I spent 5 nights in Peoria babysitting for Megan and Andy so they could have some fun in Nashville. I arrived a week ago Wednesday and they left Thursday at noon. Drew, Kayley, Ryan and I had a marvelous time. We spent a lot of time in the pool due to hot temps. We also had to look out the window many times for approaching storms but made it through those, too. I was able to attend another Drew BB game, always fun!
I am now back on the farm and we really cannot believe the year we are having. Mark, just today, planted his final bean field. June27! I am sure that will be a bumper crop! Ha! My garden looks good and healthy, though! :-)
We are heading back to Peoria for the 4th and Matt will join us there. This has become our new 4th of July destination....great fireworks on the Illinois River. Sunday we will be bringing Drew and Kayley home with us to the farm for a week so are very excited about that. Best get the golf cart charged and Pirates Bay inflated. I do believe there are many rocks in the fields so hope they still think that is a great time! Ha!
Some videos and pics of my time with my grandchildren:
He is getting ready to put a hot dog on his new grill
Drew and Kayley have new golf clubs
Ryan watching his siblings in their pool
I love raspberries!
I also love my own pool
Ryan wasn't too sure about his first pool but soon learned to love it!
Mark and I returned from Peoria on Sunday with a case of cake overload! Lots of birthdays to celebrate and we enjoyed every one of them. Ryan turned one and Kayley turned 5. I think they both truly enjoyed their special days. Matt was able to get in on the fun so that was special, too.
Since our return to the farm we have been waiting patiently for our fields to dry so we can finally plant some soybeans, but alas, it rained once again over night with more storms predicted for this afternoon. It is now well past my father's warning of "it is the eleventh hour". Sigh. Mark is remarkably calm about all of this but I am not! That could be because I really wanted to put new flooring in our kitchen and bathrooms and that idea is not going to fly with no crops in the ground! :-(
Thank heavens for three wonderful grandchildren to take our minds off of this crappy weather. We went to Drew's t-ball games, watched Ryan destroy his first cake and enjoyed Kayley's party at Jump Start Gymnastics.
Videos of the parties and also of Drew performing (quite well!) at his baseball games. Ryan's video is a bit long as it would not let me edit it at all for some odd reason! Oh well, he is cute throughout. :-)
Happy Birthday, Grandpa!
Drew shows off his batting form
Grandma and Kayley after her birthday dinner of pizza.
I left for Peoria last Tuesday. Drew's last day of kindergarten was a 9:45 a.m. Wednesday
dismissal and his summer day care did not begin until today so grandma came to watch him. DESPITE all the rain, we have had a lot of fun playing baseball, riding bikes, and going to the park between all the showers. Grandpa joins us on Wednesday (his birthday) to help celebrate Ryan's first birthday on Thursday and Kayley's 5th birthday on Sunday. Lots of cake this week!
Ryan is growing so quickly. He is taking lots of steps and playing hard with all his toys. He is such a good baby, taking long naps. :-)
Kayley is such a sweet little girl. (Her parents will chuckle at that statement, but grandma thinks she is mostly sweet!) She definitely has a mind and will all her own but I rather like that spirit. :-)
Some videos of our days together, the last one showing Drew learning to ride his bike without training wheels. He caught on quickly and today we are taking his new skills to the park to see how he fares there. I will bring band aids....
