Gram and Grandpa visit!

Continuing on with our busy September... the weekend after Kevin and Jenn's wedding, my parents came to visit. They only stayed for four days and five nights, but it was the days I don't work and Ewan isn't in daycare, and it ended up being super quality time. They stayed at our house and slept in Ewan's room on an air mattress. (That's one advantage of co-sleeping; we still essentially have a guest room.) We did a lot, including celebrating Marsha's birthday with her and Roger, biking, hanging out at the beach, hiking, going out to eat, to parks, the library, and the farmers' market, and, of course, a lot of playing! We took a ton of photos, but below are some of my favorites and those that best capture our time together. There is no doubt that Ewan knows my parents really well now, and he loves them to pieces. We all had so much fun together. In fact, I don't think I've ever seen Ewan happier, at least not for four straight days. Here are the photos and some stories to go with them...

Here's Ewan with his color-blind Grandpa, ironically reading "I See Colors" together. Although Ewan can say "Grandpa," he called my dad "Peti" for most of the visit. Peti is our neighbor's name, and it took us a while to figure out why he called him that. It finally all came together for me when Ewan pointed to a picture in a book of a bear's furry face and said, "Peti!" He associates Peti with the beard he had for a short time, and now refers to any guy with facial hair that way. This is especially funny because Peti doesn't typically have a beard; he only grew one for a short time, but clearly it had quite the impression on Ewan!Here's the crew ready to head out on our bike ride along West Cliff Drive. Check out "Grandpa Peti" sporting a Harley dude look and Gram wearing an Ergo with no baby in it. We were looking good! Actually, I think we were still the most normal looking people in all of Santa Cruz. Darn.A beach detour from our bike ride:
Look who passed out on the bike ride back:
Playtime with Gram:
And more playtime at the park:
Hiking in Big Basin... We sang "Happy Birthday" to pretty much everyone we know on this hike. Ewan has become a big fan of the song (and accompanying blowing out of the candles) after hearing it several times recently to celebrate Marsha's birthday, then for an early birthday celebration for my dad and me. He often spontaneously says or sings, "Happy day-day," and kept requesting more singing ("Again!") on this hike.
And reading bedtime stories on their last night here... This particular book is called "Daddy, Papa, and Me," which my mom picked out at the library after grabbing it and randomly opening to a page with a picture of a little boy and his dad playing guitar together. Only when she started reading it to Ewan did she realize it was a story about a boy with two dads. We had a good laugh over that, but it quickly became one of Ewan's favorites and he'd beg us to read it to him. After all, what could be better than having two dads?!
Finally, a video I took of some down time at home that captures some themes from our time with my parents as well as several of Ewan's new behaviors: walking with his arms over his head (which can also be seen in several of the photos above), shrieks of excitement, calling my dad "Peti," exclamations of "happy day-day," "dancin'," butterfly kisses with my dad, and the generous giving out of hugs and kisses...

Gram and Grandpa from Rebecca Turvy on Vimeo.

Oh, we miss you so much Mom and Dad (Gram and Grandpa/Peti), but I'm so grateful for the time we had together, and to have been able to share Ewan with you and you with him. We can't wait to see you again at Christmas! We love you!