Robin, Jeremy, Autumn, Isaiah Visit

We had a fun Robin and family visit from Oklahoma Friday August 2nd through Tuesday August 6th. Frank and I had just returned from a Colorado trip to see Dan's family a few days prior so we were grateful and relieved that someone other than us was doing the traveling needed for an in person visit, not a FaceTime or Zoom digital substitute.

Friday, August 2nd
Jeremy Robin, Autumn and Isaiah arrived at the Oakland airport mid afternoon, pretty much on time.  Frank picked them up. They spent a good portion of the early evening readying their arrangements for sleeping. We had cautioned them that since we had just returned from travel, coupled with our low energy, that they would be on their own for establishing their creature comforts. They efficiently and cheerfully changed the sheets on the guest king bed and the Micky Mouse double bed.  Most amazing of all, they located a folding cot that Frank and I had "lost" somewhere in the house. That is a big thing to lose! They made it up for Autumn and placed it in the sewing room so she would have her own hideaway to read as late into the night as she wanted with sole control over the lighting.

They presented me with some surprise gifts. Robin and Jeremy had brought along a third suitcase, tongue in cheek tagged  "HEAVY" by the airline, that contained three decorative wreaths from a business a friend of Robin's runs called Confetti Jubilee. I had admired  decorations on Robin's front porch she had bought from that friend. The Instagram site of Confetti Jubilee has photos of one after another gorgeous wreath, swag, or garland for a variety of holidays. The ones Robin and Jeremy brought out were: a Sunflower, a Hello Fall, and a Merry Christmas. I hung the sunflower on the front door immediately. It coordinates in theme with a sunflower quilt I have displayed in the dining room. 

The other two wreath are for the upcoming fall and Christmas seasons. I love the black and white gingham on the fall one and the green and red plaid on the Christmas one. I am also enamored with that metallic mesh ribbon in general that gives glitter without littering sparkles everywhere. What a great surprise!

Saturday, August 3rd
Saturday was a laid back day, typical of taking a deep breath after travel. Robin and I made a trip to my local quilt store "In Between Stitches". She bought a pattern and I bought an outdated magazine from their clearance section. The purpose of the trip was bonding not buying.

Coincidentally, this Lynn Wilder pattern was for a quilt I had admired in the 2024 AVQ Quilt show I attended in June titled Alaskan Journey by Laurie May. Then Robin and I went home and over the next several days  and "shopped "my stash. I happily passed on to her a Utopia quilt kit, a halloween panel, a layer cake of batiks, a layer cake of Tula Pink line work, several magazines, and other unnamed treasures of the fabric persuasion. We were both happy: me for the output and her for the input.

Sunday, August 4th
Sunday is traditionally our day with Alex so we all went bowling, with lunch afterwards at the alley. We played two games with three on two teams. First game: Alex, Jeremy, Frank, versus Isaiah, Autumn, Robin. Second game we switched it up a bit.  Isaiah's very first ball went straight down the center of the alley. I sat on the sidelines, contemplating techniques and cheering everyone on.

Autumn was in the final chapters of her Hunger Games book, and took every opportunity between ball tosses to remain engaged in the saga. Suddenly we looked at Autumn and she was not just teary-eyed, but rather sobbing uncontrollably. Apparently a key character in the book had just died and Autumn was devastated. Had she realized Autumn was so close to the end of the book, Robin would have tried to persuade Autumn to leave it home and finish it later. Instead, we felt bad that Autumn's vicarious grief had needed to be manifested so publicly.

Our scores were not stellar, but we had a good time, both bowling during the games and munching on snacks afterward.

Autumn, Alex, and Isaiah willingly posed for a photo op on a bench outside Earl Anthony's Dublin Bowl. Afterward, Robin and Frank drove Alex back to his home at St Denis in San Ramon. Jeremy drove Autumn, Isaiah, and me back to Livermore.

Once back in Livermore. Jeremy took on the role of chef. He made marinated chicken, Yukon potatoes, and carrot slices. We enjoyed them all. But he was not finished. Sunday night he made tri-tip in the oven that was delectably tender, juicy, and delicious. Next time they visit, he is the designated chef!

