New Year's & Gualala

After coming home from our first snow day, Dave came down with a little cold.  Since we were both on holiday vacation and could "afford" the time for him to sleep it off, he decided to stay home in Davis with the dogs while Eddie and I made a trip to Livermore for New Year's.  Sleep is the best medicine and since he normally works four 10 hour days he's not always able to get enough sleep in Gualala.  And when he gets sick, it always takes him a while to get over it.  Plus, it's always nice to give him some alone time in his house--something he almost never gets.

Eddie and I spent the night in Livermore at my folks' house.  That evening, I got him ready for his bath and then took off to Dyani's for her party.  My parents were kind enough to put Eddie to bed.  Worrying about crazy drunk drivers, my mom made me promise to leave the party before midnight so I could get back before too many drunks hit the roads.

The party was really calm: lots of families, doctors, etc. all chatting and happily munching on foie gras and fondue.  Dyani is definitely French now!

I was happy to see a childhood church friend at the party, a guy named Matt who I hadn't seen in probably 15 years.  Donovan and I had a fun time catching up with him.  We did a New Year's toast at 10 pm (for Chicago!) because a few of the families with kids wanted to get back home early.  Dyani's parents' anniversary is on New Year's Day so they drove over from Livermore to be at Dyani's place at midnight.  They arrived at about 11:15 pm so I was able to see them for a bit before I took off for home.

Eddie and I stayed to play at my folks' house for while the next day, helping my dad with some yard chores.  We got to go home with a laundry basket FULL of delicious greens and onions from his garden, too.

Grandpa made Eddie a yummy PB apple sandwich.

Eddie helped Grandpa sift compost to make soil blocks for radishes and arugula in the greenhouse. I rototilled part of the yard in an effort to kill off the stinging nettle plants growing there.

Without fail, Eddie and I end up raking or digging in the backyard when we visit.  I could have a whole post full of pictures from the course of his life in this very spot, playing in the dirt. (Note: I'm wearing my dad's high school winter coat in this picture. Once he outgrew it, my Grandma wore it for years. It fits me perfectly.)

Eddie and Grandma spent a lot of time reading together...and seeking out Waldo in my old books.

We gave Dave one more night to recover from his cold before heading up to Gualala for a few days.  Our time was spent doing three things: cooking/eating, adventuring through the forest with the dogs, and assessing the Coast House for our move.  We took measurements, mapped out the soon-to-be downstairs kitchen, and I took extensive photo and video documentation of every room, nook, cranny, and outside area so we can have a nice before/after compilation.  Dave and I are paying for all the Coast House renovations (except some windows that John never got around to replacing) so we're trying to plan everything out in stages so we can actually accomplish our wish list of changes.  And that means a lot of compromises in terms of quality and speediness of the changes (at least on my part!).  I finally relented and agreed on installing icky laminate/Formica countertops downstairs instead of Corian or marble.  At least downstairs will be rented out once we finish renovating the upstairs so I won't have to live with crappy counters forever.  Ha.

I made a see saw for us to play on and gave Eddie as much advantage as I could.  I love simple machines!

Dave and his boys: Eddie and Taters.

What's better than cuddling with your Papa after an afternoon spent hiking through the woods?

John had a burn pile going at last year's logging site so we got to go check it out one night. Here are three generations of Bower men standing in front of the blaze.

John and Peggy love Hagar the Horrible comics.  This one made me laugh so MUCH because I swear Dave and I have had this exact conversation.  I think we'll dress up as Helga and Hagar for Halloween this year.

Dave taking measurements downstairs.

Dave and I were also able to take Eddie to the play group at Action Network where we got to meet another family.  I also asked a zillion questions about recreation and sports for kids Eddie's age--I am hugely disappointed that there's nothing in terms of sports or dance classes until kids are in school.  I knew the choices would be limited,  but having NOTHING seems crazy.  Eddie's been in gymnastics for a year now and his little body and mind depend on having challenging experiences like that.  I'm going to have to get creative and come up with some alternatives (Form our own tot sports team or dance class? Ask the gym or church to host a Mommy and Me yoga class? Sign Eddie up for a class or two in Santa Rosa to attend on our weekly trips to "town" for Costco shopping?).