This is going to be a really long post because we had a ton of fun at Grandma's. It will also be very random as I remember stuff. I didn't blog while I was there, so the memories are not as fresh.
We went to Tahoe one of the days. Absolutely gorgeous. Blue skies and yellow leaves everywhere. There were a ton of (very stinky) half alive salmon running. Pathetically small next to the ones coming out of the ocean, but much easier to see as we could get very close to the stream. On this day trip we left Froggy at home, but that doesn't mean there aren't any potty stories to be had. Maybe even more.
Tucker really hates toilets that flush by themselves and yucky port o potties. Well, the one at the park was too yucky for him. Probably too hot. What port o potty is hot in WA? None. It's not natural. Anyway. He didn't want to go potty in the potty, so we went in the woods. Once we got back, my mom called Tucker "mountain boy" Whitney thought that was so funny and yelled it at the top of her lungs. You know how sound carries in a quiet wooded place. Scared the steller jay.
Then we went on the short hike. Got half way around when Tucker decided he wanted to use the real potties, so Tucker and I went back while Whitney stayed with Grandma and Papa. We visited the potty like three times in a row until he could actually relax and finish the job. Meanwhile, Whitney was on her way back. My mom said to Whitney: "Let's go find Tucker and Mommy" when it was time. She responded "He's in the potty". Really knows her brother.
Went to the school park a few times. They laughed gleefully while chasing their shadows on the blacktop. There are about 3 sets of playground equipment to play on. 2 of them have a bunch of stuff to climb and slide down. But what did they do for about 45 minutes? Stay on the free standing curly slide and go up and down either the stairs or the slide. I think I'm going to miss this age of simple pleasures.
I was surprised they picked the slide of all things to play on. It was cold for about three days. 45 degrees cold. I had brought summer and fall clothes, but no winter stuff. Too hopeful, I guess. So we stayed inside until the storm passed. Which it does at my mom's house. While we were inside so much, one of the things they loved playing was "slug" on her carpeted, non-steep stairs. My Papa thought that was funny. He made the comment that "California children don't play slugs". Very true. I remember Whitney doing a face plant that didn't hurt. She called herself a slug. We've got big ones out here.
Another thing they did a bunch was play with play dough. They learned all sorts of games playing with play dough. They would bury stuff in their play dough and also made lots of gusanos (worms). Whitney would smash her play dough down into a container and say "punch the bread down!"
Patrick got a lot of exercise during those rainy days. We kept Oliver locked up in the bathroom while Mom was gone to work, but let Patrick out a bunch. They really liked playing with Patrick. I think Patrick liked it, but he was pretty active. Running and jumping around more than I've seen him do in awhile. I like to think it is because he had some good playmates. Tucker and Whitney liked making tunnels for Patrick with the couch pillows and their body. Whitney snuggled Patrick a bunch. Lined up crayons for Patrick to jump over. Patrick didn't quite get that. Tucker crooned "So soft Whitney!" to Whitney while she petted him ever so gently. He talked nicely "Oh, Patrick!" when Patrick jumped up to sniff him and his finger
Tucker learned that the cut out in the wall above the couch is great for throwing things onto the couch below. I'm sure if my mom had been home, she would have died, but I decided throwing blankets was ok. They got lots of energy out by climbing up the stairs to throw the blanket, then climbing down to retrieve the blanket and climbing back up again. Every time Tucker would throw his blanket he would say "Uh-oh blanket! Haha!" Whitney didn't really want to play this malicious game with Blanket. She followed Tucker around, but with her particular blanket, she held on tight and said to her blanket "Hold on. I don't want you to fall!"
Her caring side really shone through on day that Tucker fell off his chair during lunch. Those two weeks were the first weeks of me not strapping them down in booster chairs and they both would stand up on the chair often to get to their food. Standing means you probably need to dance and Tucker took a misstep during one of his dances and totally fell on the floor. He wasn't hurt, but pretty startled and scared, so it took him a bit to calm down. Whitney held his hand and gave him a kiss while he cried to help calm him.
Fish didn't make it back home. Oliver chewed his eye off and made a bunch of other holes in it. Tucker left it on the floor. Can't blame Oliver too much. They had been playing Tucker and Whitney doggie and picking up the fish with their mouth just like Oliver does with his stuffed fish. Oliver thought that it applied to him, too.
Tucker loves the spa. Another Uncle Scotti trait that he somehow inherited through sideways genetics. Grandpa loved taking Tucker in the spa. Good thing. I like being in the spa, but don't like getting out. That shock of cold air just isn't worth all the warmth. So my dad would take Tucker in the spa on the nights he got home from work before bed time. One time Tucker was eating chocolate pudding and my dad asked him if he wanted to go in the spa. Tucker paused, put his spoon down nicely and jumped down from the table saying "Yeah!". Same thing happened the next night with spaghetti noodles. The spa is so awesome, it's better than his favorite foods. One of the nights he played in there for an hour and 20 minutes. Mostly with dumping and pouring cups. He didn't like the "loud water" only the "quiet spa". Sometimes the spa motor would start up to cycle the filter and Tucker would say "It's pushing the buttons".
