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?

Next up on the trip was a return to Ma and Pa’s house where I got to hang out with my cuz Avery some more.  For some reason, M&D insisted that I put on my blue shirt and pose next to Avery for pictures.

On Saturday, we got to visit Uncle Tommy’s FIRE STATION!  WOW!  Uncle Tommy, being the professional that he is, had to lay down the ground rules when we got there.  Like no pushing buttons or starting engines.  But then we got to have fun!

I think my favorite part was sitting in the driver’s seat.  I got to sit in both engines and the ladder truck. And Uncle Tommy didn’t say anything about not turning the steering wheel!  Weeeeee!

Avery was my partner in crime fire station enjoyment.  I was ready to take her for a trip around the block, but I couldn’t reach the pedals!

Thanks Uncle Tommy for the great tour!

The most fun thing to do and Grandpa and Nana’s is to clean the pool.  So that’s where I started.

After the pool was all cleaned up, I was ready for a nap.  But after that it was off to the park.  I spent the whole time on the swing.  I wanted to give Grandpa plenty of practice with his new camera.

I’d say he seems to have figured it out pretty well!  While I didn’t get to sit in a garbage truck this time, a fire engine and animal control truck did come by the park!  The park at Grandpa and Nana’s is always exciting!  Thanks for a great visit, Grandpa and Nana. And thanks for the yummy cookies, Nana!

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!

Olivia, Baby Addison, and their Mommy Alex came up to visit me and M&D.  We went to the park to show them a good time.

Here, I’m demonstrating how to use the climbing equipment.

Here, Olivia and I are investigating the water fountain…

…and here, I’m showing how to run away from it!

After the fountain, we took a ride on the train.  This might be the most fun I’ve had in my entire life!  Boy was I tired and ready to go home for my nap!

Last weekend, Grandpa and Uncle David brought Grandpa’s race car up to the track by us to go racing!  M&D took me out to the track to see what this was all about.

The first order of business was getting to wear these big ear thingies, which was really the pits.  I mean, I had to wear them in the pits.

Of course, I got to experience the race just like Grandpa does: complete with Chips Ahoy cookies sitting in one of Grandpa comfy race chairs! Grandpa, you can invite me to the races anytime.

I quickly found my critical role as morale boostin’ high-fiver.  It’s just a good thing I was done with my cookies when it was time for Grandpa to go.  I got to give Grandpa the big good luck sign as he headed out to the track.

Then we went to the stands to watch.  Boy do those cars go fast.  When they weren’t driving by, I had fun climbing up and down the chairs.

And on the way back to Grandpa’s parking place, I found a car of my own to drive!  Somebody left this one unlocked with the keys in the ignition!  I got to turn the steering wheel and everything!

I can’t wait to come see Grandpa race next year!

Ma came to visit last week to help look after me while Auntie Linda and Uncle Rick are away.  I had a great time seeing Ma and showing her all my toys ‘n’ stuff.

Then, because it is almost my birthday, was sang Happy Day Day and I got to open some presents!

Look!  Ma got me a great looking shirt and shorts (just in time for Summer!), and some new books.

Our trip started with going to the airport, and getting on an airplane!

I got to sit right next to Daddy!  The plane ride was fun because I got to eat snacks for almost the entire time.

And watching the big fans go around and around was fun, too.

We went to visit Grandpa and Nanna, and when we went to lunch, we parked right next to a FIRE ENGINE!

The fireman that was there was very nice and let Daddy and me sit in the driver’s seat!  Wow!

Later, we went to the park and I had fun on the swings…

…and then I spotted a garbage truck rumbling by.  I persuaded Daddy to let me down from the swing so I could chase the truck.  We were in luck as we caught up to José on his break, and he was nice enough to let me up into the cab with him.  WOW!

And then I got to sit with Grandpa in his RACE CAR!  I can’t wait to see Grandpa driving his race car for real!

Later, at Aunt Danee and Uncle Tommy’s house, there was an Easter Egg hunt.  “Cuz” Avery and I found all the eggs in no time flat.  Check out Avery’s swell hat!

Ma got us some nice Easter baskets, and Aunt Danee and Aunt Carol got us bunnies to play with.  Thanks Ma!  And Aunt Danee and Aunt Carol are really Great Aunts.

Oh, and I got a new aunt this weekend, too.  M&D said that while Grandma was looking after me, Uncle Ryan got married to Aunt Liz.  If aunts give you stuff like Easter bunnies, I’m all for having as many aunts as I can!