Grammum Was Here!

I'm waaaay behind on the latest happenings with our family because a lot has been happening! Linnea is growing so fast and doing so many new things, yet the last I posted about her was her 6mo photos almost a month later! We did some more room updating in preparation for our family being in town Memorial Day weekend. And this past weekend Matt watched the kids while I "retreated" with my mom and sisters to a cozy cabin in the Cascade foothills. So, prepare yourself for blog inundation (oooh scary, at the current rate that probably means 2 whole posts in one week....).

I'll start off with Grammum Betsy's arrival from PA for a much anticipated week long visit. We had a little family gathering Memorial Day weekend with Uncle Dougie, Uncle Jack, Aunt Diane, and cousin Allie (congrats grad!) who drove up from Sacramento.



Some highlights in bullet form:

*Grammum and Uncle Dougie greeting the kids with huge balloons, new Crocs and bubbles.
*Dougie's melt in your mouth tri-tip bbq with all the fixings.
*walking around nearby Greenhorn Lake to feed the ducks and getting throughly soaked by a thunderstorm.
*being swarmed by the flocks of geese, seagulls and ducks.
* marshmallow roasting 'round the fire ring after Jack, Diane and Allie arrived.



* the retractable awning saving the day when the rain started just as we were getting our Memorial Day picnic spread.
*eating through the prime rib, burgers, potato salad, grilled asparagus, bean casserole, salsa and fruit. There was soo much food and all so yummy.
*ending the afternoon with strawberry shortcake before everyone except Grammum headed back down to Sacramento.


The rest of the week was spent trying to find some decent weather to enjoy. Seriously. It rained ALL week. Downpours. No views of Mt. Shasta. Thick dark clouds. Tuesday we retreated to Redding and enjoyed the nice weather there while visiting Turtle Bay and the Sundial Bridge along the Sacramento River.



*eating lunch at Chipotle! this is now a treat for us since Redding is the closest one.
*going in the now opened bird habitat and butterfly tent. a bird landed on Matt's shoulder!
*pretending the fish were biting in the underground river habitat with fish viewing windows. very cool display!
*playing in the water wheel at the Paul Bunyan play area
*loading the "pack mule" up with gold prospectors supplies
*getting ice cream and Italian sodas before strolling across the Sundial Bridge. This is a beautiful architectural gem with clean lines and delicate curves. I tried to capture this in the photos. it's even "calibrated" to tell time on the Summer Solstice. :)
*laughing to ourselves when the clouds gathered and temperatures dropped as we headed back into the Shasta Valley.



Thursday we drove up to Medford to watch "Horton Hears a Who", do a little tax-free shopping and stop at the fun mall play area that the kids like. Friday we drove up Hwy 97 to the Living Memorial Sculpture Garden and had a roadside lunch there. The sculptures/statues there are very moving. And the setting makes you feel like you're in the middle of the sage brush with no roads or civilization in sight.



The sun finally broke through the clouds that afternoon and we got some glimpses of Mt. Shasta. It was a nice relaxing end of the week. Grammum flew back to Pennsylvania very early the next morning. A day or two later, Evalyn developed an elaborate airplane trip on the couch complete with packed luggage and carry-on items. Her destination upon inquiry: Pennsylvania.