Wyoming Grands Days 1, 2, & 3

20th - After saying good-bye to Amanda and her boys at the airport, I walk outside to find Rhiana and the girls who are here to pick me up.  That is right --- my time with grands is continuing in Wyoming for a few days and I am excited to be with the girls.  As I get into the car, a "Hi Tabby" comes from the backseat and I have to smile.  Malea definitely has her own unique name for me.  Since Cheyenne is a couple of hours away from Denver, Rhiana and I have a great chat during the drive and we arrive with Elena and Malea definitely ready to get out of the car.  The first order of business:  baths.

During the drive, Amanda invited us over this afternoon for a bbq (I don't know what to call this event since I moved south --- ugh) and Rhiana will head to work from there.

When we arrive at Amanda's, Trent and the boys are off looking at an old-time military exhibit on base so we have a few minutes to get the girls set up to play.  Amanda is on the ball with water and sand.  Malea and her ever present blanket take a short break from the water.   Probably the best comment of the day comes from Caleb when they return home.  He looks at me questioningly and says, "You're at MY house?"  I can tell he is confused as they said good-bye to me at the airport.  It really is so cute.

The kids love this time together as the cousins haven't seen much of each other lately and with moves coming up, that time will probably be even less.  Elena adores Raef and I have to admit that he is amazingly good with her.  This is a great pic of the play that takes place today --- Ryan pushing Raef in the stroller with Elena in the lead.  Too fun.

It is a great afternoon but Malea is soon done - toast - caput.  Time for me to take the girls home and put one down for a nap.  Elena and I have a movie together and relax.  The rest of the day is pretty much spent this way as I am pretty tired and so are they.  Early bed.  What is it they say about time with grandmas?  Oh yeah ----  although I may change fewer rules to "more hugs" since I definitely have rules.  In fact my oldest grandson has numbered them ---- ha ha ha.

21st - Today is an "at home" relaxing day and I need it.  After 10 days with boys and a day of travel, I am ready to simply be a couch potato.  Elena talks me into watching Frozen with her and I have to admit that it is an excellent movie.  I love how the girls dance and sing along with it -- it takes me back to when my children were small and would watch Fern Gully.  They could say all the lines and sing the songs and even act it out without the movie playing if need be.  What fun times.

Once we finish -- Malea is all over me for her turn at the television.  Strawberry Shortcake it is.

During nap time Elena helps me set up a little mini cutting and ironing station.  She unwraps the neutral batik fat quarters that I have brought along and I then press them before cutting strips.  Once the strips are cut, Miss Elena sorts and stacks them for me.  Within no time at all, my strips for my RR are ready to go.  Maybe I can get a few sewn.  I LOVE that she always wants to help me.  I so wish she lived closer so that she could come over and play in the fabric with me at least once a week.  Wishful thinking, I know.

After Malea heads to bed for the night, I change the mini station into a sewing area and Elena helps me pick out different colors to sew from the strips.  As we are doing this, Mom comes home early from work and decides to go grocery shopping.  She takes Elena along and they have fun one on one time together before returning home around 10:00.  Bed time for Missy and me as well.

22nd - Cheyenne Frontier Days is going on this week and as part of that they sponsor at least 3 parades.  One is this morning so we are up and moving and out the door by about 8:45.  The house is only a few blocks from the main road and allows us the opportunity for a nice walk.  Not everyone is thrilled about walking, but it only takes a few minutes to arrive and locate a spot to watch from.  I have to say that as far as parades goes --- this is a dang sweet one.  I love each and every minute of it.  Enjoy with me please.

The Governor and his wife.  I LOVE that Wyoming isn't all freaked out about him.  We can walk right into his office in the Capitol and tour the mansion without hassles.  I sure wish Texas would take a lesson from this state.  Wyoming has such a rich history and they try to include all aspects of it in the parade.  Good job Cheyenne --- you do your state proud.

I have NO idea why this pig is here, but I spot him and send Elena his way.  Soon Rhiana brings Malea over to say hi as well.  There are several entries in the parade that have foals walking alongside their mothers as if they are learning from them.  It is truly fun to watch.

I love the cycles and wish Mister was here to see all of them.  What fun.

Once the parade is over, we make our way back to the house and everyone gets into the car to head down to the actual Frontier Days grounds.  It is carnival time for two little girls --- oh and Mama too as Malea is too smile for EVERY ride.  I decide to operate the camera -- seems safer.

At one point, Rhiana suggests that I ride with the girls and she puts me on this hippo ride that includes other children in our hippo.  They are determined to spin the hippo as fast as they can and soon both Malea and I are toast.  At one point, I watch her just lay her head back and close her eyes.  I am praying that one or both of us do not get sick.  Ugh.

This was both funny and sad.  Watching Rhiana and Malea in the fun house made me smile and the operator had to actually stop the barrel from turning as they could not get out.  However, Rhiana jammed her toe on the moving walkway and is hoping it is not broken.

It's time to go so one last stop at the Carousel.  Yes, Rhiana, I have more pictures to send you but didn't want to put them all on here.  You should have some as well since I was using both cameras.

We get back to the house for naps and quiet time.  A few hours later, it is time to make cookies.  Yay!  There are some bananas that are dying to be used up.  We get everything set up and soon two little girls are taking turns adding the ingredients and mixing away.

Don't you just love the inquisitive look on Malea's face?  I sure do.

Elena took this picture of me and Malea putting cookies on the sheet.  Yay Elena.

Time for the workers to reap their rewards.

What a fun day!  We are all oh so very tired though so it is off to bed for all of us.

Wyoming Grandsons Days 9 & 10

19th - I wake a bit sad today as it is our last day to play with these precious grandsons.  However, our weather is incredible again so I rise and start getting us ready to play.  We are going to the Arboretum and the Children's Garden today.  I think the boys will love it and am excited to put as much into our day as we can.  Jen and Bekah are arriving tonight as well so we will have a very full house and then it will empty out completely tomorrow morning.  Oh, enough chit chat --- we have an adventure to do.

When we arrive at the gardens, they are not quite open yet, so we try a grab a few pictures of these amazing boys.  We have not done our usual photo shoots this year so a few pictures will help our frames at home get updated.

Dang but these guys are cute --- don't you agree?  This is only making it harder to send them home.

Ah -- it's open - time to go.  The waterfall beckons instantly and since I love water too -- I understand completely.  The walkway leads to the treehouse next and in no time there are three boys merrily jumping and climbing away.  Our biggest concern is getting Caleb to keep his shoes on.  Now THAT is a true struggle.

Yep ---- it's a loooonnnnnggg way down.

From the treehouse, our next stop is the water station where the boys learn about how water is used to create energy.  More than a little of their energy is put to use as well.

Learn as they play --- what could be better?  Look at Caleb trying to manhandle the water gun in the lower left corner of the picture.  Oh, it's tough to be short sometimes.  He did it though and even hit the target.

Damming up the water to see what happens and some obligatory nature shots.

The pussywillows and lotus flowers are just oh so beautiful that I cannot pass them by.

This is, after all, a garden.  One must not forget that and try to enjoy the beauty around us while we are playing.

As we move on to the wind section, the boys are able to play in a tornado machine.  They laugh and giggle and do it over and over.

At one point Raef and Ryan run back in and start it up again.  Caleb does NOT appreciate this and is more than a little upset with them.  Witness the hand trying to open the door.  So sad.

We discover a maze that even Grandpa and I had not seen before.  Deep within it, we found this pad on the ground and as I walked over it, it made music.  Unfortunately, this little man did not weigh enough to make sounds by walking, therefore he had to jump hard on each square.

The kaleidoscope is always a huge hit and it is easy to understand why.  I think this is one of the best ones I have ever looked through.  The ability to change three different aspects of it keeps it in constant motion as well.

The sand pendulum is a big hit and no one wants to leave.  It's not hard to believe as the constantly changing shapes are to fascinating to watch.

There are activities at every turn in the walkway and they boys read the questions about different animals as we go.  They take the time to work small puzzles and just be boys.  Can you believe how big Raef looks in this picture?  I sure can't.  It is snack time --- and time to sit in the shade for awhile.

After the snacks, Grandpa takes the older boys into the education center for some time with the omniglobe to learn about the earth.  Meanwhile, Caleb and I make a beeline for the younger children area and a slide.  Yes!  Score one for Gammy.

It is soon time to go and we call the big boys and let them know.  Lunch and naps follow.  During quiet time, I make a few donuts for the boys as a snack and I have to work to save some for our little man when he wakes.  They appear to have been a hit.

The rest of the afternoon is spent doing laundry and packing as everyone except Mister is getting on a plane tomorrow morning.  We also get to work on dinner.  Jen and Bekah are joining us as Bekah is flying tomorrow as well and since it is early, they are spending the night with us.  Busy house but I love it all.  Very, very sad that it is ending tomorrow.

20th - It is travel day and we are up oh so early.  Our flight is at 6:45 so once we have Jen and Bekah off to DFW airport for Bekah's flight, we get the boys up and moving.  We are out the door at 5:00 and checking into Love Field just a few minutes later.  Time to fly.  They boys say good-bye to Grandpa and we are soon on our way.

Once in Denver, we take the train to baggage and the boys find a window where they can sit and watch the people in the car behind us.

As we are walking to collect the suitcase and car seats ---- Amanda and Trent are there and ready for hugs.  Nice smile Amanda and sorry about the picture --- I really should look at who is in the background more often.  Thank you both so very much for sharing your treasures with us this week.  We truly loved each and every minute of it and I am sure Grandpa is feeling the "quiet" already.  That is not always a good thing.