I still can't move today and am stuck in bed so Mister rescues two bored little treasures and takes them to the Arboretum. It is Autumn at the Arboretum and the entire grounds have pumpkin and fall displays everywhere. I love this place and he is such a gem to give them this time. My gift --- wonderful pictures showing their time there. What fun. These are truly great pictures and I am oh so thankful for my sweetie.
It is Tot Tuesday and there is a children's petting zoo. The girls are not the least bit hesitant to get involved.What a fun opportunity for them. This is a weekly activity for the little ones at the Arboretum and Mister has timed it perfectly. Now for a snack. (Meanwhile, I am twiddling my thumbs in bed - bored out of my mind and in a fog due to pain killers.) Let's see -- I spot crackers, pretzels, and gingersnaps. Yum.
Grandpa has put us in Cinderella's pumpkin carriage. Are we lucky or what?
We're having fun now!
THE BEST!!!!
The girls come home full of stories and I am right back there with them through stories and pictures. Isn't technology wonderful?
Wednesday: The girls had so much fun yesterday and want to go back to the Arboretum to see more areas. Mister once again loads them up and off they go. I, once again, spend the day in bed. This sucks. Thankfully, I have pictures again and stories from little ones.
The storybook houses are made from pumpkins and the girls roam through them having a great time.There are mazes to play in and oh so much to see and do. This is a children's wonderland and a person could go everyday for a week and not duplicate unless so desired. Love, love, love this place. This is hands down the best membership we have.
I am so hoping that tomorrow I will be able to move a bit more and get out with the girls. I feel so bad to be missing all these wonderful outings.
Thursday:
Elena crawls up on my bed with me and asks if we can do nails. Well, of course. Mister gets us a bed table, towels, and the required supplies. We are set. I do her nails first and then she does mine. We look absolutely beautiful! Elena has chosen to do hers in alternating colors --- can you tell?
These girls have been so good about entertaining themselves and cuddling with me. I am so thankful for all of it. Elena has gone to the toy cabinet and discovered a kit that contains "slime" ingredients. She wants to work on it so Grandpa to the rescue again.
They make a couple of kinds and have a great time --thus killing another hour or so. Yay!
Elena then has the opportunity to go and play with Lily again for a couple of hours and Malea is down for a nap. Ah -- Mister can take a break. Just before bed in the evening Malea finds some books to play with. Love the way this foot always is held in the air. Makes me giggle constantly.
Speaking of feet --- well the colors are starting to appear on mine --- so much fun. And YES -- that is my sweet granddaughter cuddling with me in bed. Lucky me.
Friday:
Mister is up early with the girls again and once Malea is dressed and ready for the day, she climbs up with me. So does Mister. It is cuddle time and I think only one of them actually wants to sleep.One of Malea's absolutely favorite activities is to stand at the sink and brush her teeth. She will do it for at least a half an hour at a time as long as there is a slight stream of water coming from the faucet. Sure not going to talk her out of it.
We are going to take the girls out this morning to a playground. Yes, I said "we". I am going to give it a try and see how it goes. Pain pills are taken and we are off. It doesn't take long and they are swinging, climbing and generally wearing off all that energy that they possess each day. I sure wish I could bottle it and have it available when I need some.
Malea sits down in the mulch near the steps to the slides. I cannot see her and wonder what she is up to so I hobble over to take a peek. She is methodically placing pieces of the mulch into the holes on the steps. She literally sits there for about 15 minutes just calmly placing one piece after another. So cute.
Elena wants to push me in the swing so I walk over and have a seat. Malea wants up and now Elena has her work cut out for her. What a fun moment --- and a memory to treasure. (Mister is not at all happy that we are doing this --- he is so worried about my foot --- gotta love him.)
After a rest at home, I get up again and ask if anyone wants to make a treat. It only takes a second for Missy to come running. Brownies!!!What could possibly be more fun than mixing up and big bowl of brownies and baking them for dessert? Oh wait, I know, it is licking the spoon and getting the wonderful batter all over your face.
I am now completely finished for the evening. Aunt Cassie to the rescue. We have been working with Malea for days now on the sounds that animals make. Grandpa has taught her to do the "sssss" of a snake, I got her to do the "ooh ooh aah aah" of a monkey, and now Aunt Cassie is working on the elephant. I cannot tell you how cute it was that she copied Auntie lifting an arm up like a trunk, but it was wonderful. I also could not catch it in a pic. Drat.
Another day zooming by. It was fun though and we were rewarded with wonderful treats after dinner. Delicious brownies prepared by Elena.
Excellent Day. I'm beat and off to bed. I have absolutely no idea how long anyone else stays up. See ya tomorrow.
