sleepovers

Jim and I have found that when our grandsons spend time in our home together, it is difficult to enjoy the unique qualities of each one. So we decided to invite Joel and Silas over for individual sleepovers. Joel came Sunday night, but due to an activity with Jorie, Mark and his brothers, didn't arrive until 8:00 PM. The evening passed quickly, but we found time to teach him a new card game - 7 Up. Joel caught on right away, but didn't appreciate Grandpa using his adult level strategies to beat him and me every time! Grandpa, do you have to win at EVERYTHING?

Joel loved having Grandpa put him to bed and continue with the latest episode of the "Adventures of Snuffle-upigus," Joel's stuffed dog. Grandpa makes up wonderfully exciting adventures about this dog that keep Joel dreaming all night long!

Grandma time was the next morning, starting out with Swedish pancakes hot off the grill!

Next, Joel wanted to make some new "shape" pictures, an activity we started last week after Joel read his take-home book about making pictures out of paper circles, rectangles, triangles, and squares. He made two great pictures - a rocket and a truck.

Then he spent some time assembling a few more Lego creations. He has become quite the expert, including lots of fun details in his trucks and houses.

Silas came for his sleepover on Monday night. We had a great time, too; but since Silas had to leave pretty early the next morning, I didn't have as much time to take pictures. When he arrived he said, "What do you want to do first??" and we started in with a couple of games of Memory. Silas is a champ at that one! Next was hot tubbin' - Silas proudly wore the new Toy Story swim trunks I bought for him last weekend. I decided he needed a pair to keep here so he's always prepared for the hot tub! Silas chose an Arthur story for bedtime. He hasn't learned to enjoy Swedish pancakes yet, so just had a bowl of cereal for breakfast. One of the activities he enjoyed in the morning was playing with Marble Works, and showing the cool ramps to Chocolate Milk, his brown puppy.

He also made a darling shape picture of a cat's face - so sad that I don't have a picture of that!

Maybe next time it will be warm enough for Grandpa to "camp out" with the boys on the screened porch. But we'll definitely have to plan on regular sleepovers after seeing the fun we all had with these first two.

A Visit from Claire

We loved having Claire spend the weekend with us while her parents headed to Chicago.* She was busy little girl. It was like having built-in entertainment - hearing her talk and seeing her strut around was such a delight.

She found a piece that had broken off from a necklace. Apparently she thought it was an earring and tried to put it on her ear!

I climbed up in the chair all my myself!

I loved playing in Bibi and Babu's huge bathtub! Don't tell Mommy that Bibi let me have my paci for awhile when I wasn't in my crib!

*Annie ended up getting sick and they had to turn around and go home. But we still got to have Claire to ourselves the entire weekend!

Spring in Iowa

Perpetual summer sounds pretty inviting, but you can't beat spring in Iowa!

Though the blooms are short-lived, we so enjoy our beautiful magnolia tree.

Forget-me-nots that I transplanted from Mom and Dad's condo in Wheaton.

Rhododendron bush in front of our house.

Spring wouldn't be spring without the arrival of dandelions!

Flood Insurance??

There are still so many remnants left here in Cedar Rapids from the 2008 flood. Homes that have never been touched - left to be bulldozed. Debris, piles of timber, and collapsed garages are still seen throughout the areas that were flooded. Signs and phone numbers advertising flood insurance. Jim recently discovered this house on his way to work and noticed that the owner has devised his OWN flood insurance plan. Just raise up the foundation 10 feet and plop the house back down on top. Voila! No more flooding here!

Just a trace . . .

Most of my readers know that Jason, Roxanne, Annikah, and Evangeline were home from Africa for several months this fall and winter for Evy's birth. During those months we were blessed with their presence on three extended visits. The memories will have to last us a long time since they don't expect to return before late summer of 2011. One day soon after they left, as I walked up the stairs I saw the sweetest trace of evidence of their time with us. It was Anni's little hand print on the wall. I tried to capture it with my camera - if you look closely, you should be able to see it. I haven't yet cleaned it off - love the sweet memories it gives as I go up my stairs each day.