Whitney also liked the spa, but only if mommy was in it, so she didn't go in as long or as often. She's a bit like me in that if she starts to feel cold, she's ready to get out. She liked sliding on the seats, but kept dunking herself (and thus getting her head wet). I was impressed. Once Tucker slipped and dunked himself and it took a few times of no incidents before he went back to playing in the spa. Not Whitney. I showed her how to hold her breath or blow out when it happened so she didn't breathe in water, and she got it. Then she got more brave.
We played outside a ton while we were there. Whitney and Tucker really liked playing hide and seek. You know. The version where you laugh really loud or tell the other person where you are. And you skip a few numbers to finish counting. Although Whitney is really good at counting to 14.
Going to the pumpkin patch was very exciting. It was made an even better experience by watching the Charlie Brown movie of the Great Pumpkin. Every pumpkin was a great pumpkin. Tucker picked up a pumpkin I was sure was too big for him. And then he picked up another one that I was, again, was sure was too heavy for him, for Whitney. One night Tucker got stuck under the bed (they slept on the floor) and he came out screaming "I want to watch the Great Pumpkin movie!" Whitney and Tucker still laugh hysterically at each other if either one says "Bonk! Like Snoopy!" One of the funniest parts of the movie for them was when Snoopy fell off his dog house and landed in his food dish. A part I'm sure you all remember well.
We went to a U-pick farm to pick apples. Tucker and Whitney filled their bags in no time. They had already had lots of practice picking apples off Ieva's tree and could show Grandma how it's done.
Grandma and Hoppy came up for a few hours on Sunday. Of course they had to come in the afternoon. After church and before dinner. I don't know about the rest of you, but that's usually not a favorite time during my week. There was a lot of noise, noise, noise. I think Tucker was delirious with sleep deprivation from all the excitement and treats the previous three days with traveling and settling in. Hoppy and Grandma left after about 4 hours. I think they were exhausted with all the noise. I sure was and I'm used to having them around. The highlight of the visit was Hoppy's magic trick. The one with the frog in the handkerchief. Tucker's face showed how dumbfounded he was about how that frog could have disappeared like that. Classic family story.
Part of the Sunday afternoon was saved by Uncle Ryan. He brought home this huge box from work. Very, very smart thinking, Uncle Ryan. Tucker's favorite request, in between crawling in and out and shutting the door was "push me please!" And Uncle Ryan complied. Much to Mommy's relief.
Grocery shopping with Grandma was very fun. Whitney really likes to sing when she is in the cart, so it was easy for Grandma to find us. Not as easy for us to find her. We went looking for her and couldn't find her for a little bit. When we spotted her, Tucker shrieked in delight. Grandma bought fruit snacks and Frosted mini wheats. Tucker was especially happy the next day at breakfast and said "oh yeah!!!! Frosted mini wheats". Another shopping trip we were planning on going in and out, so since there were two of us, we let them hold a basket each and walk. It was funny watching them carry them, even though it was awkward for them. They got to put bananas in it. Very good thing.
Of course, Whitney and Mom couldn't resist doing a little shopping for Whitney together. They picked out a pink polka dot shirt and another that had a diamond (fake) on it. Whitney pointed to the shirt and said "That's my diamond".
We did joy school a bit while we were there. One of the games was "where does it come from?" and you say man made or nature. I pulled out a bunch random things to ask them about. Two items were a piece of tanbark and the other was turkey lunch meat. When I asked where the tanbark came from, Tucker looked at it, paused and said "the playground!". Very true. He also calls pieces of tanbark in his shoe "playground". His sentence goes something like this: "I have playground in my shoe! Get it out!". In response to the turkey meat, Whitney looked at it and said "gobble, gobble." End of conversation.
We talked about emotions during joy school. One of them was feeling frustrated. They really know what that word is because I often get frustrated. Whitney said to me several times "Mom, are you frustrated?" while we were there. They also had a small review on manners by Grandma, so Tucker started repeating what Mom says and would say to me, "What do you say, Mom" when I asked him for something.
Going to church was fun. As soon as we walked into the church, Tucker noted the most important thing. "Oh! The basketball hoop is up". Very important. They also had play keys and cell phones in the nursery that were absolutely fascinating. And Tucker couldn't stop opening and shutting the door on the car in there.
They came home with some phrases they learned at Grandma's. Like "slinky apple" and "push the button". Slinky apple is for the apple they ate everyday for snack because they could cut, peel and core it themselves, once I got it set up. That was the best thing ever. Push the button is what they say to me (or whoever is playing with them) if they want to "keep going". Like going upstairs or sliding down the stairs like a slug.
We went to my Grandpa's house, or Papa's house. We came back pretty late for them. Left around 8 pm. They laughed and giggled the whole way home. No sleepy, sleepy. But they also had a great toy to play with. Grandma's flashlights! So awesome!
Some other random things they did or started doing while they were there was to push the Whitney and Tucker balls up the ramp. Or splash in the water beneath the Weber with the bucket handles they took off their bucket.
Tucker liked to sing me his demands. Like "i want a banana" to the tune of one nursery rhymes.
Whitney had fun seeing how a teapot works in real life.
But of course, being at Grandma's spoils you. Toward the end of the trip, Whitney wouldn't allow for any water in her glass to be anything but "refrigerator water". Thank heavens the refrigerator stays at Grandma's!
 |
No comments:
Post a Comment