a day at Grandma Paige and Poppa Fred's house

As a child, one thing I really enjoyed about visiting my grandparents was the everyday routine at their houses.  Some things were very different from home, and others just slightly so, but each experience felt special at their house.  My memories include things like picking up breakfast from Hardees and baking banana cream pies - years after doing them, I still remember how I felt when they were happening.

In honor of those memories, I thought I would post some of the "everyday" at my parents house that I think P and C will remember.

P wakes up early just about every morning.  When we're in Fredericksburg, he often heads downstairs into the shop with Poppa Fred. 

Both C and P like to shave with Poppa Fred.  This is something I used to love to do, too!  I especially enjoy when they come out of the bathroom after shaving and run up to me, shouting, "Smell me!  Smell me!"  I always think, Someday they'll come dashing out of the bathroom smelling of aftershave because they're about to head out on a date... and they probably won't care anymore if I like the way they smell or not.  I try to enjoy their desire for my approval while I can.  :)

C was particularly into watering Grandma's flowers on our last visit, but P helped out as well.  (Every good gardener knows that swimwear makes the best plant-watering attire.)

And, although it isn't an everyday occurence at my parents' house, I enjoyed C's attempt to climb inside the belly of this whale basket.  (Usually the basket holds the various stuffed animals surrounding C... he moved them out of his way for this activity.)

I hope (and expect) that our boys will have as many special memories of their grandparents' houses as I do of mine!

in which there is more outdoor fun

As a part of his sabbatical, Daddy A went to a worship and music conference in mid June.  The boys and I decided to take a road trip to visit Grandma Paige, Poppa Fred, Aunt Tiffany, Uncle John, and Tucker.

The afternoon we arrived, P and C decided a little outdoor fun was needed to counteract all the sitting we had done in the car.  (I'll take this opportunity to say that both of the boys are GREAT travelers - we're very blessed.)

P's first order of business was to try out the newest outdoor toy.  Yes, indeed, people.  It's a "gigantic" (to quote P) inflatable ball that you climb inside.  Then you can roll yourself around the yard... or talk someone into pushing you around the yard.  :)

C eventually gave the big red ball a go, but at first he was skeptical and stuck to familiar toys, like the Step 2 rollercoaster.

The boys couldn't wait to have a water battle with their new shark water squirters.

P and C couldn't let the evening pass without taking their red car for a drive.

They had a little engine trouble, but fortunately we know a couple of good mechanics.  :)

Our visit to Fredericksburg was off to a great start!

Montreat

While Grandma Hen was visiting, we took a day trip to Black Mountain to see Aunt Florence and our friend Patsy.  After a delicious lunch at one of our favorite restaurants, we headed to Robert Lake Park in Montreat.

The boys spent some time exploring,

sliding,

and rock hopping.

Our family loves outdoor fun!

Grandma Hen visits

I mentioned in P's pre-K graduation post that Grandma Hen came for a visit in early June.  While P and I were at our last day of school, C lost no time in heading to the store with Grandma Hen, where he just happened to pick up a new Ariel doll for the bathtub.

We had a great time visiting with Grandma Hen!  While she was here, we not only went to P's ceremony and tball game (and the store!), we headed to Montreat for the day to visit some family and friends, played at the house, and the boys helped bake some of their grandma's delicious brownies.

We also went to the Greenway for a bike ride.  P sped along as usual, but C changed his routine.

He decided he was ready to ride his bike, rather than walking beside it!  He rode almost all the way to the park, only stopping once partway through for a short walk (about 50 yards).  Now that he's decided to really give riding a try, he loves to ride his bike.

We're so glad that we have family willing and able to come visit us, despite the long drive!

P's last tball game of the season

Yes, it was a short season... for P.  With Daddy A on sabbatical for eight weeks this summer, between our schedule and the weeks that P's team happened to not have a scheduled game, the tball season ended a short month after it began.

The day after pre-K graduation, Grandma Hen and the rest of the family headed to the ball field to watch P's final game of the season.

When we arrived, P joined his friend's team in some pitching and catching warmups.  It happens to be the school team he will be on next year, so he got a chance to meet some of his future teammates.

By the end of the season, P was able to hit some of his coach's pitches, rather than using the tee.  (Even though it's a "tball" league, they actually give the kids three or four pitches, and if they don't make contact, then they break out the tee.)  It was cool to see some of the progress he's made this season.

Chase (sporting his new Ariel "sunnies" - a gift from Grandma Hen) made a new four legged friend.  When my sister got her dog, my mom sent the boys a book called May I Pet Your Dog?  I highly recommend it!  It has tips for kids about how to interact with dogs they see and would like to meet, written from the perspective of a friendly dog.  Even now, more than a year after the initial reading, my kids always ask, "May I pet your dog?" before greeting a new canine.

