July 1st – Oakland Zoo
After a relatively quiet Thursday, it was time for another more substantial outing. Frank took Carrie and the girls to the Oakland Zoo for the day while I stayed home. With two carseats, it really is quite a squeeze to fit in a third adult plus I was okay with a break in the action. Vivian was dressed so cute though, I just had to take this photo alongside her companion, our large scale Uncle Sam patriotic decoration who was as big as she was.

We then added Uncle Sam's little buddy into the mix. Shall I call him Nephew Sam? Or maybe Uncle Samlet?

Just before they left Frank asked, "I know I have a lot of baseball caps but, do I have a hat with a large brim that will cover and shade my ears?" So as to not delay them I dumped out his bins of hats into this jumble and dug through it. Nope. Not here. I would clean up the mess once they left. Each of these hats has a mini-memory of a place we've been or activity we've done and commemorated with a souvenir hat purchase. Why is it it takes a visit from company to reveal all those squirreled away items you've been meaning to get to and sort "someday"? Buried in that pile are caps for roller coasters, water polo, the Oakland Zoo, Make A Wish, Dublin Bowl, Indian Guides, Miami Dolphins, Redskins, Donald Duck,  special train engines, Kaanapali ... even Kelly Moore Paint. The paint one is white and so the reason for keeping it is that it will reflect the heat on a hot day. Also, when they mixed up the wrong color blue for our front door, the store manager gave it to me as an apology along with a complete fan deck of paint chips. I lamented to him that my husband only gave me one chance to get the color right and their mistake had used up my chance. See? Real, valid memories folks.

Here is Frank wearing that brimmed hat he requested and I knew we had one in white (for me) and done in tan (for him)... somewhere. Note please that it is not one of aforementioned baseball caps. I eventually found it somewhere else other than in that bin of hats I unceremoniously dumped out.

He did put the tan hat to good use as he cuddles and shades Lillian in front of the elephant exhibit. It does have a kind of safari vibe to it, doesn't it?

Frank and Carrie reported back that they'd had a fun day and that they'd covered most of the territory of the zoo.

Vivian apparently liked climbing on a big red frog in a children's play area.

From the expression on Lillian's face as they headed home, I am not so sure she was as enamored with the whole experience.

After Vivian and Lillian were bathed and snug in bed, Frank drove to the Oakland Airport to pick up Dan from his 10:30 pm flight.

Saturday, July 2nd – ranch visit
After lunch on Saturday Dan and Carrie were planning on taking their daughters to visit some friends of theirs in Pacific about an hour's drive away. In the morning however, Frank and I wanted to take Vivian to an open house at a nearby ranch. She could see some animals and participate in some of the visitor activities. Per the Independent newspaper article about the Historic Hagemann Ranch,

The ranch presently consists of a ranch house, three barns, blacksmith shop, and granary, chicken coops, horse paddocks and riding ring. and The ranch house, barns, and outbuildings date back to the 1870s. Lumber from the original Livermore High School Gymnasium, salvaged by Hagemann, was used to build the red equipment barn in the early 20th Century. 

We were familiar with the facility because Alex had taken horseback riding lessons there until the equine program closed a bit over a year ago but we wanted to go anyway to go for several reasons.

1. It advertised it would have a petting zoo and Vivian would like that
2. We wanted to get the scoop, meet the key players, and have a foot in the door for when the therapeutic horseback riding program resumed
3. It was nearby

Vivian did engage with the animals there for viewing and petting. She stroked a rabbit who was very soft.

She went nose to beak with a hen.

Initially a bit tentative with a goat, she got braver and fed it some leaves.

She stood back, hands on hips and admired her work as the goat munched away.

Then she advanced to petting the goat.

The horse was much bigger and more intimidating. Vivian was content to bury her head in Grandmas's neck and glance sidelong at the horse.

But curiosity won out and she progressed to observing from a safe vantage point.

It was very hot and we stayed for only about an hour. When we got home Vivian contented herself with a robot puzzle. Notice how she again lines up those pieces in a straight row.

After lunch our home was eerily quiet, Dan and Carrie and the girls were off to visit and have dinner with friends in Pacifica and they had dinner while out.

Sunday, July 3rd – bowling, train, a movie
Sunday is typically bowling day with Alex. Carrie stayed home with Lillian but five of us, Alex, Vivian, Dan, Frank and I bowled on one alley. Vivian used the dragon ramp. Alex tried to sneak in using it several times, too, even though he does better rolling the ball the traditional way. I think he likes the novelty of it and the challenge to see if he can fool us by pushing off a roll while we are distracted talking, before we can stop him.

We bowled one game only, the attention span with five bowlers rather than our normal three. Granted Alex is one frame ahead, but look who is in the lead. After bowling we shared a pizza for lunch and Vivian had a quesadilla.

After returning home to Livermore, Dan, Carrie, Vivian, and Lillian headed out to Sunol for a train ride on the Niles Canyon Railway. Although it was hot, they had an outdoor car and so enjoyed a breeze.

Vivan fell asleep for part of the ride and then woke up crying that she had missed it.

