Grand Central Station

First of all, this guy is Five Months Old!!! He has a tooth and he enjoys rolling over from his tummy to his back. Hi! I'm a big guy!

Check out that pearly white!

So,  our house has been like Grand Central Station lately. First, Aunt Joyce was here for a week over Valentine's day. She and Frederick got along like great old pals. 

We were able to go to Clara's school for a visit on Valentine's day. 

And later I was able to go to Henry's school to help with the party. 

And we made and decorated cookies, of course. Frederick may have snuck a lick while we were getting this picture, but he wasn't talking. 

We also took advantage of having Joyce in town to go to Henry's parent-teacher conference and I had the chance to volunteer at the school book fair a couple of days. Then Pete and I were able to go out to a nice dinner on Valentine's day. After dinner we went to the restaurant where our friend/neighbor Ed works and sat at the bar to watch the Hawkeye game. It was a very nice night. I love my Valentine!

Before Joyce had to leave, we went down to meet Pete for lunch at our favorite Thai place. Henry had the day off school, and Clara was with us- but sitting on my side, so not in this picture. 

The day Joyce left the kids and I, along with Anna, went to a community theater production of Snow White. It was totally corny, but the kids had fun. Originally we were going to go with Joyce the previous weekend, but Clara had gotten sick that day, so we exchanged our tickets. 

Sunday Rob and Carrie and the girls showed up to spend the night. Rob was doing some work downtown, so on Monday Carrie and I took the 5 kids down to the Museum of Science and Industry. Being Presidents' Day, it was a bit crowded, but we had fun.

I especially enjoyed the Charles Shultz exhibit, for which it was the last day.

The next day Carrie and the girls came back (after staying at the hotel with Rob). Clara was excited to see her cousin in the car when we picked her up from school. The girls were having twin-dress day as well. We made some special Rice Krispy treats that afternoon.

Penny enjoyed playing with all the little guys and my old dollhouse. 

 She and Frederick hung out a bit. Both of them had a little bit of a stuffy nose and red cheeks.

 The next Saturday Mom came to town on her way back from Great Aunt Jean's in California. Sunday Pete left for a few days of work in New Jersey. Is your head spinning yet?
It was very helpful having Mom here those few days while Pete was gone. Especially with the snow! The kids loved it, since we've had so little snow this winter. Mom and I took turns shoveling.

 That brings us to today. Mom left around noon, Pete got home around 2. We love the visitors, but are also going to enjoy a few days of our standard family unit as well.

Aunt Joyce

We had Aunt Joyce with us all week! She and Frederick got along especially well. Yesterday we had lunch at Thai Elephant. Thanks for coming Aunt Joyce!!

Last day in California

On our last day in California, Pete and I left Frederick with the two Jeans and we took the big kids down to the Hollywood Amoeba Records. The kids and I wandered around while Pete had more of a purpose to his wandering. 

After a few purchases at Amoeba, we went for a walk to look at the Stars. 

We also checked out the handprints at Grauman's Chinese Theater. 

 Here are my two little dancers standing by Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers.

 We took this picture for Aunt Liz. I tried to get Clara in it too, but she was going nowhere near this wax Marilyn.

 The kids thought it was fun to find their own names in the walk of fame.

 We stopped for a little lunch (and a chocolate soda) at this Disney soda fountain.

The kids had Mickey shaped PB&J.

 It's hard to tell, but I'm pretty sure they were having fun in California.

That night Aunt Jean took us on a little driving tour of Burbank. I wanted the kids to see the studios. Next time we go out there Pete and I are going to do a Warner Bros. studio tour. It's supposed to be awesome.

 I love the Disney studio building with the Dwarves holding up the roof.

On my request, we had dinner that night at Clancey's. We got there in time for the earlybird special, because that's how we roll. 

 We had various yummy drinks with our seafood...and Frederick enjoyed a bottle. It was pretty priceless when I explained to Aunt Jean how I got the milk for the bottle (we took the pump along for just such an occasion.)

 That night we stayed up a bit later to pack and enjoy a little more time with Aunt Jean. She made us some vodka gimlets (I tried to demur and she made me a tiny one in a shot glass.)

The kids were wiped out...as they were every night. The big kids, I should say. Frederick was wide awake. Still...he wanted to join his big brother and sis on the blow-up bed in the living room. 

Tuesday morning we were up early to get on our way. Mom got up to make us some breakfast and see us off. Aunt Jean is not much for goodbyes- so she stayed in bed until (apparently) 5 minutes after we left. Henry found these glasses just in time for one last photo at her house...we have since printed it and sent it to her.

Quality Time with Great Aunt Jean

We spent Sunday morning bumming around Aunt Jean's yard. The kids just liked the chance to be outside without jackets on.  

 

They also thought it was fun to pluck the grapefruit right off of the tree....but we never did get around to eating them. 

We wandered back to explore the little guest house, where I remember sleeping as a kid. Here are Pete and Frederick coming up the walk. 

I thought the guest house was the absolute coolest place in the world. Aunt Jean had plenty of stories for us. Here she may have been talking about Otis the owl, or about when Uncle Don made her that little side table because she had mentioned needing a place to set her coffee. I liked this cap with all of the Burlington Steamboat Days pins on it too. 

Here's one of Aunt Jean's roses. It's so nice to see such lovely flowers in the middle of winter. 

 We also checked out the 'big room,' where several of Aunt Jean's antiques are. Frederick tried out the old children's barber chair. I think he liked it. Later he tried to eat it.

 Here's a chair that belonged to Uncle Don when he worked on the TV show Medical Center.

 We also checked out Aunt Jean's new Ford. It's actually Pat's, but it's from the year of Aunt Jean's birth (1923). Pat, of course, has really pimped it out.

Pete would have really liked to have taken it for a spin.

 Also, while at Aunt Jean's, Frederick spent lots of time just hanging out in the living room.

Sunday afternoon we went up to the Griffith Park Observatory. We weren't sure if we were going to get there- it was crowded and the parking lot was full and blocked off. Finally I got out and asked a parking/security guy whether we could drive up and drop off my Great Aunt who had, by the way, forgotten her handicapped parking pass. He ushered us right in and let us park right in front. Another perfect example of how it never hurts to ask!

The kids loved looking at the Hollywood sign. 

 Henry took this photo of me and Pete.

 The observatory is a beautiful building.

 Henry was fascinated by the big pendulum thingy that had something to do with the earth's rotation. He could probably explain it to you better than I.

 Aunt Jean and Frederick just rolled around in their seats.

This is a gratuitous baby-blue-eyes photo.

While in the observatory we checked out the exhibits, watched a film hosted by Leonard Nimoy, had a snack, Clara broke something in the gift shop and the kids held a meteorite.

 They also checked out how much they would weigh on the moon.

 When we were leaving there was this cool view of rain out across the valley.

 That night we got some pasta delivered to the house and sat around listening to more Aunt Jean stories. One of my favorites from this trip was a story I had never heard before about her and Uncle Don going to a party hosted by George Englund and Chloris Leachman. According to the story, Ms. Leachman answered the door and offered Aunt Jean a drink, which turned out to be an entire pineapple filled with vodka, with a straw stuck in it. She apparently got a little bit sauced.

Frederick, especially, seemed to enjoy listening to Aunt Jean's stories. Another favorite moment was when we were talking and someone said something about Betty White. I said "Aunt Jean, did you ever meet her?" Without missing a beat, Aunt Jean said "the only time I met Betty White was when she was just an assistant for..." I swear. Aunt Jean has a story about everybody.