Grampa Days

It's that time of year again...Grampa visits!  My dad always goes to a convention in Ohio on this middle May weekend and with the relatively close proximity to Pittsburgh he has made it a part of the tradition to visit us on his way home.  Yay!!  It was a fantastic visit and flew by, but we squeezed in as much quality Grampa time as possible of course (not to mention my dad did about 10 fix-it projects in his short 3 day stay).  Here's a review of some of the highlights...

Dad arrived on Sunday around 3:30pm.  Tavin didn't end up napping (too excited knowing Grampa was on his way I'm sure).  So Koen, Tav and I greeted Grampa on the porch and pretty much inundated him with Melder-ness from the get-go!  After Penn woke up from his nap we headed over to the South Side Works for some bike riding and walking on the beautiful riverfront there.  Tavin got to show off riding his bike for Grampa.  

Penn just walked his little legs off.  He LOVES to walk/run everywhere.  Go, go, go with this one!

Tav's pretty serious about bike riding.  Can you tell??

It was a lovely evening together.  So great to enjoy the beautiful weather and show off such a pretty part of the city-scape to Dad (not to mention getting the boys lots of exercise!).

On Monday Koen didn't have school, which was perfect timing as it meant he got some extra time with Grampa.  On Monday morning the boys were already done with breakfast when Grampa came down to eat, so they all came up with an activity to keep them busy at the table through breakfast and beyond.  It was so sweet that they just wanted to be with him.

We mostly just stayed around the house on Monday.  Koen got some one-on-one time with Grampa when I took Penn and Tav to Children's for Tav's appointment with Miss Christal. Koen built a clipboard out of the "create" bin I keep in the basement and played Battleship with Grampa.  Then when we got home the boys played catch in the backyard while I made lunch.

After lunch Koen remembered how much he's been wanting to practice Morse code with Grampa.  He got his book and the telegraph key and they set to work.  Tavin wanted to be in on it too of course.

After a restful afternoon (well, Grampa did a bunch of projects and I did my regular tasks, but the boys all rested, ha!), we spent the evening in the backyard playing, grilling out, enjoying a delicious meal together and playing some more.

Tuesday was my favorite day.  A few weeks ago when we were in Dormont to check out the new campus on a Sunday when he had to be there, you may have recalled how the boys and I found a super cute used book store.  My dad loves used book stores.  So, I made a Dormont morning plan for my dad, Penn and I for the Tuesday he was here while Koen was at school and Tav was at preschool.  My plan worked perfectly and we had a very special father-daughter, relaxing, fun morning (shared with the super adorable Penn Rye).  We started with a late breakfast at the Dor-Stop.  Dad loves diners and Doug has been wanting me to try this well-known Dormont spot since he first visited it months ago.  Both Dad and I were very happy with the service, the classic hometown diner vibe and the food was great.  Penn was a big fan too.

After we finished breakfast, we headed up Potomac Ave. to visit North Way's newest campus.  It was fun to show Dad the new facility as he has an appreciation for these things.  We didn't stay too long though as we still had several stops left.  Next up, Beyond Bedtime Books.  Penn remembered the store immediately and therefore begged to get down and walked right back to the Children's room, which is so quaint and sweet!  We hung out in there while Dad checked out the front of the store.  I was excited that he thought it was as adorable as I did (he's seen a lot of used bookstores!).

Next we headed up to the T stop (and perfectly timed saw a T go by to Penn's amusement of course!) and beyond it to stop in at George the Tailor.  I spotted this store when the boys and I were exploring Dormont a few weeks ago too.  He was closed on Sundays, but I just had to stop in and get his story.  His shop is littered with military airplane and other vehicle models as well as patriotic paraphernalia.  I was so curious to know if he served, where he served, etc.  Dad was just the pal to have along for this meet and greet.  My dad is a bit of an aficionado on certain eras of American military history.  I'm pretty sure chatting with my dad was this man's highlight of the day, if not week or month perhaps.  George was a through and through American patriot, proud of his country, his service and his faith.  It was a very interesting few moments we spent with him.  Thanks for serving, George, and thanks for the chat!  We then headed back to our car to stop at another used bookstore I found online (I figured we might as well see what else was in the Dormont area!), Rickert and Beagle Books.  This one had a wider selection of military and espionage books, so we spent more time here.  I had to snatch a picture of my dad enjoying a favorite pastime.  

Penn was amazing this whole morning, just hanging out with us, having fun even though it was a much more adult morning than a toddler one.  He kept us smiling and laughing our heads off as he was enjoying the drenching of attention from both Grampa and Mommy all morning long.  It was a great morning.  Dormont is a pretty cool little town and I just LOVE time with my dad. =)  After our adventure, we headed back home to pick up Tav and have naptime, etc.  When Doug got home from work, we headed out to Blue Slide Playground at Frick Park and Dad treated us to some take-out pizza so we could have a simple, fun, outdoor picnic.  It was a fun night!  Penn was so comfortable with Dad at this point he treated him like his mandatory playmate.  So cute!

These videos are so fun!  Dad was such a trooper doing the same hilarious thing over and over making Penn squeal with glee.  As you can see in the video, Penn just expects Grampa to do exactly what he wants.  He's come a long way in his friendliness (so much so he's becoming a bit bossy in this relationship!).

Koen was a little wound up, so it was such a blessing that we were somewhere where we could bring off some energy.  Can't you just see the energy?!

Tavin was intent on keeping up with Koen and trying some of his own new challenges.  He loves climbing around on new playground equipment and I don't think he'd ever tried this one before and he scampered up it so fast I almost missed it!

 We got the boys back for bedtime and we closed the day feeling quite satisfied with our Grampa time.  Unfortunately, Grampa had to head home Wednesday morning, but we were so thankful for this great stop-in.  Thanks, Daddy.  We all enjoyed your visit...your helpfulness with the projects around the house and the boys' bikes, but much more importantly, the quality time it provided for us to have with you.  We love you and are all missing you very much and looking forward to our summer visit already.  I'll leave you with a picture I took of the boys (who wore military green for Grampa since they know he likes it too) before Dad left on Wednesday morning.