Road trip Part 2

We got to my grandpa's Monday around noon. Grace was so excited to head out to see the animals. Last time we had been up, she had named the newest calf Samuel. Since then, another calf had been born, and he had told her she could name it when she came up. She was super excited. She loves the cows and horses. I took Elizabeth down as well, but she was not nearly as into it as Grace was. Plus the weather was kinda cold and dark, as a rain storm was heading that way. I love taking pictures of Grace and the animals, but holding Elizabeth (who is getting bigger and bigger every day) was rather tricky.

Discussing cow names. She ended up with "Blackie." I bet you will never guess what color the cow is.

Elizabeth slept through most of the tour of the farm. What a party pooper. :)
She did manage to wake up once we got back to the house. She is so smiley, I love it!
My Uncle lives on my grandparents property. He also has the middle name Lee, like Elizabeth, as they were both named after my grandma.

Grace may very well be my grandpa's biggest fan. She loves talking to him and following him around. And let's just say that the playoffs in baseball don't slow her down one bit.
During dinner my grandpa took Elizabeth, who was restless, so I could eat. She feel asleep on his lap, it was super cute!
After dinner my grandpa always has a snack. Grace, like all the other grandkids, was a big fan.
Tuesday morning, it was pouring down rain, so we decided to go ahead and hit the road as early as we could to hopefully miss as much rain traffic as possible.
Regardless of the rain, Grace really wanted to go down to feed the animals. She did, got really wet so she stood by the fire to warm up.
Grandpa gave Grace a piggy bank and some quarters. She thought putting them in, was so fun!
Grandpa and the girls.

Lastly, a ride on the rocking horse before we rode off into the rain. Grace loves that thing.

Road trip Part 1

Last weekend we took a quick trip up to visit my grandpa and introduce him and Elizabeth. We drove half way on Sunday, got to Grandpa's on Monday and came home Tuesday. I think we may have actually spent more time in the car than actually at my grandparents. Elizabeth did great in the car. I brought stuff for Grace to do, so she was okay (although if I have to hear "Father Abraham" one more time, I may scream). I found that the drive is way more pleasant, when you aren't in labor and missing your grandma's funeral. Amazing what a difference that makes.

Our first stop was in Castaic on Sunday night. I had to feed Elizabeth so we went to Starbucks and then picked up a pizza to take to our hotel (which was a few exists north in Labec-in case you are super familiar with the grapevine).



We got to our hotel in time to watch the baseball playoffs. I am not sure who was playing or who won, but Grace found it interesting. Oh, and we didn't have plates so we used the pizza box. That is where the fun in road trips comes, right?
Elizabeth, being the sweet happy baby she is, layed on the bed and smiled. She is such a sweet heart!
Grace found the hair drier to be lots of fun. I don't blame her, I mean, look at that hair! She obviously could use any help she could get. :)
Grace brought her favorite doll, baby Beth along for the ride. And apparently, the blankets make long car rides more fun. Did I mention she spent a lot of time in the car?

Road trip Part II

Sunday night we stopped just on the other side of the grapevine at a hotel. We had made good time, and it was just starting to get dark when we got there. We had just bought Grace a new bathing suit the night before and we had brought it along in case there was a chance to use it. Unforntunantly, the pool wasn't heated and the water was pretty cold. The hot tub was actually pretty cool (for a hot tub) and was more like bath water. So we decided to let Grace in the hot tub. She had never been in a hot tub before and greatly enjoyed her first late night jacuzzi party.

When we got back to our room, Grace was all excited about staying in a "her-tell". She kept saying "I love this her-tell. This is my favorite her-tell I have ever seen." Her excitement only grew when she found the little bottle of hotel lotion. I am very picky about what goes on to my skin and she had already had a bath and was in her PJ's, but thankfully, Gunnar took one for the team. She had wonderful time caking lotion ALL over his arm.
Monday morning, after a restless night's sleep, we got up and got back on the road. Turns out, Grace talks in her sleep. You would think that talking all day would be enough for her, but aparently not. We were pretty tired, so our first stop of the day was Starbucks. Since it was a special trip, Grace got some milk with a shot of vanilla instead of her normal order (a short glass of cold water in a warm drink cup).
We got up to my grandparents some hours later. Grace was happy to be out of the car and couldn't wait to go down to see the animals. As she was walking down to the barn, she asked if Grandpa "Hil-kon" would hold her hand. It was so cute!

They checked out the horses. And she got to play on the hay.

She got to sit on Grandpa's new ridding mower. That is my Uncle Russell in the back ground.
I am not sure who's old four wheeler it was, but she enjoyed "riding" it as well.
Such a biker chick.
She went over to my grandpa and asked if she could sit on his lap. She sat on his knee and he pretneded to give her a horsie ride. It held her attention until she noticed his mustache, which she foudnd to be quite fascinating.
Later that evening, they went back down to see the animals again. Aparently, Grandpa let her help feed the horses, and she came back looking like this.
Tuesday morning we stoped by to see my cousin Amy and her kids who recently relocated to close to my grandparents. We met at a park, although it was really hot, so the kids didnt do a whole lot of running aorund. Our sweet friend Joan met us at the park as well, and it was nice to get caught up with her.
Back at the ranch, Grace was too wound up to take a nap. So instead she helped Grandpa check the gopher traps. She said later on that day that when she is 14 she thinks she will catch a gopher. Aparently, she finds gopher catching to be a little too difficult at this stage.
Also that afternoon, Gunnar helped get up on the roof and get the swamp cooler in working order. It was a REALLY hot day, so I was glad not to be the one up on the roof.
Back down to the barn before dinner to feed the animals. Grace got to ride the golf cart, which is quite exciting. I personally prefer to walk down, although I did take them up on the offer on the way back up. I held on for dear life, and I was able to survive the ordeal.
None of the cows had been around the day before, so Grace was excited that the old cow "Cowgirl" was down waiting for her dinner that evening.

