When I was just a little older than him, I used to visit my Dad (Pepa T) at the bank where he worked, and I always got a sucker while there. I couldn’t help but think about that as I watched Sawyer do his best to get that lollipop all over everything but his mouth…

He was surprisingly bright-eyed and bushy-tailed after a long day of moving into our new apartment the day before. I didn’t get any pics of that, unfortunately, but he weathered it well. Abby and I put his room together first in the hopes of getting him to sleep at a decent hour, but he was still up past 10pm. He’s such a trooper!

And then this one:

And then I asked him to smile:

And then I asked him to open wide:

And then he got bored:

Until I made him smile for real:

And then he went back to playing with his new cars:

As always, he made a bee-line for the water. He’s very careful to stay out of the big waves, but his judgment on what will actually prove worthy of his worry is a bit off. Nearly everything that came rolling up toward him prompted a cry of, “Here it comes, Dada look out!” Just like this:

The ocean was still cold but very calm:

And he truly was the happiest little boy there:

He even helped rearrange the sand on the beach. I’m not sure why, but he spent a good five minutes throwing sand into the ocean. Watch:

He was soaked and completely caked with sand, and I always forget to bring a towel. Don’t forget to bring a towel, Scott.

On Sunday afternoon, Mema and Pepa took a little Mema and Pepa time to explore San Francisco, while the three of us went to the grocery. As we were getting in line to cash out, Sawyer walked up the bakery counter and begged for cake. I asked him which one he wanted and he pointed to the biggest, most chocolatey cake inside of the case. I was able to persuade him to accept a smaller mini-version of the same cake instead. He made it through the entire day before I let him eat it, for obvious reasons as you’ll soon see.

Here is with two of his favorite things from the time my parents shared with us, Mema and her iPad:

And there goes the chocolate:

He must have watched this fire truck book / song at least a hundred times:

Yes!

No!

Yay!

And with that it’s shower time.

He rarely sits still this long:

He’s paying especially close attention too:

I love his little feet:

And his hands on his knees:

What a great moment!

The first thing you see when rounding the corner is the historic carousel, originally carved in 1912. Sawyer immediately started in on his, “I wanna go in there, can I go in there, what’s in there, I wanna go see it, can I go see it?” routine, so the four of us got in line. From the moment I perched him on top of his brown and white striped zebra horse, he was all smiles. Looking at Mema:

And looking at me:

But he was positively beaming once the carousel started moving. Watch:

“All the animals are jumping.”

After the carousel, the four of us went out to explore the rest of the park. Sawyer, of course, gravitated to the swings first, but after a quick trip down the big cement slide on my lap, he happily settled in the sand. He managed to negotiate use of another little boy’s green truck and then proceeded to drive it all over, especially between Mema and Pepa:

It was nice and hot, too:

Sawyer and I took another spin on the carousel before leaving. It was the only way we were going to be able to walk past it. After that he insisted on racing his cars on anything at his level. I think he could have done this for hours:

Sawyer, that was the best park I’ve ever been to with you, and I can’t wait to go back with you very soon. Thanks, Mema and Pepa, for riding on (and paying for) the carousel too!

The last time they visited us, I showed them the scene from the top of the hill. It’s breathtaking from afar, but even better down on the water. We took the stairs down the hill:

And then walked all of the way out to the edge of the coast. Mema took some pictures of another family and one of them took some pictures of us:

I love this one with the Golden Gate Bridge in the background:

Sawyer really wanted to play in the water, so Pepa and I humored him with a walk down closer to the beach. Once there, he noticed a cave and begged to go in. I had no idea it was here, and plenty of people seemed to be coming and going, so the three of us walked in.

It was pitch-black dark, very damp, and kinda scary. Sawyer walked with Pepa until the end of the line (maybe 100 feet or so):

The view from the end of the cave:

We’re not the first to visit this spot:

Back out with Pepa:

And the view of Sutro Baths, Cliff House, Ocean Beach, and Seal Rock from the other side of the cave:

And when we were done, Sawyer climbed back up the hill:

He’s such a little dude!

Sawyer didn’t like it when Pepa wore it wrong:

So he tried to fix it:

And once it was on right, he was able to concentrate on his crayons and coloring book:

See?

Until Pepa started in again:

Mema can play too:

I think he likes it now:

Sawyer is confused because Mema put the crayons where his cars normally go:

But everything was fine once she put them back in the crayon bucket:

Phew!

His back-and-forth with Pepa T and Pepa T’s hat really was priceless. The pictures don’t do the scene justice, I just wish I had grabbed my video camera instead…

Believe me, he’s just getting warmed up.

Each of these pictures catches Sawyer in the process of trying to convince me to go with him. You can see how much it means to him, can’t you?

My favorite:

You are hysterical, Sawyer. You never give up, do you?

You might think he was worn out after meeting Plex, Muno, and Foofa, but no, he was every bit as full of energy. Here he goes running away from me to play in the grass: