Papa and Grammy visit!!

 We were so excited to have Kim's dad and mom visit from New Mexico last week! Ian was thrilled to show them all of his things -- toys, sandbox, big boy room! He was even more excited to have two fun playmates all week long!

 

Grammy and Ian had fun playing the piano 

 

and looking through "the Ian book" together (right after Ian got yogurt all over his shirt :)).

 

Papa made Ian giggle like crazy on the swing.

On Tuesday, Grammy and Papa wanted to see the children's museum they've heard Ian talk so much about.

As usual, we had fun burying things in the rubber mulch,

"fishing" at the water table,

and driving the fire truck.

But, Ian was interested in some brand new things, too. We attended the "boogie bash" parachute class. Ian was VERY attentive to the worker leading the class but got shy when she called on him for answers. When she asked him what his favorite animal was, he couldn't think of anything. When she asked him if he liked puppies, he perked right up and said, "Yes! I have two (stuffed) puppies at home. Their names are Puppy and Floof." Ha ha.

 Ian was excited to point to the colors the instructor asked the kids to find.

For the first time, Ian was also really interested in the "air tables," especially the one that made the scarves go up really high into the air.

After the museum, Papa and Grammy treated us to lunch! The adults got $2 Schlotzsky's sandwiches to celebrate the restaurant's 40th anniversary. (YUM!) Ian loved his McDonald's chicken nuggets, and then we all enjoyed shakes.

 

 

 

Of course, a visit to McDonald's isn't complete without a visit to the play place. :)

While Grammy and Papa were here, Ian decided that he should start sleeping in his big boy bed! Ian was adamant that Grammy (and no one else!) should read books to him before he fell asleep! He thought it was pretty fun that Grammy could be IN his bed while reading to him! :)

After naps, we had a lot more time for playing, including Papa reading Ian some books.

On Wednesday morning, Matt and Kim attended a workshop to get hours for their teaching certificates. Papa and Grammy were great baby-sitters!

 They took Ian on a wagon ride and gave him "under dogs" on the park swings.

Ian introduced them to the friendly neighborhood cat that is often at the playground.

Grammy and Ian did some color and shape activities together, too. (Thanks for the fun activity book, Grammy!)

Ian and Papa spent some time on the computer watching "Ian videos."

 Later in the day, Grammy showed Ian how to play a few games on her i-touch. Ian thought the penguin game was the best and he really tried hard (if you enlarge the picture you can see his tongue hanging out of his mouth in deep concentration) even though the penguin kept landing in the water!

 On Thursday, we just had a low-key day, at home and running a few errands.

Grammy got in Ian's tent, where Ian wanted Grammy to order food items from him.

 And Papa and Ian kept a close eye on the men delivering our new bedroom furniture! :)

 Of course, Grammy read Ian stories before bed!

Friday was our day to go to Galveston! Matt took the day off from school to spend it with us! We started out by riding on the Bolivar Peninsula ferry. This is what the ship looks like.

 Ian enjoyed the ride, especially watching all of the seagulls and pelicans nearby.

 

Ian tried to "catch the wind" while we were sailing.

 We all really enjoyed seeing the multitude of porpoises! On past ferry rides, we've seen one, maybe two, sometimes none at all. This time, we probably saw 60-80 porpoises on the there-and-back trip! It was awesome! If you enlarge the next two pictures, you'll be able to see the porpoises, too.

 And here's our own high quality porpoise video.

After the ferry ride, we were in the mood for Asian cuisine, so our friend Garmin directed us to a hole-in-the-wall Vietnamese restaurant that ended up being really crowded and really good! Ian's favorite part was the noodles.

 

Ian "skipped" on the way back to the car! This was his idea of a PERFECT day!

Then, we headed to Stewart Beach for the afternoon. Matt enjoyed feeding the seagulls crackers.

 Grammy, Momma, and Ian tried to build sand castles.

 And we all enjoyed the pleasant Gulf water!

 

Thanks, Papa and Grammy, for a great visit! Ian keeps talking about the fun we had together. We can't wait to see you again at Christmas time! :)