Alright, so for the last two weeks, it was my dad's (papa's) turn to visit us. He spent the majority of his time rocking the baby or playing with tools (real and toy) with the toddler. He folded some laundry and cooked a couple of meals. During his free time, he read 3 books (Slow Death by Rubber Duck, In Defense of Food, and a Michael Crichton novel), took long walks on the river or through the neighborhood (one walk we clocked at 6.7 miles and the others were pretty long also), did small projects around the house, and he also managed to watch a couple of movies. He was a big help to us, and I think that he had a good, relaxing time also. It was sad to see him go, but we are hopeful that he and my mom will be back sometime this summer.
I'm overwhelmed by the quantity of photos that are produced every time we visit my parents or they visit us or we travel together. Thankfully, I haven't taken a class at the university since December, so I've had time to do some projects. In effect, my photo albums, digital and printed, are up to date. Well, at least they are current up until my dad's visit. Here's what happened or at least a few bits and piecces of what happend:
My husband overhauled the garage once again. This time it was in preparation for my new car. We're waiting on a used Toyota 4-runner. We hope one will come into Fairbanks or Anchorage within the next year, but we're not holding our breath because it's quite a popular vehicle that people like to hold onto. Until then, I'm happy to keep driving my Toyota Corolla. I love it, but it's just not going to haul 4 people's camping gear or bikes or kayaks as comfortably as we'd like it to so something bigger would be nice.
It warmed up, and we went outside to play a lot. This was one of the last days we could walk on the river before the slough overflowed its water onto it. We saw one snowmachine playing in the water a few days later, but that was the last of the river activity until it breaks and the boats can come through. Yes, my son's coat is relatively new. It's a 3T, and he's only 2.
Several packages came in the mail and brought with them big smiles: some Easter Baskets from Grandma Phillis, some clothing that Great-Grandma Carol picked up in Maui, 3 awesome outfits from Great-Auntie Janet including one of the MN Golden Gophers, and a noisy auto-start toy from Great-Aunt Laurie.
After driving out to get a glimpse of the Alaska Range and exploring some backroads in Ester, I took my dad and the baby to one of my favorite places to eat--C&J's--it's a sad excuse for a 50s diner, but the service is great and the food is simple and filling. While we were eating, the baby had an explosion in his pants that I had to care for in the front car seat because they don't have a baby changing station. It was memorable. We followed it up with a trip to home depot, where we found a piece of wood for 52 cents.
The boys spent a lot of time in the garage. One day they built this birdhouse out of the piece of wood, which I later detailed "Papa & Alek 2010." Papa taught our toddler the difference between screws and nails, bought him a drill and set him up with a board of screws. He's now able to take both real and toy screws out of the board with both his drill and screwdrivers. And, yes, we allow this in the house.
Every morning, papa took the little guy downstairs to have breakfast. After breakfast, they would do stretches on the floor. Why are their mouths open? Well, because you must grunt while you're stretching. Dah.
My dad spoiled me. I had asked him a couple of weeks ago to make me another picture frame so that I could add some of my favorite haying photos to create a sort of Minnesota farm collage. He made me two more out of weathered wood, brought them in his suitcase, and even hung them up for me. Did I ever mention he brought an entire wooden toybox on the plane last Christmas? Of course, he did the final assembly here.
He also hung up a few things that my mom had made and given to us during her visit: a growth chart to match the toddler's room, a "No Monster's Allowed Wall Hanging," and this quilt to match the baby's room.
Once he hit two years old he finally had his first hair cut. Daddy did a fantastic job, and our son didn't mind it a bit. Earlier that day, our son found Easter eggs in the house and garage and named off each of their colors to us as he found them. The baby gave us a lot of smiles probably because we were smiling and laughing a lot that Easter morning.
Once again, we utilized our local indoor children's resources on a couple of colder mornings: Gymnasics Inc and Bonkers. Afterward, we picked up some groceries. Fred Meyer's has plenty of puddle boots to choose from this year.
We had our friend Sadie over one night, before she took off to travel for work for a month. We had other friends, who just returned from Mexico for the summer, over another night. And we had a bonfire with our good friends and neighbors another night. It was perfect weather for the bonfire. After our guests had gone home and the boys had gone inside to make dinner, I stayed out and enjoyed the sun in peace with the baby sleeping on my lap.
We even ate free tacos at a refinery hockey game. Then, as quickly as papa arrived, he was gone. My son has learned that people come and go in his life, but that they always come back.
