This two day journey was over 400 miles. E'lora woke us about 6. I wanted to be on the road by 8. Fred helped by feeding her breakfast and loading stuff in the car. I still didn't get on the road until 8:23. I thought of Jen getting up in the morn and to work by 8. Goodness!
Our first stop was Cuzzy's house for an unwrap fest. Alexa was defending her turf keeping her hands full with the command, "Mine." She is two. I've always thought they need to know it is their's before they can truly share. And sometimes they need to be forced to share. Another, "Goodness!" It was fun and cute though. They always want to stop and play with the one thing they've opened. Perhaps one gift is enough. Maybe that's why Jewish families have one gift each night of Hanukah. We played for almost an hour then headed to Sacramento to pick up grand niece Reese. This was her special adventure since she missed the Kerksieck Kampout in the summer due to a softball commitment. E'lora was first a little scared of the twenty something kids roaming about Cokie's, but she soon was playing with the throng and really didn't want to leave. I was grateful for good travel weather, and I did want to arrive at Irwin Den with some time to spare before "Mommy" went to work. I could tell the separation was getting more difficult for E'lora, this was her longest ever. We had a delightful hour to chat and play before Cora headed off to work.
Papa Bear, Reese, Elora, and I headed to the park off of Darla to play at her second favorite place, the playground. The library is her favorite place. The cold was biting, but the sand pancakes were delicious. We walked to the Griswold Christmas light house, however the lights never came on for us. It still was festive to see. I made Trevor's favorite green bean casserole, and after dinner we took him some as he was closing up at Holy Roast. Papa Bear and E'lora hit the hay, then Reese and I had fun playing Boggle before turning in ourselves.
Saturday morning we headed off on our grand adventure at 9. First stop, Wild Flour Bakery to visit Papa Bear and walk in the garden. We drove out Coleman Valley Road to the coast then watched the huge surf at Duncan's Landing. I kept my eyes peeled for any rouge waves. It was thrilling to watch the waves crash and spray against the rocks. Next stop, the taco truck in the Safeway parking lot in Guernville, except it's not there on the weekend. We had a tasty lunch in the little Mexican spot across the street. Armstrong Redwoods was crowded this day, we walked in the picnic area and checked out some new trails. Last stop, downtown Santa Rosa. Reese commented that she likes walking the streets in downtown Sacramento, so I thought this would be fun for her. Sweettooth had yummy frozen yogurt. We wandered over to Holy Roast and got another hug from Trev. GrandMuM's hips hurt from carrying E'lora on my shoulders.
We arrived back at Irwin Den with E'lora ready for a nap. Reese read her a book while I packed up the car. We stopped at the Jelly Belly store on the way home and stocked her up with sour jellybeans for their New Year's party. I stopped at Trader Joe's on my last leg, so it was about 8:30 when I got home. I was rummy tired and hungry. I ate a tasty spinach salad, then watched a movie about the gray whales trapped in the Alaska ice back in 1988. Almost six days of GrandMuMMing came to a close, what precious moments they were, what infinite blessing to count.
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