Tag Archives: niece

Another Quick Santa Barbara Day (or Celebrating My Niece)

Posted on February 28, 2024 | Comments Off on Another Quick Santa Barbara Day (or Celebrating My Niece)

I don’t go to Santa Barbara too often, even though it’s not that long of a drive. But I do go up at least a few times a year to see my family. I go up for my niece’s and nephew’s birthdays, and I’ll continue to do that as long as their birthday parties are family parties. I don’t know how many years that will go on so I have to take advantage of them when I can.

Since it’s an easy drive, I only go up for the day so I don’t need to pack an overnight bag. I really can’t remember the last time I stayed overnight in Santa Barbara since I’d rather not have to bring all that stuff and like to sleep in my bed. I still end up feeling like I bring a lot of stuff with me, but it’s usually because I’m bringing stuff to give to my parents so I don’t have to ship things to them. And my parents usually have a bag of things to give to me as well. Typically, my dad is bringing me some tools or things that I mentioned would be helpful to have. This last time, I mentioned not having clamps to hold things down when I glue them, so he got me a set of clamps.

I went up recently for my niece’s birthday party and I really didn’t have much to bring with me this time. I did have her birthday present, but that was all I had to remember to put in my car. But I did get a new-to-me camera recently (it was a trade with a friend), so I brought that too so I could practice taking some photos with it since it had been a while since I had used anything other than my phone to take photos. I got the camera mainly to do self-tape auditions, but learning how to do more on it is a good idea in case I want to use it for photos and other things.

The drive up was pretty easy, and I felt lucky about that. The day of the party was supposed to be a very stormy day, but I didn’t have much rain on my drive. I lucked out with the storm because it only rained a little bit going up so I didn’t have to worry about extra traffic caused by people who aren’t good drivers in the rain.

Most of the birthday parties that my niece and nephew have had before only had a few friends there. This time, there were a few more friends than at their past parties (I’m guessing my nephew will have a lot of friends at his birthday in about a month). It made things a bit more hectic, but I ended up talking to my parents most of the time. The kids were doing different crafts like decorating cookie boxes (which had glitter so I was trying to stay away from that) and playing with all the toys they have. Once my niece opened her presents, they started to play with those things too. I got her a dress-up set, but she got a lot of dress-up stuff so she had a lot of new things to open up and try on.

The party only lasted a few hours before all my niece’s friends started to head home. I stuck around a little longer to talk with my parents about a few random things, but once it looked like the rain was about to start, I knew I needed to leave too so I could try to avoid driving in a crazy rainstorm. I don’t love to drive in the rain anyway, but to drive 90 minutes or more in the rain sounded awful. Just like with my drive up, my drive back down home only had a few minutes of rain and then it was easy for me the rest of the way. I’ve done the drive up and back enough to have experienced a lot of random situations that make the drive harder or longer, but this ended up being one of the easier drives I’ve had.

Hopefully, when I go back up in a little over a month for my nephew’s party, it will be just as easy of a drive. And I hope it won’t have the threat of rain so the party can take advantage of the bounce house they have been using for other parties since that is always a big hit with everyone!

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A Santa Barbara Birthday (or Happy 2nd Birthday Presley!)

Posted on February 22, 2023 | 1 comment

This past weekend was my niece Presley’s 2nd birthday. I was happy her birthday fell on the weekend because I was able to drive up for the day to celebrate with everyone. I wasn’t able to do that for her 1st birthday, but I still was able to go up the next day to be a part of a mini-celebration. But I was excited that I could be at her birthday party this time.

It was a small birthday party. The only non-family people there was another family that has 2 little boys around the same ages as my niece and nephew. But I think a bigger party might have been overwhelming for my niece, so a small party was perfect. And it was a really nice afternoon.

For most of the party, all 4 kids were busy playing with all the different toys my niece and nephew have. They have a few different little motorized toys, like garbage trucks and bulldozers. And they are still young enough that they weren’t turning them into bumper cars or anything. But what I think was one of the biggest hits was actually a gift I got my niece and nephew for Hanukkah this past year. I got them a mini-bounce house that was set up in the backyard. It was the perfect size for all the kids to play on it and they all kept going down the slide into the grass.

