When we left San Diego for L.A., we knew it wasn't going to be fun for Joaquin. We wouldn't be able
to do many of the events we had planned, so we stopped and bought him some Duplos before we arrived. This is a maneuver we have pulled once before while visiting family that wasn't really child-proofed. I recommend it highly. New toys occupy kids for a long time and makes the trip really exciting. Just call it a souvenir, but a practical one. Joaquin was really quite good at my step-
grandma Evelyn's house and since my dad arrived on Sat. evening, we were able to go out each morning and he didn't go completely crazy. We even visited the church currently served by our soon-to-be new pastor (it's the only church we know in the Long Beach/Lake Forest area) so Joaquin got to go to Sunday School. He didn't even care that it was in a completely different place, he was so excited to see other little kids and the familiar puzzles and toys he darted in without saying good-bye. I had to call him back and tell
him I'd get him in a little while - like he was worried! He also managed to have fun at Evelyn's house. She does have a nice patio where you can see the edge of the lake (man-made, hence the square corners) and watch the geese romp in the grass (do geese romp? What verb should I use there?). She also has a very cute real dog named Gigi and a dog statue out on the porch. You can see Joaquin enjoying the stone dog in these pictures. (Evelyn calls her dog a chi-weeny b/c it's part chihuahua and part weeny. We saw some friends of our in Long Beach (they just had a little girl) and talked dogs with them- they're Boston terrier people. Jenn decided
we should call Chita a Poo-huahua instead of a Chi-poo. I love it!) Having also become adept at entertaining himself with nothing when it's obvious the adults aren't going to, Joaquin enjoyed Evelyn's couch. Even though it was driving me crazy (I'm a little OCD about random things), I just let him. It's hard to damage cushions. The one bright spot was that we got to see my father on Father's Day, which we weren't anticipating so didn't have a card or
anything for, and my cousin Katie. She had been intending to fly down and my family, Evelyn and her were going to spend Father's Day with my grandpa. Obviously this didn't work out, but we did get to hang out with Katie and her boyfriend and really chat. Which was great since we haven't done that in a while. So here's Katie with Joaquin and I, please forgive my terrifying grimace, I was trying to convince Joaquin to say cheese and therefore smile instead of saying smile and then biting his lower lip (his normal version of a picture smile). So thanks to Evelyn for housing us, it was good to be with family during that time. And while I was sad not to see my Grandfather one last time, I'm glad he is in heaven, taking on a new adventure. My grandpa became an electrical engineer when electricity was still new and hot, left Minnesota for California (to build Sequoia National Park with the CCC), went through WWII serving directly under Patton for awhile (even designed and built the car that Patton and Roosevelt and other muckety-mucks rode in to the Potsdam Meeting). He came back, raised three kids, visited basically every national park we have, helped start a church in his own garage and then did the maintenance when that same church gained a building. He retired early and traveled all around the world with my grandma. Literally all around, he's been to every continent except Antartica. Then he married again at 90. In other words, he was always up for an adventure and watching him get old and sick at 97 was sad. He was just so bored and frustrated. So I'm excited to think he is at peace and enjoying the greatest of adventures now.
to do many of the events we had planned, so we stopped and bought him some Duplos before we arrived. This is a maneuver we have pulled once before while visiting family that wasn't really child-proofed. I recommend it highly. New toys occupy kids for a long time and makes the trip really exciting. Just call it a souvenir, but a practical one. Joaquin was really quite good at my step-
grandma Evelyn's house and since my dad arrived on Sat. evening, we were able to go out each morning and he didn't go completely crazy. We even visited the church currently served by our soon-to-be new pastor (it's the only church we know in the Long Beach/Lake Forest area) so Joaquin got to go to Sunday School. He didn't even care that it was in a completely different place, he was so excited to see other little kids and the familiar puzzles and toys he darted in without saying good-bye. I had to call him back and tell
him I'd get him in a little while - like he was worried! He also managed to have fun at Evelyn's house. She does have a nice patio where you can see the edge of the lake (man-made, hence the square corners) and watch the geese romp in the grass (do geese romp? What verb should I use there?). She also has a very cute real dog named Gigi and a dog statue out on the porch. You can see Joaquin enjoying the stone dog in these pictures. (Evelyn calls her dog a chi-weeny b/c it's part chihuahua and part weeny. We saw some friends of our in Long Beach (they just had a little girl) and talked dogs with them- they're Boston terrier people. Jenn decided 
we should call Chita a Poo-huahua instead of a Chi-poo. I love it!) Having also become adept at entertaining himself with nothing when it's obvious the adults aren't going to, Joaquin enjoyed Evelyn's couch. Even though it was driving me crazy (I'm a little OCD about random things), I just let him. It's hard to damage cushions. The one bright spot was that we got to see my father on Father's Day, which we weren't anticipating so didn't have a card or
anything for, and my cousin Katie. She had been intending to fly down and my family, Evelyn and her were going to spend Father's Day with my grandpa. Obviously this didn't work out, but we did get to hang out with Katie and her boyfriend and really chat. Which was great since we haven't done that in a while. So here's Katie with Joaquin and I, please forgive my terrifying grimace, I was trying to convince Joaquin to say cheese and therefore smile instead of saying smile and then biting his lower lip (his normal version of a picture smile). So thanks to Evelyn for housing us, it was good to be with family during that time. And while I was sad not to see my Grandfather one last time, I'm glad he is in heaven, taking on a new adventure. My grandpa became an electrical engineer when electricity was still new and hot, left Minnesota for California (to build Sequoia National Park with the CCC), went through WWII serving directly under Patton for awhile (even designed and built the car that Patton and Roosevelt and other muckety-mucks rode in to the Potsdam Meeting). He came back, raised three kids, visited basically every national park we have, helped start a church in his own garage and then did the maintenance when that same church gained a building. He retired early and traveled all around the world with my grandma. Literally all around, he's been to every continent except Antartica. Then he married again at 90. In other words, he was always up for an adventure and watching him get old and sick at 97 was sad. He was just so bored and frustrated. So I'm excited to think he is at peace and enjoying the greatest of adventures now.
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