We decided it was time to make Mom & Dad's travel calamities work for us. So they came to visit in the middle of a major drought. It hadn't rained any appreciable amount in 14 months. But, it started raining the day after they arrived and has been continuing to rain fairly regularly since then.
Heather was enamored of Grandpa.
We tried going up to the Redwood Valley Railroad again. It seemed like Heather was going to be okay with it, but the moment Jess tried to lift Heather into the car Heather lost it. With every shred of vocabulary she could muster she demanded that she didn't want to ride the train and that Jess get off the train. I wasn't allowed on the train either. So Grandma and Grandpa took a train ride while the rest of us tried to calm Heather down.
We also visited Duarte's Garage which seemed like the kind of thing Mom & Dad do (it's an old garage along the original Lincoln Highway that runs through Livermore). They have restored, old-timey fire engines and various related relics.
If you look closely you can see the sparks being generated by the hand-crank starter. The spark plugs are at the top of the metal brackets on the right-hand side of the contraption.
We also went to the Rosicrucian Egyptian Museum in San Jose.
Before they left we took a few pictures of them with Heather, this somewhat candid shot (taken in between "real pictures") ended up turning out best:
Come back and visit again anytime!