She got to feed the horses again, and this time I was there to document.
I now know how all the straw got in her hair the night before.

After feeding the animals, we had dinner ourselves and got back on the road. On our way out we saw some buffalo and pulled over to check them out. If I had more energy I would find a picture similar to this from a couple years ago of Gunnar and a long horned bull. We enjoy taking pictures with animals on the side of the road. If you haven't done it recently, I recomend it, as it is fun. :)
And yes, Grace is sitting on top of my belly. I don't usually carry or lift her, and now I remember why. :)

We drove some hours Tuesday night, and stoped at the same hotel as on Sunday night. We got up Wednesday and headed home. It was a lot of time in the car, but we had fun being together. It was a nice break from everyday life, although we did come home exhausted. I think we need a vacation to recover from our vacation!! :)

Trip to Grandma's house

Last week we headed up for a quick visit at my grandparents. We drove up Tuesday afternoon, spent the day Wednesday and headed home Thursday. As it goes in life, the journey is half the adventure anyways.

We had a nice time visiting with my grandparents. We got caught up on our politics (Go Sarah Palin!) and spent time walking around their ranch.

Grace, of course, had a blast. She loves people that will pay attention to her, especially grandparents. She loves yummy snacks, horses, cows and dogs, and new things to explore. She was super cute and talked my grandparents ears off. She was actually pretty good in the car too, although we did have to bribe her with some Starbucks. A "crudont" as she says, always hits the spot. I agree of course.

This trip marked a significant mile marker in Grace's American experience. I would say it is pretty close to voting for the first time. Or maybe your first fourth of July fireworks (which Grace has yet to see). Yes, ladies and gentlemen, she had a happy meal. She was happy about it too.
Actually, for those of you who know how picky I am about Grace's food choices, you will be glad to know that happy meals now come with Milk and apples (instead of fries). Seeing as she only ate one of her nuggets anyways, it wasn't as bad of a nutritional choice as I had expected it to be.
She was a huge fan of the milk. And she was so cute drinking it. Got Milk anyone?Tuesday evening on Highway 58 (inbetween Buttonwillow and my grandma's) we saw a beautiful sunset over the hills. I normally like that drive, becuase the hills are really yellow and pretty, but the sunset was magnificent. The picture from the car did not do it justice at all.Wednesday morning we woke up early and cold. That is just the way it is at Grandma's house. Always early and cold in the morning. After breakfast and getting dressed and all, we headed down by the barn becuase Grandpa needed to split some wood for that evening's BBQ. My grandparents BBQ's are world famous (by that I mean we told people in Spain about them when we lived there), and aparently part of the secret is grilling over a wood fire.

Gunnar helped my Grandpa run the splitter, but as the younger and newer member of the family, he had to stick the wood in front of the wedge part, not the fun, pull the lever part. He hopes and dreams of running the lever part, so hopefully he gets lucky one of these days.

There are a lot of pictures of the wood splitting for a couple reasons. I figured you city folk probably don't spend a lot of time around wood splitters, and I thought you might find it fascinating. Besides, I was a little bored waiting for them to finish up.

What did Grace do while all this was going on, you wonder? She brushed up on her sitting skills.
There are such interesting things to sit on around there.

She wasn't quite sure about that one.
Or that one, but after my harrowing ride down the hill, I don't blame her.
Finally, something comfortable to sit on. Much better!
After the wood splitting, we headed back up to the house. Grace was scared of the golf cart, so we walked up. We did stop by the barn, to check out the pitch fork and hay.

We hung out at the house, for most of the day. Grandpa and Gunnar went into town and Grace spent time with Grandma and drew her some pictures.

My Uncle Russel came over after work for dinner. We sat outside while they BBQ'd. The weather was beautiful.

After dinner, shortly before it got dark, the three of us went out for a walk. My parents would always take us out for a walk after dinner when we visited my grandparents, so it brought back a lot of memories from my childhood. It is fun to be able to share moments like that with Grace.

Checking out the cows. Walking up Grandma's driveway.Saying Hi to Rainey
We saw a tarantula. It was going okay until Gunnar threw dirt at it, so it ran at me. He thought it was funny.
We checked out Russel's grapes.
Grace wanted to try the grapes. She said that Grandpa Pa's are better.Thursday morning we hung out for a while before we left. Grace enjoys the "vintage" toys at my grandma's. My grandpa seemed to be more comfortable interacting with Grace now that she is a little older. They were really funny playing together.
Good times, good times.