The eagerly awaited visit from the Pittsburgh family has come and gone in the blink of an eye. One minute we were making plans to pick them up from SFO, and the next thing we knew, we were loading them up to return to the airport.
Two-fifths of the family couldn’t make this trip. Two weeks before the flight, our youngest nephew, two-year-old Wesley, developed a bad ear infection and mastoiditis, which led to his being in Pittsburgh’s Children’s Hospital for several days and a surgery. He was feeling much better, but unable to fly, so his parents decided to split the difference and send the older boys with mom and keep the youngest with dad. (Dad and Wes did several outings, enjoying a flight-free Pittsburgh “staycation.”)
While we missed the full crew, having the older two meant the trip could be more tailored to their interests—and a lot less toddler-watching/chasing stress on mom’s part.
Jack, 7, and Nolan, 5, were overjoyed to see Uncle Matt in baggage claim, even if they did fall asleep on the way back up from San Francisco. As it was midnight, and they’d been travelling all day, that’s understandable.
The next day—Thursday—the boys chilled with Mom and Nona, visiting the library for a few books and DVDs to enjoy before we all gathered for dinner at our house, a.k.a. Toyland. Truly: We have an astonishing amount of really cool toys to play with: ImagiNext castles and pirate ships and aircraft carriers and figures to act out a million scenes; a massive container full of multiple GeoTrax train sets; innumerable board games; Legos; and a large contingent of Thomas the Train toys.
We also have quite the collection of DVDs and children’s books, which are borrowed and returned daily throughout the visit, as if we were a branch of the library.
Friday the boys enjoyed Train Town and Black Bear Diner in Sonoma with the grandparents, Uncle Matt, and their mom while Thomas and I were at summer school. That evening we all converged at Nona’s for another yummy, noisy dinner.
On Saturday we took in the Pacific Air Museum while Matt’s sister Andrea went on a wine tasting get-together with friends, and on Sunday we all went out to Doran Beach to celebrate Avery’s 20th birthday.
Here’s where my skill set shines: At one point the big kids were heading to the jetty rocks, and Jack and Nolan immediately perked up with “I want to go!” One look at my sister-in-law’s face and I clicked my tongue and said mournfully, “Oh, shoot! You aren’t ten yet! There’s a rule that you have to be ten or older to go on the rocks.”
We all sighed regretfully, and my sister-in-law mouthed a wide-eyed “you are a genius” over their heads. Predictably, the boys got over it quickly, heading down to the water’s edge to squirt each other with blasters.
Monday was a swim date, Tuesday was Armstrong Grove with Nona, and Wednesday Andrea and the boys took a trip to the Academy of Sciences with a friend and her two kids.
Thursday was the Fourth of July, and Nona, Andrea, Jack and Nolan came down to join us at our best friends’ annual party. The boys spent a couple of hours on the two-story tall water slide and wallowing in the wading pool (set up for the dog to play in, and for a water source for the inevitable water fight) and snacking on all manner of goodies before they headed back to Nona’s for a shower and dinner.
We met up there and got them packed up so Matt could drive them down to catch their flight (which left just after midnight) and spent a good amount of time hugging and cuddling and giggling before we kissed them goodbye.
Seven full days—and I do mean full—all flew by in a whirl of laughter and sharing and enjoyment of each other’s company and great highlights of Sonoma County. I wish they lived closer, and we could see them more often, but I think we got our money’s worth out of this visit.
Juliana LeRoy wears many hats, including wife, mother, paraeducator and writer. She can be spotted around Windsor gathering material, or reached at ml****@so***.net
