Friends (Part I)

I'm not a very easy person to be friends with.

That is not false modesty. I have good intentions, but I am flaky and very forgetful. I don't have an agenda with my friendships, but I am also thoughtless and oblivious. And since Cal is now part of the package, half the time, when I leave somewhere, I feel like I've just laid waste to a person's entire sense of inner piece. In short, I demand a large amount of forgiveness, patience, accommodation, and charity from my friends. And I feel constant gratitude toward each of them.

I think I'd like to initiate a "Friends" series on my blog. I've seen others do it, and was very impressed by the various posts I've seen. It'll take me awhile, I know, because I'd like to document several different kinds of friends: old and new, distant, family, brief relationships and very lasting... all of them. And in no particular order. Everyone is important.

I think about people more than they would expect. Without realizing it, I find my thoughts have wandered to someone from college, or a joke someone told me who I haven't spoken with in years (literally). And I smile and think of that person. It's an interesting phenomenon, at least to me.

So yes, I think this post will begin my "Friends" series.

Meredith's Graduation

Cal and I surprised Meredith, and showed up at her graduation in Cedar City!

Unfortunately, I spent most of the ceremony in the hall with a certain wiggly toddler:
Funny side note: I had several (more than five) women ask me where I got Cal's toddler leash. One woman looked ready to buy it off me, right there in the parking lot!

I did make it back inside in time to see Mer receiving the hood:
I'm very impressed with Meredith. This represent a LOT of effort on her part. She was pregnant the first year of the program, had her baby in the middle of summer classes, and finished up while raising an energetic one-year-old. That takes a fair amount of motivation, organization and execution! Way to go, Meredith.

Afterward, Cal chased my Grandma Linebarger around a tree outside. He was very happy to be out of the grad ceremony.

Another side note (this post is more side note than substance!): My "baby" is turning into a little boy. It just amazes me to see him turning into a two-year-old. He's not my little baby anymore...and it makes me sad!

Visiting my Grandma Richey

On Friday, Cal and I visited my Grandma Richey. This visit left me surprised and grateful. The past few years, my grandma hasn't been doing well, as far as her Alzheimer's is concerned. There have been episodes where she hasn't known where she is, or who people are, etc. It has been sad, frustrating and painful for many members of my family.

I had heard that she had gone on medication, but I was never really updated after that. So when I came to visit her and she opened the door and asked how life in the Bay Area was treating me, I was stunned. She remembered so many things about me and my siblings, about Mer's and my babies, about our husbands' jobs, about how my mom and dad were doing.

In all truthfulness, I'd been on the fence about visiting my grandma. I didn't think she'd remember me, or that she'd remember the visit, but I was very wrong (and very happy to be so!). I'm so grateful that I decided to go, because we had a wonderful visit! My grandma is a person who has been very influential in my life, and I will treasure our time together that day.

Dinosaur Museum

After touring Farm Country, Diana and I took the boys over to the Dinosaur Museum. I was pleasantly surprised by how many age-appropriate activities the museum provided (I can't imagine how many kids swarm through that place every month).

Cal and Brandon immediately found some tunnels to run through:

Then we went upstairs to play with the bone magnets:

I don't know if the boys fully appreciated all the huge dino skeletons throughout the museum. They're truly awesome:

Diana & Brandon

Next, Di and I took the boys down to a hands-on room where they can play with water and sand. It's the perfect activity for kids...except ours:

Here they are, freaking out for us to get the waterproof smocks off of them.

Brandon made some new friends:

Cal climbed on EVERYTHING:

"Oh, hi!"

Both boys really liked the Dig Room, which is basically a big sandbox where there are boned buried:

Not sure what this face is all about:

This last photo is pretty amazing to me. Cal looks so grown up. He's not my little baby anymore! :(

Farm Country with Rosemary & Diana

On Thursday, May 5th, during our trip to Utah, Cal and I visited "Farm Country" at Thanksgiving Point with Cal's cousin Brandon. It was great to spend a fun, sunny day with Diana (my sister-in-law) and Rosemary (Cal's grandma)!

As I've said before, sometimes I wonder how much Cal is getting out of the activities I plan. I didn't wonder for second at Farm Country -- Cal was totally into it! Take a look:

Yes, I had him on the leash. Best $12 I ever spent.

The fun thing about going to Farm Country in the Spring is that all the mommy animals are having babies. So cute! There was an entire maternity/nursery wing of the farm. So many babies! The baby foal was right up next to the fence where we were, kissing his mama:

Cal also liked the baby calf, who was busy getting a meal:

Then, Cal realized he was the perfect size to fit through the bars of the animal pens. Thank you, puppy leash:

We all took a wagon ride around the farm together. You can't tell from the photos, but the boys really liked the ride:

There was a little town of playhouses just the right size for the boys to play in:

(Sorry for the blurriness)

My favorite part of Farm Country was when we took a picture with this cow. She got excited that we were standing close to her, and started licking Cal like a tiny salt lick! He was NOT happy about that:

I put him down and he just stared at the cow with indignation:

"Well, I never!"

Cal and Brandon

When I found out that my sister-in-law, Diana, was having a boy only 7 months after me, I was ecstatic. Having grown up close to my own cousins, I'm thrilled that Cal will have a built-in best friend whenever we get together with the Olsen side of the family. It's been exciting watching the two of them grow, and seeing the developmental gap close between them with each month.

That said, neither of them was extremely comfortable sharing throughout this past trip to Utah...Cal usually barged in and took whatever Brandon was playing with...including Grandma Rosemary's steering wheel:

"Oh hey Brandon! That looks like fun! Here I come! You don't mind, do you?"

Mother's Day Flowers from Hubby