Grandma Jill and Papa Mike came to visit last weekend. We had a great time seeing them. It was a beautiful weekend in the city, so we spent a lot of time outside. Grandma and Papa also made sure they spent plenty of quality time with their girls – Papa, in particular, hadn’t seen Lauren since she was born so he had a lot of fun making up for lost time! Grandma and Maile read LOTS of books and did lots of projects together.
We also made sure we took some pictures before Grandma and Papa left…
Let's do this.
Grandpa Mike, Lauren (4.5 months), Maile (3 years, 10 months), and Grandma Jill
Daddy and Mommy in the mix...
Daddy, Lauren, Mommy and Maile
Thank you Grandma and Papa Boston for coming to visit us!
In this corner, at 3 feet tall and 35 pounds, MAILE GIRL…
Maile Girl bringing the ROAR - watch out!
Those claws look pretty sharp...
Hold on, let me get my monster teeth ready...
ARRRRRRR! Shrink away in fear!
And, in this corner, hailing from the north side of Chicago, the PAPA MONSTER…
Child, my monster hand is strong, watch out...
Papa Monster all up in your face!
Well played, Papa, well played...
(Kudos to Christine for the great shots of the monster battle!)
Maile meets Glass
A couple weeks ago we got a pair of Google Glass (is that how you write that?) at the Pocket office. I took them home this weekend to try it out.
We gave them a good workout – Grandma and Papa Boston were in town and we were all over the city. We went down to the new Exploratorium, the Ferry Building, took a pedal cab, headed over to Presidio Picnic, went kite flying and did plenty of goofing around. In the video below almost every picture and video was taken with Google Glass (there are a couple I threw in that Papa Boston took of me wearing them).
My overall impression is that while it is a pretty cool experience to use, I don’t think they are something I’d wear on a regular basis and I see a lot of challenges to this particular form factor being adopted on a wide scale. Some more specific thoughts:
- They were actual quite comfortable to wear – I was aware that I had them on, but didn’t find them uncomfortable and unless I specifically was trying to look at the screen, they didn’t get in the way of my normal interactions with people.
- The screen worked pretty well – it’s pretty small, but for basic notifications (like the score of a ballgame) it works fine. The screen is pretty hard to see in sunlight though.
- I don’t think this would replace me reaching in to my pocket and pulling out my phone for most things – you can get emails on it, but I don’t see that I would use it for that. The primary use cases for me were photos, videos, navigation and quick notifications (scores, weather, breaking news, etc.)
- I did feel a bit ridiculous wearing them around the city – part of that is the novelty factor, lots of people come up to you and ask about them. Everyone was really excited about them though – still, just don’t see this going mainstream as it currently is designed.
- You can judge for yourself in the video above, but I think the perspective is a lot of fun, especially with the girls. There were definitely moments I was able to capture that would have been ruined if I was trying to do it with my phone. I was able to be completely “in the moment” rough housing around with Maile or flying the kite – I liked that aspect a lot.
My friend, Jon, said it best, that there is a pretty good chance we look back at this post in the same way we laugh at the pictures of our parents from the 70’s, 80’s, etc. and laugh at what they were wearing. Google Glass may be my perm.
(Click here for the video.)
Today was a special day. Yes, it was Inauguration Day and the Martin Luther King, Jr. Holiday – but on a more personal note, it was the first time in quite some time that both sets of grandparents were together with us. With one set of grandparents in Hawaii, the other set in Boston and us in San Francisco, it is not too often we all get together. We like to space things out so one set will visit during one of Maile’s holidays from school and the other set will visit during another, etc. Today was the one day they were overlapping for this visit – with Grandma and Papa Boston heading home tomorrow and Grandma and Papa Hawaii arriving to help out for another couple weeks as I head back to work.
Maile was in heaven with all the attention! And Lauren had plenty of welcoming arms to cradle and hold her throughout the day. The weather cooperated as well, so we snuck outside to take some pictures of the whole family together…
Maile, Lauren and BOTH sets of grandparents
Grandma Gail and her (San Francisco) girls...
