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the drive up north
The drive up to Northern California was not bad at all. We left a little after midnight, which gave us only five hours of guaranteed baby sleep. Sure enough around 5:30 in the morning, Baby Bug started stirring. I managed to keep her occupied with various toys until we stopped at a pancake house somewhere near Santa Rosa for breakfast.
(So much for the sandwiches I packed. We didn’t even eat them. That always happens. If I pack food we don’t eat it. If I don’t pack food, we starve to death and end up existing off gas station junk food.)
Baby Bug is a hoot at restaurants. She hams it up for everybody. If there is anybody within shouting distance who doesn’t immediately notice and coo at her, she shouts at them until she gets their attention. I realize that doesn’t sound very cute at all, but to us it is. Her shouts are happy self-confident “look at me” shouts, if that makes sense. The stuffy old man who sat across the aisle from us seemed to think so, especially after Baby Bug charmed him with her cackles and sweet smiles.
After filling up on pancakes and waffles with strawberries on top and making a complete disaster of the table and the floor beneath the high chair, we hit the road and headed for the redwood curtain. The only hard part for me was entertaining the baby on the winding roads. I get car sick so easy and looking at the baby is worse than reading a book while driving. It was quease-city for me for a good few hours. Thankfully, I didn’t lose my breakfast and we made it to the in-laws in time for spaghetti dinner and a beautiful sunset off their deck.
Baby Bug is getting really good at meeting new people. She lets everyone hold her and almost always beams her best smiles, unless of course she has just woken up. Then she’s the grumpmeister. But she warms up pretty quick. She especially likes meeting the animals. She loves dogs. Which is pretty important since they are part of the family too.
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Pancakes at Grandpa’s
I had to make one more quick trip to the sticks for a birthday party for my niece, Super Chic and to do one last load of laundry before we go on our big trip up north. Gotta have all the clothes clean so that maximum cute outfits can be worn. You know how it goes.
While I was out in the sticks we also squeezed in a pancake breakfast at my Grandpa’s house. As you can see he’s doing quite well after just having a pretty serious surgery. I guess we just have super genes in this family. Surgery? No sweat! My Grandpa’s surgery is way way way more serious than mine but he recuperated almost as quickly as I did. He’s amazing.
I love visiting my Grandpa’s house. It’s like stepping back in time. I used to spend a lot of time at my Grandparent’s (not this house but others that they lived in) when I was growing up and all the knick knacks and doo dads remind me of being a little kid. I miss my Grandma so much. She died many years ago. My Grandpa keeps almost everything exactly the way she did. Except he does guy things like hang every single cooking utensil on the wall just like he hangs all his tools up in his tool shed. I love him for his quirky ways. He’s an inventor. He’s invented lots of things but none of them are famous.
Thank you to all of you who prayed that my Grandpa might get better quick. He sure appreciated it. I need to ask you to keep praying for him. Physically he’s back to his old self but mentally he’s still suffering.
You might remember my Great Aunt, my Grandpa’s sister? Well, her health has been declining drastically this last year. She finally had to be put into a rest home and she’s slowly dying. Unfortunately, it’s affecting her mind the most. What’s so terrible is that my Grandpa has waited on her hand and foot for probably the last ten years. He’s caring that way. He cooks for her and cleans and runs around town doing errands for her. He stays by her bedside 24/7 when she’s in the hospital. His life is dedicated to her. He used to leave little notes in her bed clothes for the nurses to find. The notes would say things like, “Please take care of my sister.” It’s all very sad and tragic because the hospital staff wasn’t always as caring as he would like them to be.
But what is the most sad is that my Great Aunt is turning against my Grandpa. She’s going insane and telling him that he doesn’t love her any more. It’s ripping my Grandpa to pieces. He knows it’s her dementia and that she is not herself but for some reason he can’t stop taking it personally. He’s been crying a lot and worrying himself sick when he should be taking it easy. It’s just so hard to lose the ones you love.
