The Six Weeks, Part Two: Northern California

One week after we arrived at Lane's house, we packed it all back up and drove 6 hours north.

This time: Grammie and Papa's house.

There are no words that describe the peace of soul I find when I arrive at my childhood home.

I think the kids sense it ...

Elliot's best friend.

We went on many more adventures while we stayed at Grammie and Papa's house, including the Railroad Museum.

No shoes, no service ... luckily, he still wasn't walking at this point.

We went to Leatherby's:

I realize Elliot was featured in the last ice cream photo, I realized upon coming home he is in EVERY ice cream photo.

Owen found a new favorite perch at Grammie and Papa's -- the 36-year-old mini rocker.

We had a pie-eating contest with all our cousins:

She may not have finished first, but I think she won in the adorable category.

We drove down to Monterey to visit the Monterey Bay Aquarium:

Elliot was trying to free "Seven" back into the wild.

Underneath a tidal wave.

We spent the night in Monterey and woke the next morning to visit Ano Nuevo and the Elephant Sea Lions ... what we didn't realize is that it was a 4-mile hike (round trip) to see the beach where the animals perch.

They walked almost the whole way.

Those blobs are Sea Lions. They are LOUD.

They were happy to walk with Papa.

Afterward, we were going to walk around San Francisco, but the kids (and parents) were a little pooped. So off to Fenton's we went:

Mmmm.

The following days were filled with cousin play time, swimming, eating, parks and photos.

One night around bedtime, I was searching frantically for Jane. I finally found her. She told me she needed to go outside for some "fresh air and time to think" before bed.

Our time was also filled with one little one continually getting sick:

Of course, by this time, Daddy had had to come home for work.

And we spent a lot of our time cuddling up next to Papa for storytime.

Owen took a turn being sick:

This is as grumpy looking as he got.

We went to the Sacramento Zoo with Papa:

It was H.O.T.

Elliot got sick again:

Nothing made him feel better like a snuggle with Papa.

One week after our Ano Nuevo visit, I found this lump behind Jane's ear and a large bug attached to her scalp. Yes, a tick. Good thing my mom was around.

She recovered quickly, with Papa's help, of course.

Jane fully became invested in being a Cowgirl.

Owen found a new best friend.

Jane found her great-great Grandma's furs and, because she has Grammie wrapped around her finger, got to model them for us all.

She told me she was a raccoon.

And Elliot discovered the freedom of going pantless ... something that took months to correct.

Hey, at least he's wearing underwear in this photo ...

Soon our time came to a close and once again, we packed up the car (filled with many more treasures than what we started with) and headed East to Aunt Diana's house.