Grandpa Wilde visits

My dad came to town about a month ago. I caught this moment on the couch...



...and it reminded me of this moment when Carolyn was only eight days old.

Longwood Gardens

We're in Philadelphia right now taking our kids to visit family. Carolyn has been talking about this trip for quite some time. Our first full day here we took the kids to Longwood Gardens. They have a children's conservatory that Carolyn loved.

After we explored the grounds, we went to a concert for Ralph's World. I'd never heard of this band, but they did kids music and Carolyn loved it. She didn't sit still for long.

Here she is on stage during the last two numbers, playing the drums on Dad's head.

Even better is this video of her dancing to one of the songs.

Grandparents

Jeremy has been encouraging me to get to Olympia to visit my grandparents for months. But I never felt good enough to take that on. I get one day a week with Jeremy to help around the house, and I needed the weekend to recuperate and gear up for the following week with Carolyn. So, finally, when Thanksgiving weekend came around, and Jeremy had an unheard of four-day weekend, we made the trip up to Olympia. I am so glad we went. We just went for a half day, hoping that Carolyn would sleep on the way home for her nap. We should've known better than to hope for that. I wish we lived closer, or that Carolyn were more adaptable to sleeping in unfamiliar locations.


We had a wonderful time, capped off by a delicious milkshake from Eagan's, and were able to make it home without too much of a problem from Carolyn although Jeremy did have to sit in the back with her. Thank goodness for spouses that don't get car sick. Just thinking about making a two-hour drive back there makes me nauseated.

Delicious Eats

Angel, Carolyn, and I took a day trip to Olympia, Washington to visit my mother's parents. First we stopped to her mom, Grandma Willis. Carolyn quickly felt at home and started roaming all over the place. She find a rocking chair just her size that she loved. Then we all went to lunch with Aunt Lynn to a burger joint, Eagan's. So good. Burgers at fast food joints kinda gross me out. But this was delicious! They also had the best shakes. Angel ordered blackberry and I think I had at least half of it (well, half of what was consumed, she dropped it on the ground at the end). Carolyn happily ate her corndog and begged for fries off her Aunt Bean's plate.



From Eagan's, Angel, Carolyn, and I drove over to Grandma and Grandpa Tolman's. Carolyn found a stuffed dog to give loves to, and she discovered Grandma's snail collection--that kept her interested for awhile. We couldn't get her to sit still for much because she was too busy running laps around the house. Grandma and Grandpa shared some delicious Tillamook Wild Huckleberry Ice Cream. If you live in an area that sells Tillamook ice cream, check it out.

Here's a little picture of Carolyn not giving her mother even a moment's rest. I am just on the other side of that door, and she was stretching to get the handle to get in.

We had to return to Portland to get Carolyn home in time for bed, but we really enjoyed taking the trip up to see family.