Since it was P's last game, the teammates who were present and the coaches got together for a group shot.

I want to say again what a great coach P had this season.  His first experience with tball was very positive, and he's looking forward to future seasons!

P's pre-K graduation

When P found out there was a graduation ceremony for his preschool class, he was pretty excited.  He called his Grandma Hen and asked if she could come.  She rearranged her schedule to visit for a few days.

Personally, I don't have a problem with pre-K graduations, but I don't think they're necessary.  If you "graduate" several times before you even get to high school, I feel like it makes high school graduation seem a bit more "been there, done that" than it should be.  Of course, I'm not speaking from personal experience - I just had a high school graduation ceremony - and it's just my personal opinion anyway.  Feel free to disagree.  It was a very nice evening, though.  Each student felt special, and the kids were proud of all the perparation they had put into the evening.  I also didn't cry at the ceremony.  I do realize how much my older son is growing, and I miss certain things about my baby boy, but look at all the new great experiences we are having and the new experiences we'll continue to have!  As parents, our goal is to help our children grow and become more independent.  I focused on how proud of P I am and how glad I am that he's excited to start kindergarten in the fall.

The kids processed in to "Let Them Be Little".  Even though this isn't a high quality picture, I love it!  P turned to give his family a wave and a smile as he walked down the aisle.  I hope he's always this excited to acknowledge us in public.

We didn't get any great pictures of P up front, partially because they performed some musical numbers while they were up on the risers so many of the pictures are blurry since P and his friends are moving around.

After the kids each had their name called and received their "diploma" (the parents received the actual -unrolled - diploma after the ceremony), they processed back out.  P held his diploma extremely carefully...

...at first.  Then he shifted to a one handed "Is it time for cake?" stance.

And then...

it was time for cake!

C was proud of P, too.  It was really neat to see him watch the ceremony without begging to get up, and when P got to the back of the room afterwards C rushed over to give his brother a hug.

P has had AMAZING teachers this year.  We have been so blessed!  Our whole family loves both of them.  I'll be sad next year when I don't have a reason to stop by their classroom every day.  We made sure to get pictures of P with Mrs. Bobby and Mrs. Revonda.

And of course we got a picture of P with his best friend Evan.

P asks me all the time why he and Evan can't go to the same school for kindergarten.  I know he'll make new friends, but we're going to keep in touch with Evan, too.

Congratulations, P!  I'm so proud of the "big boy" you are and continue to become.

Day Out with Thomas

I know what you're thinking.  Don't these people do anything besides go to Tweetsie?  We do love our visits - we have season passes, so we try to hit up the park's special events along with some "regular" days each season.  The staff are friendly, the park has a very relaxed atmomsphere, and they don't have a problem with outside food and drink... there's a picnic area with a playground at the top of Miner's Mountain, too.  Allowing us to bring our own snacks and drinks is a money-saving bonus!  Our kids love going to Tweetsie, and they always sleep well after a day in the Old West.

Even though we had just been on Memorial Day, we headed back the first Tuesday in June because Thomas was visiting.  C was especially excited to see Thomas and say hi to him this year.

With just a bit of effort, we got the boys to stand still for a few seconds to take a picture with The Little Blue Engine.

When Thomas comes, he brings Mega Blocks to play with, temporary tattoos, and a bouncy house.  There are train tables set up near the building materials, and there are Thomas stamps and coloring pages.  Diamond Lil's girls read stories about Thomas and his friends in the Palace Saloon, and they show Thomas movies when it isn't show time or story time.  We rode Thomas first thing, and then the boys headed straight for the tattoos.

After spending some time doing special Thomas activities, we headed to Country Fair for some rides.  C mixed up a little by riding the merry go round for the first time this season.  (He rode it at every single visit last year.  Now he tries to hang with his older brother... he's growing up!)

And I'm sure you're not surprised to hear that we rode the Tilt-a-Whirl.  :)

P loves to get his face painted.  That's gotten really expensive, especially at Tweetsie, and it hardly lasts any time at all, so we usually bypass the face painting booth.  As a special treat, we did let the boys get painted when we were there to see Thomas. 

P was transformed into Spiderman.

C wanted to get a snake and an apple on his arm.  We aren't really sure why that's what he chose, but to each his own arm paint.  :)



We were also able to get a "free" Choose-Your-Own-Adventure book from the Palace Saloon.  It was advertising for the new Thomas movie coming out this fall.  The movie P and C both "really really really hope" they get for Christmas.  Yup, the Christmas that's six months away.

We had a blast with Thomas, and are so glad he comes our way in the summer!