Grandma and Grandpa Came to Town
Friday, July 1, 2011 at 9:54PM We got home from our trip with our friends and the next day I got to work in order to get the house ready for a visit from my parents. I got about fourteen more boxes unpacked over the course of about five days and Mike and I also put a few things on the walls which helped make it look a bit more homey.
Mom and Dad arrived late Tuesday so Eliana was asleep when they got to our house, but she did not waste any time putting Grandpa to work as her personal plaything the following morning.
Grandpa played about fifty-eight card games, read twenty-seven books, colored pictures, and went to the beauty parlor. There is just something about Grandpa!
Now, Eliana loves Grandma very much too, but they have a different dynamic. Eliana likes to tackle her grandma, leap on her, ram her head into her, and dig her elbows into her, all interspersed with hugs and kisses and hysterical laughter.
Clearly Grandma and Grandpa are the life of the party around here. When they come to town they (and by they I mean Grandma) have a plan to do something different and fun. This time LEGOLAND was on the agenda. LEGOLAND in Dallas is just a few months old, and because of Christian's great interest in building things the Grands thought it would be a cool adventure to head over and check it out.
We received our tickets and waited for a few minutes for our group to get in (there is a short explanation of how LEGO bricks are made before kids and their parents are let loose in the explore-on-your-own part of the facility).
Following the demonstration we were ushered into line in order to get on a ride. The ride was a train which made its way through a dark tunnel of animated LEGO places in which animated LEGO characters lived. The people riding in the train cars had laser guns and were to shoot at the bad characters and save the good ones from imminent destruction.
(You will have to use your imagination regarding the dark tunnel. As you might guess, it was too dark for pictures.)
After the ride we meandered throughout the rest of LEGOLAND at our own pace. One of the first things we encountered was a mini-Dallas built out of LEGO bricks. Pretty cool! Here is the Rangers' Ballpark...
I believe there is a Master Builder who put these things together. The LEGOcity included the airport, the Cowboys Stadium, the Southfork Ranch, and Downtown. There was also a replica of the American Airlines center, along with the NBA champions this year, the Mavericks...
You can see Dirk Nowitzki in the center; he's the really tall guy.
The kids had a chance to build some things, ride another ride, and see a 4-D movie. They loved every minute!
Another fun idea Grandma and Grandpa had was to buy Mike a grill for his birthday. It has been many years since we had a grill, and we were all excited about the prospect of enjoying our deck and cooking outdoors (even though it's hot) (even Mom!). The first meal attempted was barbecue chicken, and it was a hit! Christian, the pickiest of meat-eaters, ate every bite of his moist and delicious chicken.
I hereby deem Michael the cooker of chicken now and henceforth and forevermore. (If I had a gong I would strike it, so go ahead and hear one as you read.)
To go along with our new grill we purchased a table and chairs. The kids have loved having this set-up out there; as soon as we got everything put together and arranged they wanted to sit out on the deck, so we set them up with some paint and let them create until they began melting.
I gave Christian paper and I set Eliana up with a canvas. (I really want her to cover the whole thing with color and then I am going to hang it in her room. So far she has put pink and purple blobs as well as a handprint.)
Watching Michaela paint her sister's hand and then help her make a handprint on the canvas was one of the cutest things ever.
Christian was quite industrious.
As is often the case, he was critical of his work...I, however, thought it was pretty cool.
Speaking of cool, one of the most fun things for me while my parents were here was watching my mom get into baseball. We get every game the Rangers play, so we had a game on almost every evening. At first she was not very interested, but I blame that on the time change. After several days she was yelling excitedly when anyone made a hit and saying things like,"That was a good pitch!" I never thought I'd see the day when my mom actually liked watching this game.
As it turned out, the ladies would end up in the living room watching while the men were outside. Cracked me up. (Please excuse our disaster of a living room...we have a plethora of chairs which don't have a home yet. We move them around like a strange game of Tetris.)
I don't have a ton of pictures, but I do have a ton of memories. Mom and Dad both worked hard to help us continue to get settled. We hung some more things, my dad did some yard work and made a path in the garage, my mom made me do a lot of laundry (and even put it away...blech) and clean my room. They played games with the kids and once the kids went to bed we busted out Scrabble. I've talked about playing Scrabble with my parents before. My dad is hard to beat because of his wicked crossword puzzle skills. He almost always comes up with a seven-letter word, which leaves us in the dust as far as scoring goes. This time we gave him a run for his money, though (there is only so much one can do with six vowels and a "T" each round, even if it's him), and Mom and I put our share of seven-letter words down as well.
The other day I told her that they left too early...what I really think is that they should come and not leave at all. Even Mike said, just before they flew home,"I think you guys should move to Dallas. You could stay here while you looked for a place to live."
So, the invitation stands...at least for a visit if not a move. Mom and Dad? You can still come for Eliana's birthday; we would love to have you here!! (And yes, I am going to send the pictures soon! Sorry!)
Reader Comments (3)
What a great blog! SEE...I told you they need to move there! WHY NOT...they're lives would be filled with utter joy, being in their grandchildrens daily activities.I don't think they would regret it one bit and I know you would love your momma being there for morale support and helping out with the kiddo's.
I just cannot believe Vicki has turned into a baseball fan....now that, is too funny. Look what you've done to your momma....LoL!
is there anything better than grandma and grandpa and LEGOLAND??! fun fun:) love that they play games with the kids. that's the best thing about grandparents...they slow down and enjoy the little things.
I love families who love each other. Yours always makes me smile.