I’m so glad that my niece and nephew loved the bounce house since it can be tough to pick out good gifts for kids. But I had a good feeling that would be a hit and it was nice to see that it was!

Of course, since it was a birthday party, there were presents and cake (but cupcakes since it was a small party).

Opening all the presents was a bit overwhelming for Presley, so she opened most of them while I was there. But she did open the gift I got her, which was a little flower-building kit, while I was there and she did start playing with it right away. So I think that gift was another hit! I know that she has a lot of toys already, but I wanted to find something fun for her. I’ll probably try to find non-toy presents in the future, but it was fun to find something cute this time.

After a couple of hours, it was naptime for all the kids. So the other family headed home so their kids could nap and then my brother and sister-in-law worked on getting my niece and nephew down for their naps. Both kids were probably over-exhausted and were fighting a nap, but they went down after a bit of a fight. And when they were asleep, that was time for me to head out.

I could have stayed and hung out with my parents for a few hours, but I was going to see them again in a few days when they got to LA, so there really wasn’t a discussion or plan for me to stay in Santa Barbara through the afternoon. And I had things at home that I wanted to get done, so I was fine making the drive home so I could have the afternoon and evening to get things checked off of my errands list.

My nephew’s birthday is only about 6 weeks away, but since his birthday is on a weekday I’m not sure if I’ll make it to his party. I’ll just have to wait and see what day his party is planned for. I did give him his birthday present early since I didn’t want to have to ship it (and he wouldn’t really know the difference between getting it now or later). If I don’t make it to that party, I’m sure I’ll make it to Santa Barbara another time in the future. And I’m so glad that I was able to make it to Presley’s birthday party and have a nice family afternoon with everyone!

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Celebrating My Niece’s Birthday (or Another Santa Barbara Day)

Posted on February 22, 2022 | Comments Off on Celebrating My Niece’s Birthday (or Another Santa Barbara Day)

During the pandemic, I’ve gone up to Santa Barbara for day trips quite a few times. It’s usually because of a celebration (like to meet my nephew and niece) or a holiday. And this past week, my niece turned one! So of course, I knew I’d be headed up there for the day again.

My niece’s actual birthday was on a Friday, and because I couldn’t take off work I couldn’t be there for the little family party they had (it was just immediate family so it was small). But I was able to take time off on Saturday so I could go up for the day then and still get to celebrate a bit!

And since I was going up for a birthday, I had to find a present! Getting gifts for babies can be tough, but I asked a few of my friends with little kids and a couple of them mentioned that at their kid’s preschool they had stacking dolls. It’s good for motor skills plus they can be fun. And I thought that sounded like a great idea. My niece’s room has a llama theme, and I found a set of stacking dolls that had different animals on them but the biggest one had a llama! So that seemed perfect!

Since my brother and sister-in-law had my niece’s party the day before, when I went up it was just a casual hangout. We went to the country club that they belong to so my nephew and niece could splash in the kiddie pool and we could hang out and have lunch. My sister-in-law’s parents were also there, so it was awesome to get to see them too.

My parents hadn’t seen the work done to the condo yet in person, but they had seen photos and been on FaceTime with me so talking about the renovation was a big topic. The last time I had seen most of this part of my family was at Thanksgiving which was right after we bought it and we hadn’t started to plan the renovation yet. Fortunately, I take a ton of photos so I had a lot on my phone I could show everyone.

And of course, it was awesome to see my nephew and niece. They haven’t seen me a ton, so I’m still a bit of a stranger to them. But they have both warmed up a bit. My nephew was trying to give me half-eaten bits of hot dog, which is one of the best compliments a toddler could give you. My niece smiled at me a bunch and was giving me high fives.

The only downside to this day trip was that I didn’t really take any photos. I wasn’t focused on doing that, which is good. But I wish I had some. I did get some photos from the day before that my mom took, so that makes it a bit better.

Once it was nap time, I went back to the rental house my parents were staying in to go over some condo things. My parents were going to come to LA the next day, so we didn’t have to do a lot. But we planned out what we needed to accomplish and also went through some catalogs to get ideas for what things I want to look for in stores when I’m getting more things together for my move.

