Bakersfield and St. Louis Part I

Part I of this post is just going to be pictures from Bakersfield. We went up on March 17 (hence the green that a number of us are wearing) because it was the first day of Jimmy's spring break. We didn't know it when we decided, but Jimmy's cousin Michelle and her daughter, Madi, were visiting on their way home from spring break back to Arizona. If you're not acquainted with the Brock family this means there should be a party. So, Michelle's parents came down as well as Uncle Neil and Aunt Fran so we had a big group for lunch Monday. Madi is a year younger than Nathan (about 8 months old) and they got along quite well. :)

Nathan kissing Madi.
Aunt/Grandma Betty reading to Nathan and Madi.

Mommy holding Nathan holding Madi.

These pictures were taken on Tuesday, when it was just us and Jimmy's grandparents. Nathan has, in the past couple of months, taken an EXTREME liking to his stuffed animals, including wanting them to do everything he does. He feeds them (we have to look in Elmo's mouth sometimes to see what food he's hidden in there), gives them his paci, and on this day announced they all had poopy diapers so we had to change their diapers.

Finished product: clean diapers for all (don't worry--we resued the diapers on Nathan!).

On this particular trip, since it was so close to our last trip (less than a month previous), Nathan was so excited to see his "Greats." When we drove into the parking lot of their retirement home he literally started screaming "Great! Great! Ride! Great!" because he likes them and knows he gets to ride on Great-Grandma's walker when we go down to meals. As soon as he saw them he was hugging them and was giving them kisses. Both days, when one of them was out of his eyesight he was asking for them. Tuesday morning he woke up at 5:00 and after a little while started asking for them. We told him that he had to go back to sleep to see them, so he did (for a little while). It was very cute. They obviously all get along quite well, so we will be very sad to leave CA and the chance we have to see them so frequently! In this picture, Nathan has piled all of his stuffed animals into Great-Grandpa's lap and then climbed up. That was OK with Great. :)