SoCal Weekend

The weekend would be full; test driving a Tesla, attending a birthday party at the pool, enjoying a pumpkin festival at the Irvine Park Railroad, and babysitting during a dinner out for the toddler-weary parents.

Saturday
Saturday morning Dan brought Vivian downstairs while her mom took advantage of the luxury of being able to get up at a leisurely pace. I was pleased to see Vivian dragging around a blanket I'd knit for Dan to replace one he'd lost as a toddler. I have a couple posts about it in myDianeLoves2Quilt blog for October 7, 2015 and December 26, 2013. I think this next pensive mood shot deserves to be on the cover of a knitting magazine.

Here is Vivian quite pleased with herself snuggled in her blankie.

We'd brought her a few toys, selected because I thought they were just the ideal amount of soft, fuzzy, or smooth, perfect for little toddler hands. This plush cuddly teddy bear can be clutched easily in several locations right around her plump tummy. Vivian entwined her fingers in that pink fleecy mid-section right away when I handed it to her. Sorry, I have no picture of that. Sometimes I just enjoy the moment real time.

These rounded critters that go with their stacking homes are sized to nestle right in a chubby little fist. I even liked playing with them with Vivian ... hop, oink, meow, woof, cock-a-doodle-doo, moo.

Late morning, Dan convinced Frank to go out and test drive a Tesla at a nearby dealership. A Tesla is an innovative, entrepreneurial, all-electric vehicle. A Tesla is very, very, pricy but each is loaded with technologically wondrous bells and whistles. The perk that the sale person was a tall, slender, Swedish blond helped convince Frank to give it a whirl – the car, that is.

Frank was curious where the batteries were. He explored beneath the chassis.

A large screen on the dashboard displays a wealth of information.

A sensor warns if the Tesla is approaching too close to a vehicle or obstacle in front of it. Frank asked about the automated features of the proximity sensor during his test drive. Was there feedback that automatically slowed the vehicle? The sales clerk was quick to tell him to hit the brakes before crashing into the wall he was approaching. It is still up to the driver to apply the brakes manually! Shifting is neither manual nor automatic. In an all-electric vehicle, it is non-existent. There are no audible transitionary steps with their tell-tale rise in pitch as there are with a geared motor.

After Frank and Dan returned from their adventure with the Tesla, all five of us set off to the birthday party of a neighborhood toddler. It was at the pool and Vivian got go to swimming.

She romped in the water with her daddy and grandpa. I stayed dry except for when Dan got me good in the seat of my pants with a far range water blast from that super shooter Vivian is (was) holding.

Sunday
Sunday we went to the Irvine Park railroad where, in addition to the train that would spark Frank's interest, there was also a fall pumpkin festival.

We had our priorities straight and rode on the train first thing. Dan, Carrie, and Vivian had seats directly behind Frank and me.

The views from the train were very fall-inspirational and in my mind did a fairly job of conveying the feeling of a New England autumn out west. There were pumpkins abounding everywhere,

falling leaves about a lakeside park bench,

and another view of a pastoral pond complete with waterfall and scenic foot bridge.

Aside from the young boy paddling away in the boat, I thought the jumbled storage and colorful wheels of boats in the docking area made for a jolly picture. I'd like to see that as a jigsaw puzzle.

Here is a nice angle view of the engine as we round the bend near the end of the ride. Some of the trees with massive trunk diameters were quite impressive.

After we detrained, Frank posed at the engine.

Then we were on to the pumpkin patch part of the day's activities. Dan and Vivian posed for some cameo shots and then we made our way through a maze of hay bales.

Here is my handsome son with a grin to match that of the jack o' lantern behind him.

Here is my debonaire husband wearing a rakish expression like that of the rake decor behind him.

And here is the whole brood pausing for photographs while negotiating their way through the maze.

At the exit to the maze was an assortment of pumpkins and Vivian picked her favorite. It was a pretty good size for her to carry and she rose to the occasion.

