Grandparents Ahoy!

The first two weeks of April were full of love. First, we were in San Diego, where Mike had a conference. And then we flew home, only to have Bubbe and Gramps come visit us!

Our time in San Diego was great. We spent plenty of time at the beach (and at the park just beside the beach).

We also took Natalie to the aquarium. I thought showing up just before closing on a Friday afternoon was a genius idea. Except it was Good Friday, so there were lots of kids who hadn't had school that day. Oh well. It was still fun.

Uncle Eric even came down from Smog Angeles for a few hours on Sunday morning. 

Natalie also got lots of time with her friend, the kih-kah.

And, of course, time with Oma!

 In addition to visiting my favorite restaurant, we also found a delicious new coffeehouse and some decent bagels. Not a bad haul!
 
Speaking of haul, Natalie also participated in her first Easter egg hunt - with my high school friends and their kids. How odd is that? What I really wish I had was an old picture of all us. Instead, you'll just have to look at these pictures and imagine back about about 15 years.

Miraculously, we actually all turned out pretty okay!

These are some pictures of Natalie playing with my grandmother's childhood doll (so, her great-grandmother's doll). How lovely is that? If that doesn't melt your heart, no doll ever will.

Speaking of my grandmother, here's the 4-generations "money shot". It only took 27 frames over two days to get this picture! I wish I were kidding . . . .

And then we were home! And then Bubbe and Gramps came! I have less to say about their visit, because I was working (and exhausted from dealing with Natalie's disrupted sleep schedule, thanks to the travel). Anyway, Bubbe and Gramps were kind enough to come the week that Natalie's preschool was closed, so Mike and I could keep on keepin' on. I hear they did lots of fun things, including trips to the zoo and the libray.

The pictures below were all taken by them:

 One of the days they were here, Mike's students had had a debate in class, and they'd decided to settle things the way students of political science have been settling things since the days of yore: with a cookie bake-off (elections are so passe, I suppose). Anyway, the littlest judge made an appearance. She was quite pleased with both cookies, I hear.

In the spirit of better-late-than-never, we had a slightly delayed seder with Bubbe and Gramps (hey, it was still Passover. Barely.)

Natalie really enjoyed eating the hard-boiled eggs and the haroset. We did a quick reading of the haggadah (while she ate various foods) and then put her to bed so we could enjoy a more relaxed dinner. For dessert, I made vanilla ice cream with roasted rhubarb.

Whew! That was quite the catch-up. Time to rest!