She could not be too upset though. She was reminded she had been on a ride just two days before at the Oakland zoo, albeit a smaller train.

Sunday night was boys' night out. Dan and Frank went to an evening showing of the movie Independence Day Resurgence

It was entertaining – not spectacular, but as expected – and a welcome break, diversion, and father/son bonding opportunity.

Monday, July 4th – reunion and fireworks
Monday morning Dan's high school friends Sarah and Mike and his college buddy Ryan dropped by our house for a mini-reunion. None of them were able to bring spouses but Sarah brought her daughter and son (6 and 4), and Ryan brought his son (11) and two daughters (4 and 2). Mike's seven year old daughter Mackenzie was visiting her grandparents for the holiday. We had a houseful and despite the age range, they all seemed to get along. A few played follow the leader along a ladder Frank just happened to have out in the back yard.

Sarah's 6 year old daughter Emma and four year old son Liam  and 2 year old Vivian got into a tub of musical instruments I had from my kids' days. They lined up and practiced marching round and round the island in my kitchen until Emma judged they were prepared.

Then they paraded out out the sliding glass doors onto the deck and performed for the parents. Emma directed and commanded well.

Later activities included building a barn from a 25+ year old little tikes Build 'n Play Farm construction set and playing with the barnyard animals that came with it. I believe the set is now considered vintage.

Ryan's two year old Charlotte was absorbed with the coins.

Her older sister, four year old Charlotte, liked the puzzles.

The most popular toy of all appeared to be the tall traffic light bank. Five kids mounted a joint effort intent on filling the to be to the top.

Ryan's oldest boy somehow manage to escape all the photos – easy to do amidst all the pandemonium. But 11 year old Zane was so protective and helpful toward his younger sisters he impressed me a lot. The crew left in the early afternoon. I had found it fascinating to see these young adults that I knew as kids now chasing after and caring for sons and daughter of their own.

Just before dusk Frank, Alex, Dan, Vivian and I walked the several blocks to watch the fireworks to be set off from the roof of our downtown parking garage. Carrie stayed back at the house with Lillian, reluctant to expose her seven week old ears to the loud pops. Vivian rode on her Dad's back for most of the walk.

Vivian liked the fireworks better last year when she was a 15-month old. See WanderOrPonder post for July 10, 2015. This year after the first few kapows she buried her face in her daddy's shoulder because they were too loud. Alex still loves them and clapped throughout. He slept overnight and I took him back to his home the next morning.

Tuesday, July 5th – music class, model trains
A children's clothing store downtown in the neighboring town of Pleasanton hosts a Kindermusik class in a playroom at the rear of the store. I signed Vivian up for a guest session. Kindermusik is an international research-based music-and-movement curricula. She settled right in and participated with Carrie in the class. Vivian and her mom are keeping time with sand blocks and it appears Vivian is really concentrating.

When Lillian heard the first strains of music her eyes shot wide open. She will probably join her sister in a music class before too long.

At the end of class was bubble play. What a fun way to end the session. I am going to have to check out Target for that bubble machine. The instructor said that is where she bought it. It was relatively inexpensive and it does not leak or drip when tipped. I have located it on Amazon and it is called
Little Kids Fubbles Bubble Machine guaranteed no spill.

Prim Pop is a kids clothing boutique located in downtown Pleasanton, CA. My first exposure to Prim Pop, host of the Kindermusik class, was when I bought Vivian this pair of gladiator sandals. She is a shoe aficionado and loves to wear boots. These are too big for her just yet, but she really liked them. She calls them her boot sandals. She is modeling them before her mom packs them to go home.

With a zipper up the back they really are not that difficult to put on once all the buckles have been adjusted. The brand of these particular ones are Link. I think the fringe is a hoot. It is also odd how they had been displayed in the storefront window with right and left interchanged.

After the class Dan and Carrie took the girls to lunch at the home of the parents of one of Dan's college friends. When they returned it was nap time. Lillian decided that in Grandpa's arms in the fresh outdoor air on the deck was a comfortable place to zonk out.

Later Frank was excited to demonstrate his model trains to a rapt Vivian.

She got to be the engineer and run them for a bit.

Wednesday, July 6th – heading homeAgain Frank was successful with Lillian duty during the final hubbub of packing up and the scurrying to balance weight among suitcases so none was over fifty pounds. Lillian was quite content in his arms in his office, oblivious to it all. To be 100% accurate these photos were from the morning of the June 30th but the result was the same and I was too busy racing around for morning pictures on the July 6th.

Then we had a sudden epiphany that we had one more suitcase and one more person to transport to the airport than we had from the airport. Since Dan and Carrie had arrived on different days it had been two trips from the airport. Fortunately Carrie is much slimmer even after giving birth to two babies than I have ever been in my life (even at my own birth I daresay) and she managed to squeeze between the two car seats in the back. Dan picked the smallest of the suitcases and held it on his lap on the front passenger side. It was cozy but it worked. Lillian was not cramped at all.

We had some final family poses before I drove them off to the airport.

It had been a great 4th of July holiday visit.