Next on our merry whirlwind tour of OC was Grandpa and Nana’s house.  We arrived Christmas morning and it wasn’t long before I got to open my first present!  I got a puzzle with sea creatures from Darren.  Did I mention I like puzzles?

Then Grandpa and Nana got me a Richard Scarry book: Super Stupendous Stories!  I decided that this had to be tried out right away!  It has all of my favorite characters in it: Lowly Worm, Sergeant Murphy, and Huckle the Cat.

Just when I thought things couldn’t get any better, what did Grandpa and Nana have for me but a GIANT FIRE TRUCK!

I’m not sure how anyone got this picture of it as the way I remember it, I was pushing it around for the rest of the time I was there.

Thanks Grandpa and Nana (and Darren, Davide, and Simone)!  I had a great time visiting with all of you!

Well!  M&D and I are back from another trip to “So Cal”.  I had a great time visiting everyone, and finding out all about CHRISTMAS!  Wow!  Everybody has these things called ‘presents’ that they give you.  The ‘presents’ have wrapping paper around them, and while sometimes when you take the paper off they have clothes in them, lots of times they have TOYS!

Our first stop on the trip was to see Grandma and Grandpa Harris.  When we got there, they had made a big FORT for me to play in!

They also got me a digger…

… and Thomas!  Grandpa Harris showed me the ropes.

Then later, he showed me his real truck with the lift gate.  I got to (try to) lift up Daddy by turning the crank.  Boy is Daddy heavy.  It was much easier to lift the gate when Daddy wasn’t standing on it.

I also got to sit in the truck…

… and drive it all over with Grandma and Daddy.

Later, we went on a walk around the neighborhood, and one of the neighbors has their own castle!

I got to climb up in it and play all I wanted – until it got dark.

This is a visit I won’t soon forget!

M&D?  Can we have a castle, too?

Once again, M&D took me out to have our pictures taken with Jeneanne.  This time we went to Spring Lake where I saw a lizard:

went swinging out on the dock:

looked for fishies in the water:

and practiced my boo boo face.

Oh, and I took some smiling pictures with M&D, too:

Ed Note: All photos by Jeneanne Ericsson.  Thanks Jeneanne!

We had a last hurrah Indian summer day before it got cold and rainy again, and Mommy put my tent outside so we could have a picnic lunch.

Daddy showed me how to find shapes in the clouds while we were gazing up at the sky.  I found a bunny rabbit!

It was time to give M&D a checkup, so I got out my doctor kit to get started.  First up, Daddy:

I started by listening to the heart and lungs with my steth-o-scope.

Then it was time to check out Daddy’s ears.  I thought I would see if there is something wrong with his ears since he doesn’t always do what I tell him.  Maybe he just can’t hear me?  Turns out there was ‘food’ in there!  Maybe he’ll be able to hear me better now!

Next up was Mommy.  She got a blood pressure check…

… an ear exam…

… and I listened to her chest, too.

Overall, M&D are in pretty good shape.  Not bad after over two years of taking care of me!

Mommy got this great Black & Decker^® powered tool set for me.  It has a flashlight, tape measure, level, safety goggles, jigsaw, electric screwdriver, and a drill motor.  Wow!

Now I can help Daddy with projects like fixing the fence, where my new drill motor is just the thing!

If you were here, I’d tell you that Daddy has a blue drill motor, and I have an orange one.  And then I would tell you again.  And again.

Well, Danee’s training helped, but I wasn’t really prepared for how much sand is on the beach.  My truck couldn’t even come close to holding it all!  That’s OK.  I quickly learned to fill, dump, and fill again.  And watch out for the water!

And then my cousins introduced me to some more serious sand piling efforts – Grandpa Harris’ challenge to build a sand castle taller than Lauren.  With some “creative interpretation of the rules” (Daddy’s phrase), we were able to meet the challenge!

Later, I went on my first ferry ride with Daddy, Mommy, and Grandpa Harris.  I had a great time sitting on the seat and watching all the other boats.

Later, we went back to the Fun Zone and took a ride on the Ferris wheel.  It goes up, and then down, and then up again!

The next day, M&D took me to the MERRY GO ROUND!  Wow!  As you can see, I queued up first in line!

I got to go on with Daddy (Mommy cheerfully volunteered for photographer duty – I wonder why?), and the look on my face says it all.

After the merry-go-round, we walked out on the pier and ordered french fries from this restaurant out there.

Very yummy.  You can see here that I’m taking care of the fries while Mommy takes care of the smiles.  Good job, Mommy!

A big thanks to Grandma and Grandpa Harris for inviting us to come stay with them.  M&D and I had a great time visiting!  Stay tuned for the next exciting chapter in the OC adventure!

After the fun airplane ride and getting picked up at the airport by Ma and Pa, one of the next things I got to do was visit with Aunt Danee.  She brought me some great sand toys – just in time!  And she provided excellent training, including making sound effects.  It is really important to make the right sounds when dumping sand.  She also told stories about spending time in Balboa when she was younger.  Thanks, Danee, for helping me get ready to go to the beach!

Later, Ma wanted to take a family picture.  I wasn’t too keen on looking like everybody else, but in the end I decided to concede and join in.  M&D say I’ll treasure this in the future.  I dunno.

After the family picture, I had a great time playing with my cuz.  Avery and I were jumping and sliding like we were, well, 2 years old.

Now I was looking forward to hitting the beach.  But that will have to wait until the next installment!

I think I’ve mastered this one now.

And here’s the original:

Daddy looks a lot older, doesn’t he?

Mommy took us to one of our playgroup haunts so I could show Daddy the sights.

Brush Creek Park has a cool water faucet that is great for making sand castles, or just getting yourself wet.

I also showed Daddy how I can sit on the big kid swings.

We had a great time!  Happy Father’s Day, Daddy!