I spent almost two weeks with my grandchildren and enjoyed every minute of it. I went earlier than I had planned because Kayley was ill and I had time to watch her, so I did! She recovered rapidly and we all stayed healthy the rest of my time there. We took in football games on Saturdays, made lots of play doh cupcakes and cakes, a "real" easy bake oven cake, played lots of football in the back yard, had fun with Kayley while she was Top Frog in her class for the week and much time spent in the sand pile. Grandparents Day for Ryan happened to be scheduled while I was there so had much fun attending that! The kids love me being there so they can ride the bus home instead of going to after school care for several hours. It was a fun "last" visit before I head out to AZ. It is always sad to go but I know I will be flying back for Thanksgiving. As fast as October is flying by, that will be here in no time!
Ryan just loves to sing, so I caught him in action one day:
As much as he loves to sing and is constantly doing so, he was a bit shy at Grandparents Day during the songs! I was surprised, as he is usually such a ham, or as Andy says, The Class Clown. :-)
If you look quickly, you will see Drew get a reception and run for a touchdown in this video:
Still hasn't mastered pedaling but loves his trike
We spent a lot of time together for two weeks and had fun!
Kayley with her top frog.....this picture wasn't included in the school journal. Lol
Kayley bored at Costco
Our first Saturday game was COLD!!!
Kayley and her red velvet easy bake oven cake
They actually ate it...I resisted
Ryan looks so tiny next to one of his classmates. He was a big boy!
Cute!
Clowning around
Into selfies this week
The sand pile. A favorite gathering place for these children.
I decided to run up to beautiful Lake Okoboji one last time this summer to see my good friends Jim and Nancy. They will be heading to TX soon and I to AZ, so it was great to get one more visit in before we flee the state! The weather was drop dead gorgeous so I really lucked out on that. Also, due to the Clay County Fair, the park was open so lots of action where I thought it would be rather "dead".
I arrived Saturday morning and we went right to work getting Jim's boat cleaned up and ready to put away for the winter. Nancy and I took a car tour that afternoon and dinner with Barb followed at Tweeters. Tweeters is a "Hawkeye" sports bar so went there in honor of the squeaked out victory by Iowa that afternoon.
Sunday Rick and Nadine took Nancy and I on a boat ride and tour of the lake. I love looking at all the beautiful homes along the shore and dreaming of which one I will buy should I win the lottery. Ha!
It was a great way to end my summer and I thank the Houchins for their friendship and hospitality! I will let the pictures of this magical place speak for themselves...
Pizza Ranch CEO building a large home two doors down. This was formerly Picks Resort.
Dorothy Dockpost....carved by Nancy many years ago!
Megan and Andy took a belated 10th Anniversary trip to New Orleans over Labor Day Week-end so I drove to Peoria to babysit on Thursday and returned home on Tuesday. Mark was still busy at the Boxholm farm, getting ready for demolition of the acreage, so I had to go it alone with my three grandchildren! We got along just fine and had lots of fun.
I picked the kids up from school on Thursday and they thought it was great fun riding home in my new purchase, a Hyundai Sante Fe Sport:
Friday morning Megan and Andy left very early for a 6:15 flight to Atlanta, then on to New Orleans.
I managed to get Drew and Kayley off to the school bus on time and I had Ryan at home the rest of the day. Saturday, Sunday and Monday were very hot and humid so we spent many hours playing in water and also worked in a walk to the park, which proved to be too warm to have much fun there! We had to eat at my least favorite food joint, MacDonalds, but the three kids thought it was just great. Ha! They all were so good these four days, I couldn't have asked anything more of them since I was going it alone. I have one more trip to Peoria to see Drew play a football game before I pack up the new wheels and head to my winter home. I will miss them but already have a ticket purchased for a Thanksgiving return!!! Some pics and a video of our time together:
Ryan hasn't been in the high chair for a long time but insisted for this meal! Ha!
Cheese
Grandma bought Kayley a salon chair....just because
Matt came home this week-end and it was so good to see him AND have his muscle power. Mark is in the process of burying his birth place and there is lots of work to be done before that happens. We spent the week-end over there going through all the old buildings, clearing any glass, saving anything that might be of value, etc. Matt and I took some items that tugged at our heart strings. It is amazing how hard it is to see your home place going into the history bin. I better get used to it because it is going to happen to my home place, too. :-( Time marches on....with or without us!
We had Drew and Kayley for a week at the farm. We had so much fun! The weather did give us some rainy days but overall it was a constant outdoor adventure. They swam in Pirate's Bay, clipped every bush and weed they could find, had a hot dog roast, played in the dirt, went shopping, and topped it all off with a fun-filled day at Adventureland and the water park.
I took them back to Peoria last Sunday and spent the next week with
them, as their day care was going to be closed so I helped out on that.
Friday they got on the bus for their year in first grade and second
grade. I cannot believe it! They are growing too quickly!
The two videos below are identical, so ignore one of them. It is not letting me delete one and I don't have time to deal with that right now! :-)
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