Dan wanted to see if he measured up, too.

Next stop was cookie decorating and Vivian really got into it. Like mother, like daughter.

She was studiously intent on icing,

and she sprinkled on the purple sugar with care.

She ate with abandon and held on to that cookie determinedly throughout the rest of the day at the park and all the way home in the car. As tiny holes in the bag occurred, the sweet smell of that icing permeated the car. Fortunately, the crumbled remains did not escape the bag clutched in her fists.

Before we got into the car it began to rain lightly but we stayed on to finish off what else Irvine Park Railroad had to offer. We walked through the haunted house. It was not too scary but it was dark!

We rode a hay ride. There were some brownie scouts on board who sat astride the central hay bales and waved an arm above their head like they were swinging a lasso. It was cute when Vivian tried to imitate them.

They cheered every time we went over a bump. It was a merry crew.

We came home and Vivian took a l-o-o-o-ng nap. She was tuckered out. Frank and I were a bit nervous because she was still asleep when Dan and Carrie left for their dinner out, just the two of them. She woke up a bit groggy but did not fuss. She snuggled with Grandpa as she finished waking up. Baby sitting Sunday evening went off without a hitch. Vivian ate well and played well with us. We gave her a bath and were reading to her when he mom and dad returned.

Our flight left late morning the next day. All our luggage made it this time. As we drove home and were making the final turns, we noticed we were behind a Tesla. I texted Dan and he replied that it was a sign! I don't think so...

SoCal Weekdays

Last week Frank and I visited Dan, Carrie and Vivian in Southern California, Wednesday night, September 30th through Monday morning, October 5th. Thursday and Friday, while Dan and Carrie were at work and Vivian at daycare, I was to work on sewing barstool covers for them. I had brought along my new featherweight sewing machine as a carry on item in order to do so. I'd also offer to cook dinner on the days they worked. We would have visiting time in the evening and more over the weekend when they were off from work and at home.

Wednesday
The original plan was for us to arrive early afternoon, collect our luggage and drive out to visit Dan's new work site.  Three of our four pieces of checked luggage merrily careened down the luggage ramp and out onto the carousel but the fourth piece was not so forthcoming. It was a box that contained the 24" diameter wooden top to a child's two-chair and table set we had bought for Vivian. We waited in hopes it would come on the next flight but no luck. We left the airport with a delayed baggage incident report in hand and the verbal assurance it would be delivered to us once it was located. Conjecture was that it had been held up in security since it was a box, not a piece of luggage and therefore subject to more stringent inspection. Other theories included that is had not been off-loaded from our flight and had been flown off to another destination. We would need to wait until it could be placed on a return flight from where-ever.

With our delayed departure from the airport we lost our window of opportunity to visit Dan at work and so drove directly to see Vivian at her swim lesson. She loves the water and will duck her head under the surface quite willingly. I was also pleased to see that one of the safety skills being taught is how to climb out.

After swim lessons we went to dinner at Panera Bread and eventually home to Dan and Carrie's place where we got to plant our butts on a soft couch, put up our feet,  relax, and breathe a sigh of relief/exhaustion. We unfolded the hide-a-bed to crash for the night when my cell phone rang about 10:00 pm. An upbeat voice asked how would we like an 11:00 o'clock delivery of our lost item.  I said great, thinking everyone would be at work or daycare and Frank and I could hang out and wait around for it the next morning. Partway through the phone call I thought to ask if that 11:00 o'clock was AM or PM? PM was the prompt response. I thought "better get it while they still know where it is" and so agreed to the late night delivery. They confirmed the address and we were told the driver would call if he had trouble finding it.

Dan and Carrie's house is in a new development, the layout of which is a bit unique. The homes share a common courtyard and each home's garage access is from that area. The courtyard has no name and neither does the access to the courtyard from the street. See the following photos. Frank was concerned the driver would be unable to locate the unlabeled access at night. He changed back into his clothes from his pajamas, took a folding chair, a book, and a flashlight and went to sit out at the curb to wait for the driver.