Saturday:
I seem to get a little bit better each day and so today we have decided to go back down to Klyde Warren and then make a stop at the DMA. Let's hope I can walk that much.Once breakfast is over, we are off. (I think we should purchase stock in bananas -- goodness but Malea can eat a ton of them.)
We drive down to the arts district and park at the DMA. It is not open yet so we walk over to the park for a short time so that the girls can play while we wait.
Within moments, they are climbing and enjoying themselves. I love that this park is in the heart of the city and well used by all. We can walk to museums easily, the trolley goes right by, and it is FUN!
After a short time, we are ready to go to the museum. On our way, we are met by a gentleman carrying a beautiful white cockatoo. Now, Elena is really not a bird fan and we keep working on it. She is brave and reaches out to touch. Just as she does, the bird squawks and scares her to the point where she will not try again. Dang --- she watches me hold him, but will not put her hand out again. All the explanations of the fact that the bird was just talking to her have absolutely no impact. Oh well. On to the museum.We go straight to the Children's area and I take Malea into the tiny tot section while Mister and Elena are off to the art area to make a button.
Soon, we are joined by Mister and Elena and play in the tot room for a short time. There are many opportunities for discovery and also a wonderful bench for sitting on. After walking through the park and into the museum, I am moving a bit slowly. Seems like a good time to rest and watch the girls go from station to station.
It is now time to move to the section for slightly older children. It is full of little rooms for them to explore and learn. I love this chain curtain and so does Malea.
I locate Malea sitting in a chair in the corner and realize that she is about done in. Time to head home.
Once we have Malea down for a nap, Elena and I set about making some Halloween cookies. We have decided on "eyeballs" and get to work. First we have to color some melted white chocolate. We need some white and some light blue.
The next step is to dip miniature Nilla Wafers into the white chocolate, coating each one and laying them out on a tray to harden.
Elena then places some of the blue chocolate onto the center, making the iris of the eye. Now for a chocolate chip in the center for the pupil and we almost have an eye. These are Halloween cookies though --- gotta have something else.
Mister gets a toothpick and some red food coloring and the two of them start running red streaks around the eyes. Now we are talking. Things are looking a bit spookier.I think our cookies turned out pretty dang good considering it was all freehand. Oh, and no baking. That works well too.
We have a request to go out to a restaurant for dinner and I certainly don't want to turn it down. The Lot is chosen as our destination and Aunt Cassie and Uncle Scott are invited along as well. There is a large sandlot there for the kids to play in and after Elena finishes her dinner, she asks if she can go play.
There is a soccer team there having a party and for awhile she just plays by herself. Soon, though, she is adopted by the team and is even given a necklace by one of the girls. She doesn't want to leave, and Malea is exhausted so Auntie and Uncle take her home while Grandpa and I stay and watch Elena play for quite awhile. It's been another wonderful day.Sunday:
Elena and I went out to the studio this morning and she made a second pillow -- this time as a gift to Malea.We put an owl in the center and when I came in I showed it to Malea and asked her what sound the owl makes. Her little "whoooo" was oh so cute and warmed my heart so very much. I am sure gonna miss these two.
Grandpa takes her out for a lap on the rink to get her started. It is the only lap she will take. Once she gets back to me, she starts to get upset and says she can't do it. We talk a little and then I see the determination glint in her eye and she starts moving along the wall. We go back and forth together holding on to the wall several times and then she is ready to give it a try on her own ---but --- on the carpet. I have to tell ya --- the little fists while she is going are just waaaay too cute. Check out the video.
Ah -- we need a reward for all of this hard work.
Time to go, but she had a good time and wants to do it again. I hope she gets a chance since I know they have a nice rink in Cheyenne. We purchased her a pumpkin while we were at the pumpkin patch last week and it is time to get it decorated. Since she is going back home for Halloween, we have opted to just paint it instead of carving. Pink and purple are the requested color --- yep, everyone is surprised here --- and she intently gets to work.
Deep concentration.
Are you scared?
Monday:
It is our last day with the girls and we still haven't managed to get to the new Children's Garden at the Arboretum. Today is the day. The weather is decent and my foot will let me get around a little bit better. Let's go. Our first location is the tot area.A slide --- oh my but Malea loves slides. If there is one to be found, she is on it instantly.
I love catching Mister taking pictures. I always wonder what his eye sees that I am missing.
Ah . . .
Let's get going through the garden. There are so many different stations and things to explore.
It has been a great day. We need to get home and get packed though. We fly back to Montana tomorrow and although I hate for this to end, their Momma is missing them like crazy. We take a few minutes to get some pictures with the pumpkin ---- but Elena is in a silly mood. Perhaps these are some of my favorite shots. Love them.