Jeremy had entertainment in the kitchen while he cooked. Robin bounced by on a foam block with bungee cord type handle, an indoor-appropriate variation on a pogo stick. The contraption has a squeaker built in so each bounce is accompanied by a high-pitched "eek-uh" like a dog toy. Each time I heard it I could not help but smile. Robin's side kick Autumn, also grinning widely, jumped along right beside her. I think my children, both Robin and Dan, were silently grateful that this particular toy never made it home to either of their houses.

Not all activities were lively. Autumn did a lot of reading using her brother as a convenient, if slightly lumpy, pillow. As a pre-teen fetish of her 11 years, Autumn tried, whenever she could, to hide her face from the camera. The bowling alley and pogo shots were the exceptions rather than the norm during this visit.

Another sedentary activity was watching the Olympics. Isaiah joined Frank in front of the living room TV when he was not being squashed by his sister. 

Both Isaiah and Autumn enjoyed the Paint by Sticker book given to me by my friend Kathie. It was originally intended as my low energy diversion during my recent cycles of chemo, but the kids made much better use out of it. I was impressed with their persistence and attention to detail.

We also put together two 500 piece puzzles over the weekend. Autumn was a whiz. I'd watch her hover over the array of pieces, place a dozen or so related ones in her palm and then— plink, plank, plunk—she'd dropped them in place. The Ravensburger puzzles were Dream Library and Northern Lights. Autumn picked the book one to do first, of course. The details of the many spines did not escape her notice during the assembly process. We enjoyed leaving these out on the table giving random participants the opportunity to contribute.

Monday, August 5th
Enough of the sedentary. That afternoon Robin and Jeremy took Autumn and Isaiah to a facility in Livermore called Lost Worlds Adventures. Part of the place is dinosaur themed.

It is mandatory that each participant purchase a pair of non-skid socks before venturing on to the Super Slides, Rope Course, Ball Pits, Super Play Structure, or Ninja Agility Course. I do not think the socks were required for miniature golf, though.

Both Autumn and Isaiah ascended high up on the climbing walls. Isaiah performed a bit of drama after his fake fall. Autumn forgot to hide her face for the photos; but then again it was kind of obscured by the helmet.

What is the significance about this next photo? You can see Autumn's face as she shares the details of her purple rubber ducky (prize...?) with Grandpa. Plus, yee gads! I did not realize my hair was that gray.

Monday evening we tried out the game of Family Faceoff. There are four categories of cards: Guess It, Act It, Find It, and the Mental or Physical challenge options of Faceoff. We played boys vs. girls. When following the rules became too contentious or onerous we just resorted to flipping through the cards and having fun with them. The "guessing the songs" category was very popular and clearly demonstrated the generational differences by which tunes we were able to recognize. Tune identification was so popular in fact that, after the game, we located "name that tune" type TV and YouTube shows and had a rousing time answering those questions.

I was the main reader in the guess songs category. Jeremy and kids reveled in the competitive nature and congratulated each other with each success. It was a noisy, raucous, fun session.

Tuesday, August 6th
Tuesday was departure day. In the morning we made time in the garage to be with Grandpa and his trains. Isaiah gets to run them a bit now.

"Parting is such sweet sorrow," to quote a line from Romeo and Juliet. There! That pretty much exhausts my Shakespeare knowledge. Robin and family were packed and ready for their afternoon flight back to Oklahoma via Denver. They were down one suitcase since Jeremy, the packing guru, managed to squeeze one smaller suitcase into the extra large one that had contained the decorative wreaths.

After some final photos on the driveway, Frank drove them back to Oakland airport.

It was a fantastic visit and Frank and I will miss them!

Bummer afternote:
Their flight to Denver, CO was diverted to Amarillo, TX due to weather in the Denver area. Note the sharp turn south in the flight path.

When they were flown back to Denver later that evening they had missed their Oklahoma connection and had to spend the night at a Denver hotel. To add insult to injury, due to flying standby, the four of them were separated and had to fly back, two each, on two different flights. The unanticipated extra day of their "vacation" was spent in cooling their heels in transport. Oh, well. They had their books and iPad and made the best of it. They all eventually reconvened in Oklahoma City Wednesday evening August 7th, tired but none the worse for wear. The post-euphoria of the visit was a bit tattered, but not totally vanquished.