We started out by flying to Ohio and spending a few days with Amanda and her "boys". It had just snowed that day and so that was the end of us seeing anything but white ground for the entire trip. We relaxed at home with the boys that afternoon and evening while adjusting to the temperature change.
Then the next day was "our" day
with the boys while mom and dad worked and so we were off to the Great Lakes Science Center for a morning of discovery and fun. A few of the exhibits really stand out as "winners" for the boys: the shadow room, the bubble sheet, the lunar car, and a couple of mechanical movement smile makers. Then of course the play room --- where we let them run off a little of that excess energy.
We left there exhausted, with candy treats for later and absolutely starving. We headed downtown to the Great Lakes Brewing Company for lunch and got a booth and let the boys order a big burger and fries that they split and ate every last crumb of -- i guess they weren't joking about being hungry. From there we went to pick up mom from work and go home to change before going to dinner that night with the boys. The treats we had gotten the boys were sugar tubes and so they got to have them at home. Amanda just closed her eyes while we fed her boys straight sugar (the hygienist in her shivered) and then as the tubes came away --- the funniest looks and faces were left. Too cute.
Trent fell asleep while trying to get Raef and Ryan settled down and so Amanda went out and picked up a movie and the three of us snuggled down and watched Julie and Julia together. Nice end to the evening. The next day was Saturday and so after a leisurely morning where Mister was used as a climbing post we dressed and headed to the Childrens Museum for some definite entertainment. Upon hitting the sand pile -- Amanda just giggled at Mister and asked if he was going to be able to handle it ---- no one was sure, ha ha.
READ THOSE LIPS!!!!! MOOOOOO! I love it.
We ended the trip with a night out for the adults and went to a restaurant called Felice. It was in a converted home and with the bad weather everyone was being routed through the kitchen to get in the restaurant -- kinda funny but understandable. Trent wanted a table up front where there weren't so many people and so off we went only to discover why no one else was seated out there --- it was freezing!!! There was a space heater though and so we pulled it over to the table and after a few minutes we were perfectly comfortable -- well not perfectly -- we moved the table too, lol. It was a great dinner though and a good time was had by all -- the chicken was some of the best I have ever had and we enjoyed absolutely every part of our meal. The weekend had flown by and we were off for South Dakota the next morning. See ya again in a couple of months guys.
Next stop: South Dakota. Louis was home from his deployment and so he and Jen were heading off for a few days of "together" time in Las Vegas so we were the official babysitters. What had we gotten ourselves into? We started out with gifts -- makes sense doesn't it? Actually the day before had been Jared's birthday and so we had a quick little birthday for him -- with his remote control dinosaur that we had gotten him --- again, what were we thinking? 
Then, since Louis had been gone for Christmas, we had gotten him a multi-occasion gift --- we called it a Christmas/Birthday/Graduation x 2 gift. Kinda funny and we definitely were not able to find such a card -- surely someone else has had this need? He was all grins with his gift and was eagerly looking forward to learning about it and seeing what he could do with it. It was soooo fun to do that for him.
The next morning, they were off to the airport and we were in charge. Lookout kids -- we were now not only the babysitters, but the teachers, housekeepers, cooks, and chauffeurs. We just dug in and got started. First on the agenda was to go through the cupboards and refrigerator/freezer to discover what all we had to work with on feeding this crowd. That was fun and once we had it under control, we were off and running --- literally. I handled the meals and kitchen for the most part while Mister did all the driving and and part of the teaching. We threw cleaning and laundry in whenever we could and even tried to make some of their favorite foods.
They managed to sneak in some Webkin time, computer time, Super Mario time, and of course Lego time. A few movies and cartoons were thrown in and Miss Bekah even managed to watch approximately EVERY episode of Chuck when she could sneak away to her room.
One morning we set up a little photo shoot and did pictures of each of the kids -- it was selfish actually, I wanted updated ones for the office as ours were two years old. It was fun though and I picked a few to post here --- Mister hasn't touched these up yet so they are not in a final stage, but I enjoyed them.
It was fun and they got a kick out of it once we got past the "please put on a nice shirt" part of it. During the drives, Mister was able to do some fun things with the kids one or two at a time and the "Mexican Hot Chocolate" was an instant success while they waited for others to finish activities. We did sneak in Alvin and the Chipmunks - The Squeaquel as well as a trip to the Journey museum. It was a fun week and yes, we were tired, but pleased with the way it had gone. We enjoyed our time with them and they are such bright children that it was a joy to teach and play with them each day. We ended our stay by taking Jen and Louis out to an adult only dinner and having some quality conversation. We left with complete admiration for all that Jen does each and every day while she is on her own --- we were swamped and there were two of us without any of our own activities or jobs to worry about. WOW --- she is incredible.
Last leg of the trip --- we headed to Billings so that I could work for a couple of days and spend time with Matt and Rhiana and their families. It turned out that Rhiana had a severe case of strep throat and so even though it broke our hearts (especially Mister's as he saw Elena through a room and saw her recognize him) and many tears were spilt by me, we skipped seeing them this trip and will have to wait for another month to do so. While I worked each day Mister sanded and stained Matt and Becca's waterbed that they had gotten from Jen and he didn't quite get it done, but got a long way on it. We were able to have some fun with Hyrum though and he is in a stage where he sometimes stops and poses for pictures. Check this out!!! Unbelievably adorable. OH MY!!!!!
We enjoyed our time with them -- starting out with a mini Super Bowl party on Sunday complete with all the snacks. We had a carpet picnic downstairs and it was really quite enjoyable. After work each day, we took them to dinner and tried to give Becca a break -- being pregnant is so tiring and she is almost to her third trimester and so we didn't want to give her any additional worries about taking care of us. It was so cold there ---- each day was just a shiver --- I was looking forward to going home to warmth.
I try and arrive with a book in hand each trip and this one was not any different --- when we get there we usually have to take a few minutes and go through ALL of the books. I'm glad he gets so much enjoyment out of them. Hyrum had gotten a marble game for Christmas and he and Mister had a good time with it. He was so meticulous about keeping track of the marbles that I was shocked. They set up a really good course and many hours were spent this way.
I would sit in front of the fireplace and watch the two of them play ---- Matt, on the other hand --- well apparently it just wasn't exciting enough for him.
We had a good time there and look forward to the next trip. Perhaps we can get them down to Texas for one more short visit before his work season really gets going and he is tied down.
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