Grandma Jill and her girls...
Papa Mike jumped in there too 🙂
Family Picture: Mommy, Daddy, Maile (3.5) and Lauren (2 weeks)
Can’t thank both sets of grandparents enough for all the love and support they’ve provided as we’ve settled in with Lauren!
On Sunday, Grandma Jill and Papa Mike arrived from Boston to meet their new granddaughter (and, of course, spend lots of time with Maile Girl). I think it is fair to say that it was mutual love at first sight…
First meeting between Lauren, Grandma Jill and Papa Mike
Even though Grandma broke her jaw just a few weeks ago, nothing can hold back that smile!
One happy grandpa!
Maile Girl went on her very first vacation without Mommy and Daddy this week. Grandma Jill and Papa Mike took Maile down to Monterey for the night. (She’s been away from us before, but we’ve always left her on her home turf, this is the first time she’s headed out without us.) By all accounts she did great and had a blast exploring the sites of Monterey. They hit the Dennis the Menace playground, checked out Carmel and visited the Monterey Aquarium. Maile knows a thing or two about aquariums and said this one was top notch.
Grandpa Mike went to the Dennis the Menace Playground when he was a little boy - this was a return trip, some 50 years later!
It was hard to tell who had more fun, Maile Girl or Papa Mike...
Dinner had an amazing view - right off the pier were a bunch of seals! Maile loved it.
Love this picture of Grandma Jill and Maile - both fascinated by the sites at the aquarium!
No trip would be complete without a souvenir. This is our new pink, purple, blue whale - Maile is currently snuggled up asleep with her.
Thank you Grandma Jill and Papa Mike for the first of many adventures!
Maile Girl here. It’s been a few days since Daddy or I checked in – we apologize! On Thursday, Mommy and Daddy woke me up and instead of going to school, we rode in an airplane all the way to Boston to see Grandma and Papa … and Auntie Elyssa! I’ve been having so much fun with them! I’ll post about some of my adventures over the next couple of days…
For now proof positive that I’m a happy girl!
Just us girls 🙂
Papa Mike - just as silly as ever!
Papa Mike can't take his eyes of Maile Girl (yes, it's harder to get a Grandpa to look at the camera, then a 2 year old 😉
On Sunday, Grandma Jill and Papa Mike came in from Boston to join us in NYC and have fun with Maile while Daddy and Mommy worked on Monday and Tuesday. We need to get all the pictures from Papa, but they had a bunch of adventures all over the city – they hit the flower show at Macy’s, a kid’s play space that had a tree house, John’s Pizza, Shack Shake, FAO Schwartz, shopping down in Soho. Rumor has it Grandma Jill is going to take Maile Girl over to the MOMA tomorrow morning before we all jump on a plane and head back home.
Maile is a lucky girl that in the span of one week she got to see both her grandparents (even though they live on opposite sides of the United States!)
Guess who came to visit for the past several days? Yep, Grandma and Papa Boston! So much fun. They picked me up from school on Thursday afternoon and we went non-stop. We hit museums and parks and went shopping, lots and lots (and LOTS) of eating. The highlight was definitely on Friday when Grandma and Papa came to school with me! How cool is that? Papa talked to all my classmates about being a dentist and Grandma handed out mirrors so we could look at our teeth. We all got to ask questions too. I was so proud to have my Grandma and Papa come to my school!
Grandma and Papa picked me up after school and we hit downtown...
Papa and I goofed around - he's so silly!
Grandma and I hit the stores - I showed her all the dressies that I liked...
Papa was my transportation - I hope his back isn't too sore!
3 generations all together for Daddy's birthday!
Want to have some fun? Grab a laundry basket and an Uncle Stephen and away you go!
Papa got involved too - he's the O.G. of laundry basket roller coasters!
Wheeee!
(Click here for the video.)