I didn’t stay too late since I knew I’d see my parents again the next morning. Normally when I drive back to LA, it’s already dark. But this time, I got a pretty nice view as I was headed home!

But I’ll be back in Santa Barbara soon because in a little over a month my nephew is turning 2 and I’m very excited about the gift I’m giving him!

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An Unexpected Family Visit (or Making Plans, Canceling Them, And Making Plans Again)

Posted on July 8, 2021 | Comments Off on An Unexpected Family Visit (or Making Plans, Canceling Them, And Making Plans Again)

Like I said yesterday, the end of my 3 day weekend ended up being a bit unexpected. But that’s actually not the full story. It was something I had planned for, then had to cancel, and then was able to do again.

A month or two ago, my parents mentioned to me that they would be coming down to Santa Barbara to be with my brother and his family and they wanted to see if I could come up to visit. And I thought at first that it would work out perfectly because I had Monday off of work. If I didn’t have that day off, it would have been difficult to go because I would have left after work and would be driving in rush hour traffic. So I said I’d see them on my day off and thought that was that. But it turned out, I misunderstood some information and my parents were not going to be in Santa Barbara until later that day and I didn’t want to have to drive home in traffic after the holiday weekend. So I had to tell them that I didn’t think I would make it. But I knew I’d be seeing them in September so I was ok.

Then on Monday morning, I called my dad after my workout to tell him something random and my parents mentioned they were already driving down and about halfway to Santa Barbara! I wasn’t expecting them to leave until later, so I mentioned to them that if they were going to have the afternoon free, I could come up and see everyone for a bit. I knew it wouldn’t be that long of a visit because I would still want to leave before the traffic got really bad, but seeing my family for a few hours would be better than not seeing them at all. So my parents confirmed with my brother and sister-in-law that they would be hanging around their house in the afternoon and I quickly went home to shower and change after my workout. I was able to start my drive only about an hour after I talked to my parents and fortunately the traffic wasn’t too bad. I made it to Santa Barbara in just over 2 hours instead of the 90 minutes it usually takes me.

I didn’t take any photos while I was there since we were more focused on just being together as a family for the few hours I was able to be there. It had been 3 months since I had seen my niece and nephew and they both grew so much! Rory wasn’t walking when I was there last time and now he’s walking all over the place and almost running! And Presley was a newborn when I was there and she spent almost the entire time asleep. Now she looks much more like a baby, has a ton of hair, and was awake and alert. It’s crazy to see how much they both grew when it seems like I was just there.

It was also nice to just get to relax and talk with my family. Even though we are connected all the time either via text or on the phone, it’s always better to be together in person. Just like with my niece and nephew, it had been 3 months since I had seen my parents in person. I had a few things for them that I was going to save until September, but I was able to bring them with me (my parents have stuff for me too, but since they were already driving when we figured out I’d see them, that stuff will have to wait a few more months). Nothing was urgent to get to them, but it’s always nice to be able to give them things I was holding onto.

I was only in Santa Barbara for a little over 2 hours before I headed home. Traffic was not horrible and I knew it was going to get worse, plus my niece and nephew were about to take naps. So it seemed like a natural time for me to say goodbye and start my drive home.

It’s crazy how it all worked out this week. Even though I would have been ok not seeing my family, it made my weekend that much better that I got to be with them. And I am just so grateful that it all worked out perfectly and I had the time to drive up and back without too much stress.

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A Big Family Day! (or A Birthday Party and Meeting Presley)

Posted on April 6, 2021 | Comments Off on A Big Family Day! (or A Birthday Party and Meeting Presley)

This past weekend was my nephew Rory’s first birthday! It’s so crazy to think that it’s already been a year since he was born, but then again it was one of the craziest years of almost anyone’s life with the pandemic. But even with the pandemic, I knew that there would be a small party for Rory to celebrate his birthday. Plus, we had to celebrate my niece Presley being born!

The birthday party was just going to be family. My parents and my sister-in-law’s parents have all been vaccinated. The day of the party was going to be 1 day before I was considered fully vaccinated (which is pretty close to being there). And my brother was vaccinated at the end of last year. So even though we all still have to be careful and cautious, this was a pretty safe gathering since everyone except my sister-in-law and the babies would be vaccinated.

