Family

Memorial Day Weekend we were able to take a trip down to Atlanta, GA (roughly, Fayetteville for you Atlantians) for a weekend with my extended family. The main catalyst for our trek was the fact that my grandparents (from upstate NY) were planning to be there for my cousin's graduation. We have wanted to figure out a way for them to meet their great-grandchildren since Benjamin was born and so this seemed the perfect opportunity. Those who gathered included my uncle Dennis & his family (GA hosts and family of the honored graduate), Grandpa ("Big Papa" to Benjamin) & Grandma ("GG"), my dad & mom (from CA), my uncle Ken & aunt Helen (from AZ), and us.

We had a great time together attending both Lisa's graduation and celebratory party, attending a patriotic concert by the U.S. Army Concert Band, and attending church together Sunday morning.

Both kids did decently well on the long car rides (3 1/2 hrs. to Nashville to spend the night and another 4-5 beyond that to Atlanta) and with the topsy-turvy schedule (going to bed at midnight one night, taking naps everywhere from a spare room at the party to the car....)

Grandma & Talia got along particularly swimmingly. The first evening we were there, during dinner at a Mexican restaurant, Grandma patted Talia's arm and told her, "you're a sweetheart!" Talia took to that immediately and began patting her own arm in much the same fashion. Eventually we even got her to pat Grandma's arm back. Or she would grasp Grandma's fingers and "help" Grandma pat her arm. She had us in stitches!

Monday we had a brief respite in our travels as we spent some time with Seth's sister's family in Nashville. The cousins had a great time together running around in the backyard and playing in the pool while Seth and I appreciated the opportunity to get caught up on our show (LOST), taking advantage of Phil & Vicki's DVR!