Tokyo is For Lovers: Catching Up: Grandpa Dave and Grandma Clara's House

One of the things I remember most about my childhood is how child-like (in a good way--most of the time) my dad is. My dad is the kind of dad who actually played for hours on end with his kids. He didn't just take us to swim at the pool, he jumped in and swam and played as hard as we did. I was known as the kid with the fun dad. It was a good way to grow up.

Now that he's a grandpa, I can't say that he's changed a whole lot. Sure, he may be a tiny bit slower than he used to be, but he remains a kid at heart. How does this translate into real life? Here are some examples: While Clara was doing her Grandmotherly duty of rocking the baby to sleep, my dad was complaining about how frequently we were putting Sawyer down for naps. While Clara was teaching Sawyer how to play with toys in his exersaucer, Dad was teaching Sawyer to drive the lawn mower. While Clara was constantly making sure that Sawyer was clean and sanitized, Dad was letting Bella, the shih tzu, lick Sawyer's face! :)

Like always, we had an amazing time visiting Dad and Clara. It always feels like a vacation when we go to their house. It's so comfortable. It's so pretty. They live in the country so the air is fresh. There's a hammock. A tree swing (which Sawyer LOVED). A fig tree. A peach tree. Chickens. Puppies. It's really a paradise. And of course, there's Clara who is constantly trying to help us relax by doing all the cooking and the cleaning. Ahh...it's lovely.

Another highlight of our visit was the earthquake. We were in a restaurant when it began to shake and I said, "Hey! This is exactly what an earthquake feels like in case you were curious." I never considered that it could actually be a real earthquake, but then we found out that it was! Also we went on a shopping spree at the Book Fair. Jonathan bought $800 worth of Japanese literature for $200. I would usually be annoyed at such a purchase, but he was just SO excited about it, I couldn't ruin it by giving him a hard time.

So here is Sawyer swinging with Grandpa:

And here is Sawyer a few minutes afterward recovering in the hammock. The swing was so exciting he puked everywhere, but he's happy!