B & E California Bound: Around Home with a Fast-growing Grandson

Getaway trips are fun, but every day here at home brings its own satisfactions. From chances to document our grandson Stanton's growth, to the ever-changing scenes in the Oakland hills, we enjoy them all.

Stanton was born December 7, 2016. Here are some early photos:

Ready to come home from the hospital

At 3 days old

At 5 days old

At 8 days old

On Christmas Day

On January 7

And some more recent ones:

On February 7

On February 13 - having fun watching Grammy eat lunch

On February 18

Jigsaw puzzles are now among our favorite rainy day activities:

Erick & Erika put in the last few pieces of a 1000 piece puzzle

Here are the 5 we've finished so far:

The winter rains have made for some fascinating cloud patterns and sunsets:

Rainy, windy weather

Hail on the deck - an unusual site

Rainbow after the storm

Canyon clouds

Disappearing ridge

Morning clouds over Mt Diablo

Sunset between rainy days

What does this cloud look like to you?

Clouds in late afternoon

Pineapple Express day sunset

Popcorn clouds

Some recent rainbows:

This one is a double - a faint one above the more visible one

This is the first rainbow we've seen that appears close to and behind the ridge

Northern California is currently on pace to have the wettest water year on record. The "atmosphere river", aka "Pineapple Express", phenomenon is doing it's thing. Quite a change from the drought conditions in 2014 when we moved here.

Update: today, February 26, we hiked along Palo Seco Creek in Joaquin Miller Park. The white water in the creek was evidence of the recent rains. The trail we took starts out close to the creek and goes up hill from there.