I got to Santa Barbara as Rory was opening his gifts. He got a lot of really adorable things. I got him a set of fabric tents and tunnels that can be used by themselves or combined to make a bunch of different things. He seemed curious about them, but I’m sure the gift will be a bigger hit with him when he’s a little older. I think his favorite gift was the kid cleaning kit that my sister-in-law found for him!

I hadn’t seen Rory in a while, so I had no clue if he’d remember me or not. And he takes some time to warm up to people, so I knew that he might not want me to be super near him. And my guess was correct. He wasn’t upset by me being there, but he didn’t want me to hold him or help him with toys. But that was ok because I had my new niece to hold!

Presley is about 6 weeks old and she’s very tiny! And she stayed asleep almost the entire time I was there, so she was calm and quiet. I think she looks a little like Rory did when he was born. She’s got the same long fingers as Rory, so I wonder if they will both be piano players one day. And I thought she was super cute and adorable. Hopefully, the next time I’m in Santa Barbara she will be a bit more awake and alert. And I can’t wait to see what her little personality will be like.

The birthday party was a very low-key day. After Rory was done opening presents, my brother cooked burgers on the grill and we all ate lunch outside. It was fun getting to hang out with my family and I hadn’t seen my sister-in-law’s parents in a while. I was supposed to see them this past November, but I missed that trip to see everyone since that’s when I got vertigo. I haven’t had a lot of social time with people lately, so any meals I get to have with someone is great. And having it be with family makes it that much better!

And of course, Rory had to have a birthday cake. I joked that he was going to act like their cat and push the cake over the edge of his highchair tray. And that’s exactly what he tried to do! I don’t know if he was trying to get more frosting or what, but it was really silly. And of course, we all took a ton of photos of him with frosting all over his face. The cake wasn’t Cookie Monster themed, but I joked that the photos looked like he ate Cookie Monster.

And of course, I had to get a photo of Rory with my brother and sister-in-law.

After he was done smashing his cake and eating some of it, Rory was having a bit of a sugar crash and it was time for him to take a nap. Since he was going to be sleeping and Presley was still asleep, that pretty much was the end of the party. So I went with my parents over to the rental house they were staying at so I could see Tucker since he was at the house during the party.

Tucker was as silly and goofy as always. He is finally recovered from his knee surgeries, so it was great to see him running and bouncing around without him being in pain. But he also looked a lot older this time because he now has a ton of white fur on his face. It’s like he became an old man overnight! But he still has so much energy and he was so happy to see me there.

I spent some time hanging out with my parents and the dog outside before I headed out. I actually had something else to do that afternoon in Santa Barbara (more about that tomorrow).

I only spent a few hours with my family that day, but it was one of the best days I’ve had in a while. I don’t know how much more often I would be seeing everyone if we didn’t have a pandemic, but this past year has made me appreciate any family time I get at all. And I appreciate having anything to celebrate right now as well. So having 2 things to celebrate with my family really made the day that much better!

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I’m An Aunt Again! (or Welcome To The World Presley!)

Posted on February 24, 2021 | Comments Off on I’m An Aunt Again! (or Welcome To The World Presley!)

At the beginning of the pandemic, I became an aunt to my nephew Rory. When my sister-in-law was pregnant, my family had planned on being in Santa Barbara when my nephew arrived (not necessarily at the hospital, but nearby so we could meet him after he was born). Everything changed so fast and obviously, we couldn’t be there when Rory was born. And when my sister-in-law told me that she was pregnant again, I had hoped the pandemic would be done by the time the baby was born, but I had no clue if that would be possible.

I only got to see my family a few times since my nephew was born. And there weren’t any of the traditional celebration things for a new baby coming. There wasn’t a baby shower this time (although, that’s not always done for a second kid). But I did get my niece similar gifts to what I got my nephew (a few books and I custom made some bookplates). I wish we all could have celebrated my niece before she was born, but that’s just not the world we are currently in. But I still tried to celebrate virtually however I could.

As much as I would like to say that my niece was born at the end of the pandemic so they would be bookends of this weird time, I’m not sure this is exactly the end. But either way, my niece arrived last week! And it’s so exciting that she’s here!

She was born a little earlier than we all expected, but since my family knew we couldn’t be there when she was born, it was ok. My sister-in-law’s parents live near them, so they watched my nephew when my niece was born. And I guess I’m used to becoming an aunt during a pandemic because it seems very normal to me now that I won’t be meeting her for a little while. I should be able to meet her around my nephew’s first birthday (my family will be together again then), so I just have to be ok with the photos that are texted in my family text group. And I have to say that my niece Presley is super adorable!

I can’t wait to see Rory and Presley together and to see them bond as siblings. I’m sure there will be some adjustment time for Rory since he’s used to having all the attention. But soon, having a younger sibling will be all that Rory really knows and he will forget the first year of his life when he was an only child.

It’s crazy to me that a year ago, I technically wasn’t an aunt yet. And now, I have both a niece and a nephew! And while there hasn’t been much I could do with my nephew before (both because of the pandemic and because he was so little), I can’t wait until Rory and Presley are older and I can do some fun things with them. I already want to help be a part of their first trip to Disneyland and get them some cute Disney ears to wear! And I can’t wait to see what their personalities are like as they grow up. It’s going to be so fun to watch them get older, especially when it will be easier to see them and my family will be able to get together more often.

So many people in my life have had kids in the past year, and it’s been a bit weird to think they are being parents and I haven’t met their kids yet. It’s another element of the isolation of this pandemic that is hard to remember at times. I know I will get to meet all the babies eventually and will be used to my friends and family being parents, but for now, I don’t know if it’s totally hit me yet. But even if it doesn’t always feel real, I’m always so excited to hear someone else had their baby. And knowing that baby is my niece is just that much more exciting!

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Having Fun With Photos (or My Brother And Nephew Are Twins!)

Posted on August 26, 2020 | Comments Off on Having Fun With Photos (or My Brother And Nephew Are Twins!)

Even if we weren’t in a pandemic, I’m sure that I would be getting a ton of photos of my nephew from my brother and sister-in-law. I probably would be going to Santa Barbara more often than I have been able to do now, but the photos would have still been a constant thing. And I love getting new photos of Rory. He’s already looking so big and I can’t believe how big he will be when I get to see him again (which will hopefully be in a month). And while the photos do make me sad that I’m not there more often to see him, it does make me happy to see fun little things that he has been doing, like going to the pool for the first time.

A lot of the photos are just of Rory being cute and smiley. And of course, those make me smile and make my day. And the other day, my brother and sister-in-law sent our family text group some new photos of Rory. And there was one photo that made me stop to stare at it because it looked so familiar. I realized that it looked almost identical to a photo of my brother when he was a baby.

I called my mom and told her to look at the photos that we just got and that I knew there was a photo of my brother that matched. I couldn’t describe the photo too much, I just knew it looked like the one we were sent of Rory. I thought the photo of my brother had him in a gray or blue outfit, but I wasn’t too sure. Fortunately, my mom knew exactly what photo I was talking about. And because she is so organized with her digital photos, it was only a few minutes before she could find the exact photo I was talking about. She sent it to me so I could make a little side-by-side comparison to text to the family text group.

To me, they look like twins! Their faces, their smiles, and how they hold their hands are so similar! It probably helps that they are posed the same way too, but I have said since the first time I saw Rory how much he looks like my brother. But now, I see it more than ever!

And everyone in my family agrees with me that they look like twins. I think they all liked that I put the photos together (I’m known in my family for making collages and other photo things). There isn’t a lot that makes everyone smile, but photos of Rory always does that. And I think the side-by-side photos made everyone smile too!

And now, my brother and sister-in-law are expecting another baby! They are having a girl this time and she will be here next spring! I wonder if she will be another twin for my brother or if she’ll be a twin for my sister-in-law. I guess we’ll see when she’s born next year. I am excited to be an aunt again and to have another member of the family! Hopefully, by the time she arrives, things will be a bit safer to be around others so going to meet her won’t be as intense of a situation and I can be there more often. But if not, at least I know I will be getting a ton of photos!

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