Nannie and Grandpa

One of the great downsides to living away from family is the fact that Brig is lucky if he gets a visit a year from the grandparents. Luckily, Nannie and Grandpa were able to make that visit in July. I had a fully planned weekend of do/or do not's and Brig even got an overnighter with just the Nannie and Grandpa.

Asher came over for one of the evenings so we could all go see Harry Potter together (i rudely missed the opening night viewing i promised him cause of the weekend at the lake) If you know the Miranda and Asher Williams' of the world, you know they are Uno sharks. Nannie was beaten by Asher while I fixed up some dinner. 

Oh... and Brig was lobbying for diet coke.

My dad is a hard man to please and any of my siblings would concur that it is very hit or miss if he is going to have a good time where ever he is at. Well, I had a few tricks up my sleeve this visit. 

Chloe's.

I introduced him to maybe the best sandwich ever. 

And he partook of it twice on his 5 day visit.

This was trick #2 for my dadday.

Guerneville.

When we all started moving to Sonoma County my dad kept on going on and on about Guerneville.

And, and is turns out, it is where he vacationed with his family in the 60's.

Right here to be exact.

Now known as the Guerneville Lodge, but used to be the residence of Howard a very good family friend.

I think it was quite the walk down memory lane.

It was so fun to see the place through his eyes

Imagine a teenage Mikey romping through Guerneville.

Or "Guerny" as I think he used to call it..

He claims not much has changed the yard opens up to the river and this big open grass area is for flooding.

So glad we found it.

I mean, it really wasn't hard to find being right of the main road, but glad.

The lodge was merely a detour for our final destination at Johnson Beach.

Beach is used lightly here. It is a rock beach along the Russian River.

But so charming with a ma & pa snack shack, canoe rentals and well, rocks.

Brig l-o-v-e-d the rocks.

And Nannie was nice enough to splash around with him.

They had a great shallow area that was perrrfect for a Briggy

Like I said... he loved the rocks.

He would have stayed there throwing them all day me thinks.

No Nate this day but Bryce and Lisa joined us.

This cute boy likes the river almost as much as Briggers

And of course he was doing disgusting boy things like pretend puking into the tube....

This poor girl is allergic to benadryl and unbeknownst to her she was overdosed the night Nannie arrived. It took her a good 3 days to get back on her feet. So she laid in the shade while Bryce, Lisa, and Grandpa canoed the Russian River and the rest of us enjoyed cheeseburgers on the rocky beach.

Nannie and Grandpas kept Brig that night so Nate and I could go for a work dinner/overnighter in the city. It was nice to see the city again and sleep in but we hurried on back to Windsor the next day.

That night Nannie and I and Bryce and Lisa attended "Shakespeare on the Green"

They do it every July in Windsor. Nannie just happened to be here at the right time. Of course grandpa and Nate thought this sounded horrendous and were graciously excused. It was "The complete works of William Shakespeare" which consisted of a comic condensing of the complete works. The actors were great, we laughed and laughed and I am still imitating the dying/puking sound it was so funny. Brig came to the pre-show which he enjoyed and he also helped eat our picnic. 

We played, and visited, and it was a very nice visit indeed.

Until next year Mom and Dad!