A visit from a Grandpa Moon

I think it's finally time to give a more detailed look at life lately. Especially since we've had 3 straight weekends with family! (Would it have been better to have them all consolidated so more people could see each other at once? Probably. But one-on-one is good too.) So, without further ado, I will work backwards, starting with this weekend.

We were happy to find out that my dad would be able to come this week.  He's been in Princeton for a few weeks, but because he's been busy we weren't sure if or when he would make it up here. He managed to get a lot done before Friday, so by early Saturday afternoon he was here!

Unlike the glorious sunny weather last week, this Saturday was cold and drizzly. Any hopes of going on another little hike to see fall colors was dashed. But that didn't matter, because Grandpa was here to play! Before he came Joseph stood at the window waiting for him, and while I was upstairs frantically folding laundry (that I didn't finish . . . errands went long this morning leaving little time for folding) I heard him knocking on the window and giggling. After Grandpa had come in and eaten a little lunch, Joseph gave him his card with "FALL" written on it, covered in beautiful red and orange and yellow crayon (to indicate that there was a fire and a fire truck, of course). Matthew snuggled up to him immediately and insisted on stories. Joseph just wanted to tell him everything (and have repeat it back, of course, as is protocol) and thought it was pretty special that he had two Grandpa Moons.

After a bit of playing, we decided to go to the top of East Rock. We hadn't been yet, and we figured that since we could drive to the top it would be the least painful way to see nature on that rainy day. So up we went.

Don't my dad and Joseph look exactly alike?

The view of New Haven from East Rock

This little city has grown on me.

A windless, balmy day.

Joseph needed an extra jacket, so Kevin went without.

The tower at the top commemorating several early American wars. Side note -- it felt like we had climbed pretty high, but we were only at 366 feet!  

Cute boy with red nose and blue lips and exposed legs.

After that chilly excursion, we headed home, made some plans, and decided to get some New Haven pizza. Then, because we couldn't turn down more free food, we went to the Institute Date Night. The idea was my dad would join us at the table, but he ended up hanging out in the nursery learning a new programming language (which was fine with him, and I don't know how we could have kept my maiden name a secret for too long with him chatting with the others). As it was, some people saw him with Kevin and said, "So your dad is in town?"

And, as it turns out, the dinner was a bit heavy at the top of the food pyramid. I guess when you have Halloween-themed side dishes assigned out potluck style, sugar cookies are a pretty versatile treat that can be cut out in several Halloween-esque ways. After 3 slices of pizza and a bowl of ham chowder, I just didn't have it in me to eat all the treats. Even when the garlic bread came around I could only eat a small piece and got teased for my Sacrament-bread-sized portions. And even then, this morning I still felt so junk fooded out that I ate baby carrots with my breakfast!

Shortly after said breakfast, we headed to church. Someone asked if Kevin would translate for the Spanish speakers but he couldn't because he was giving a talk.

"I'll do it," my dad said. The Spanish coordinator asked his name and he gave it.

"Oh, so you're Kevin's dad!"

"Father-in-law."

"Oh," he said. Blinked a little bit. "That's right." That's what they all say. So off he went to translate into faulty microphones while Kevin and I began our wrestling match with Matthew.

The rest of church went pretty well -- Kevin did a good job shortening his talk, my Sharing Time lesson went fine, Matthew fell asleep, etc. We went home, ate leftover pizza, and then decided to take advantage of the unexpectedly sunny and mild weather to go for a walk in a nearby park.

We didn't take any pictures of the wedding going on. We have crashed so many weddings I've lost count.

This secret passageway was not creepy looking at all.

He raked a pile of leaves and then fell into it.

Since it was sunny, we thought we might like the top of East Rock Park better compared to yesterday. As it turned out, everyone else had the same idea as us so it was crowded and cigarette smokey. And windy. But, the view was a little better.

We came back, let Grandpa have a well-earned nap, played some riveting games of Paw Patrol and Chutes and Ladders, ate some pumpkin roll, and then said goodbye to Grandpa so he could enjoy some 5-10 mph speeds on the ever wonderful I-95.

We have some boys who sure love their grandpa, so hopefully we'll see him again soon!