Thursday, May 16, 2013

Grandpa & Grandma Visit!

What a treat to have Grandpa and Grandma come visit us a few weeks ago! Ian excitedly counted down the days on our calendar until their arrival. As soon as they got here, Ian wanted them to play with him and Ryan in the playroom right away! Grandpa and Grandma willingly obliged.

Grandpa and Ryan enjoyed playing with a ball

while Ian showed Grandma some of his favorite toys ...




Grandpa found all kinds of uses for the beads that Ian and Grandma strung!

And, of course, already on the first night, Ian requested that Grandma read him books before bedtime. What a treat!

One morning, we went to the local children's museum together. It had been a few months since we'd been there, so it was especially fun to see what Ryan was interested in. Grandma and Grandpa showed Ryan what "rubber mulch" was. He thought it was pretty cool until he tried to eat it. :) Ian liked the new addition of a tube in the rubber mulch pit.


One of Ryan's favorite spots was the oversized Lite Brite. Grandpa and Grandma were especially patient with picking up the pegs that Ryan liked to drop on the floor. :)

Ryan seems to share big brother's love of trains.


Ryan loved splashing in the water table.
Grandma lovingly taught Ryan the ropes of how to go down the slide.

Fire Crew Schleicher worked together to put out a few fires.
After the time at the children's museum, we enjoyed a picnic lunch at a nearby park. Thankfully, the weather held out right up until when we were ready to leave!
Of course, we had to get some bluebonnet pictures with Grandpa and Grandma! (And we even got one with everyone looking at the camera! :))

Grandpa and Grandma were happy to help with whatever we needed while they were visiting. Kim (who is still learning about sewing) asked if Grandma could help with sewing tool belts (to be used as favors at Ian's tool birthday party). Grandma even taught Ian a little about sewing in the process ...


Grandpa and Grandma spent most of their time playing, playing, playing -- participating in whatever their Texas grandsons were doing! That meant playing lots and lots of games, like Chutes & Ladders and Candyland ...








... playing the piano and singing,

and giving lots of hugs.
Grandpa and Grandma even hand-delivered some special Easter presents to the boys! Ryan loveshis new ball, and Ian has listened to his 5 Little Monkeys CD a gazillion times.

Of course, the adults got to spend some time doing what we like best, too. Matt and his dad played some tennis at our subdivision tennis courts, and all four adults played board games each evening. Stone Age (with a cool expansion) was probably our favorite.
On the last night Grandma and Grandpa were here, we had an early birthday celebration for the boys. It was fun to decorate a mini-cake. We used a cookie cutter to keep (most of) the sprinkles in the elephant shape, and we placed 5 candles (4 plus 1) for both boys to blow out.




Ryan wasn't so sure what he thought about the cake and frosting,
but the boys definitely enjoyed their gifts, including a new ladybug umbrella,
a dog Ryan can "walk,"
and a crane Ian can take apart and put together.
Thank you for all of the wonderful memories and for your love. We enjoyed every moment of your visit and can't wait to see you again soon!

2 comments:

Becky said...

Looks like you had a fun visit. Have you ever heard of Peaceable Kingdom Games? We have a game called "Hoot Owl Hoot" and N2 love it! It's a cooperative game and much more fun (for adults) to play. We also have Sequence for kids, Pengoloo, The Ladybug Game and Zingo. If you don't own any of those, maybe you could keep your eye out at garage sales if you are interested in more games? I personally feel they are much more interesting to play with kids than candyland or chutes and ladders!

Matt and Kim said...

Thanks for the great recommendations. We have Sequence for Kids but none of the others. I'll have to keep my eye out for them! :)