Easter

It was fun to have our daughters and their families with us on Easter. After Jim, I, Jorie and Mark attended a wonderful Easter service at Stonebridge, Justin and Annie joined us for an Easter dinner of rib roast, asparagus, spinach-strawberry salad, homemade crescent rolls, and Mexican wedding cake. We almost felt like Jason and Roxanne's family was with us, too, because we were able to skype with them and see Anni and Evy. Joel, Silas, and Claire were so excited to tell Anni what they got from the Easter bunny, and Annikah made sure to tell us about the new princess tent that she got. Even little Claire seemed to understand that she was really looking at her beloved cousin Anni on the screen, and said loudly and clearly, "Hi, Anni!" So cute! I think the highlight for the adults was the food, but the highlight for the kiddos was definitely the Easter presents and the egg hunt they enjoyed outside. By the time we got around to picture-taking, most of the kids were tired and cranky, so they didn't turn out the best. But we tried!

Slicing the rib roast - dinner's ready!

A high chair at each end of the table!

Claire loved modeling her Easter dress - just like her cousins' dresses way off in Africa!

I found one!

Joel was willing to pose for this picture!

Three handsome brothers.

Grammy and Claire.

Florida Getaway

Jim and I recently enjoyed a wonderful relaxing week as guests in John and Alice's condo located in Ft. Myers, FL. It was a much needed reward after a very L-O-N-G winter with lots of snow! Though temperatures were cool for Florida in late March - low-mid 70's - (and though it happened to be warmer than usual in Iowa that week - only a couple of degrees cooler than FL), it felt great to lounge at the pool, enjoy long walks, bike around Sanibel Island, and relax on the beach. We loved seeing John and Alice's condo - beautifully decorated and so welcoming. Another highlight was reuniting with long-time friends from Wheaton Bible Church - Paul and Lynette Carlson. Vacations for us also usually include - as did this one - dining out and enjoying wonderful food and drink, and shopping/buying stuff even though we might not really NEED it. Our favorite restaurants on this trip were the Lighthouse and Mimi's in Ft. Myers; the Bubble Room on Captiva Island, and the Crab Trap near Sarasota where we enjoyed fresh fish on the way back to the airport. Here are a few pictures to highlight our trip!

The building that houses John and Alice's condo (on the third floor).

The small pool nearest their building. The water was 85 - 90 degrees - just walk right in!

One of the walkways along the beautiful golf course that winds through the residential areas as well.

Adorable breakfast nook in the kitchen.

Looking back into the condo from the linai.

The porch/linai that overlooks the golf course. We spent LOTS of time out here with our books and our wine.

We enjoyed exploring Sanibel Island on a tandem. Biking the trails on the island is the best way to see it.

Jim is about to enter the Bubble Room on Captiva Island. It's a fun place to eat. The entire restaurant is decorated with Christmas bubble lights, electric trains that travel from room to room, and fun stuff everywhere. The tables you eat on are glass showcase tables filled with memorabilia.

We didn't want a full lunch so we just tried their homemade potato chip/fries basket.

The one and only time asked a stranger to take our picture on the trip was supposed to show us in the boat coming out of the tunnel of love. But the random photographer didn't quite capture what I had in mind. You can't even see the boat or the sign above us. Urrrgh! :(

It was fun to see Paul and Lynette Carlson at their home in Port Charlotte, about an hour's drive north of Ft. Myers. They moved to FL five years ago, and we hadn't seen them since Annie's wedding in 2003! We became friends when Annie and their son Alan were babies, so it was fun to reminisce with them.

Catching up - St. Patrick's Day

Keeping busy with teaching, family, vacation, etc. PLUS a sick computer for awhile has kept me from updating my blog. Today I'm going to attempt to post some stuff I've had in mind to do for awhile.

On St. Patrick's Day Cedar Rapids has an annual parade, and in the ten years we've lived here we have never attended. I'm sure that is because it is usually a work day, and since we're not Irish, it's not a high priority for us. But now that we have grand kids close-by, events like this have more appeal. This year I was not working that day, and Silas wanted to go, so I took him to see it. Jorie had hoped to come, but she ended up having emergency dental work done so wasn't able to join us.

First of all, I was shocked to see the THOUSANDS of people that to to this parade! It was crazy to see all of these people NOT at work OR SCHOOL, and dressed in their St. Patrick's Day apparel totally partying it up!! I've never seen downtown CR so full of life! Here are a couple of pics to show how much these Irish folks totally get into celebrating this day:

Not sure who this is . . . St. Patrick?

Seriously . . . dyeing your dog??

A real live leprechaun!

. . . with his rainbow and pot of gold!