Frank came back in at 11:30 when the driver had called to say he was still at the airport, was planning his delivery route, and could not locate where we were. After some explaining, it was agreed the driver would call when close and Frank would be out there to flag him down. Frank got back into bed with his street clothes on, holding my cell phone. After a repeat of the folding chair, flashlight, book, curbside routine, Frank successfully brought in the box containing 24" diameter table top around 1:30 am. He stashed the box along the hallway wall and flopped back into bed – again. I was not his favorite person that night, having purchased this gift for our granddaughter. The chairs had disassembled sufficiently and the table legs had unscrewed form the top such that all the other parts went into a suitcase.

Thursday
We completed the table assembly first thing Thursday morning. Vivian noticed it as soon as she came downstairs and sat at it. I think it is sooo cute and perfect for her! And I got it for a bargain at Home Goods. In my defense, Vivian really, really liked it and started using it right away.

Otherwise, Thursday got off to a slow start. The interrupted slumber due to the delivery of the package from the airline, plus luggage carrying, plus sleeping funny gave me a somewhat painful kink in my neck and shoulder area. When life gives you lemons make lemonade. So instead of sewing, Frank and I set off to find a Joann's fabric store to acquire more yardage of the barstool fabric I needed. A fabric store cures just about any ailment for me. I delayed the sewing of the covers, but the progress I did make on them can be seen in my DianeLoves2Quilt blog, the entry for October 7th. As luck would have it, both the JoAnn's fabric store and Dan's new job were in Huntington Beach just 6 minutes apart from each other. We gave Dan a call and then Frank and I took the opportunity to visit the offices and warehouse area of the design and build construction company where he is newly employed.

After visiting Dan at work, we did some grocery shopping before returning home to prepare dinner while Dan and Carrie were still at work. I made a chicken, rice, and mushroom soup casserole at Dan's request and had broccoli as a veggie.

Vivian loves her broccoli trees and she was pretty fond of the casserole, too. We ate out back on their new patio Thursday night but here she is enjoying the leftovers the following Saturday evening.

Friday
Friday morning my neck and shoulder were not yet at 100% so Frank and I took our time getting ready in the morning. After we each had taken a relaxing bath, we went for a stroll in the neighborhood before the heat of the day. Just around the corner were new model homes for further building in Dan and Carrie's development. Frank and I enjoyed wandering through them. Some of the decor was appealing and I took some photos for ideas for Vivian's room. Her room now is decorated in pinks and greens with a little bird motif. I thought these pillows would be appropriate additions.

As a "sewist", I also was also interested in the construction of this pillow on the bed in another model home. I liked how by pleating striped fabric and top stitching the folds in opposite directions you get this clever wave effect.

Did you know the new term is not sewer but "sewist"? That is the leaning now because the word sewer can be pronounced two ways and one is not very complimentary... so-er or sue-er.

Dan has just completed a class in hunting safety so he can go hunting with his father-in-law in Ohio at Thanksgiving. These trophies were displayed on the wall in another one of the models. I suggested the center one might be a better alternative to a hunting expedition – easier, safer, lighter, less messy.

I also took this photo of wall hanging I found particularly interesting. Look closely. This is a chair and its shadow.

This painting made me think of how much Alex likes Mary Poppins. The black and yellow color combination is so cheery, it reminded me of his continual exuberant clapping as he watches the movies and shows he enjoys. Alex was not with us this trip

After touring the models we came back to home base and I cooked spaghetti for dinner. Vivian played with some of the toys we'd brought...

... and so did we.

After Vivian was bathed and in bed, Dan stayed up with Frank and me watched a bit of TV, Jeopardy and reruns of our favorite parts of the old movies Sleepless in Seattle (1993) and Jerry Maguire (1996). Remember that memorable line? "You had me at Hello." Renée Zellweger does not have the corner on that market. The same can be said for our granddaughter. We were looking forward to the weekend days of our visit and more time with her.