I seems like I spent more time in the pool with the kids than visiting with my mom! Oh, well. The kids had lots of fun swimming in Aunt Claire's pool. Since she has grandbabies ranging in age from 5 months to 10 years old, she has a good variety of pool toys for them. Kevin thought the water was a little cold, but he liked to splash around, anyway. Andrea is a fish: she liked to ride on the water toys, but we also spent a lot of time practicing her swimming.
Like all little kids, Andrea would get mad when it was time to get out of the pool. Once we finally wrestled her out, she would be shivering and saying, "I'm freezing!" Grandma Marty was always quick to wrap and cuddle the babies (despite our protests over the strain on her four broken ribs!--long story).
He was splashing Grandma Marty, and getting very excited. We were all laughing because he kept imitating our sounds, like, "Woohoo!" and "Weeeeeee!"
I think Kevin liked swimming right in the water most, but he also had fun when someone gave him a ride on one of the baby floaties. He was even trying to splash while he was in the floaty!
Oh, yes: that's Kevin's first cheesie! It's funny, because Andrea had her first cheesie when we visited Montana with her, two years ago. Kevin has been trying lots of new foods this week. He finally seems more interested in big people food. This week he has eaten cheesies, Kraft dinner, lasagna, cookies, bread, chicken, french fries, rice cakes, etc. He is also starting to drink some whole milk. So far, he seems willing to try everything, and he likes almost all of it!
Kevin has always liked music, but it seems like he's been trying to develop his musical skills these past few weeks. He enjoyed banging away on Morgan's little piano at Aunt Claire's. When we got home, I set up his music and lights toy so he can use it in a sitting position. He was bobbing up and down to the music, and then wiggling all over when he got really excited!
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Andrea (surprisingly) was helping me keep an eye on the babies. She decided her special job was to replace Morgan's soother every time Morgan dropped it!
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Kevin hit it off right away with Grandpa Rick. Grandpa is a big, friendly teddy bear, so Kevin was comfortable with him. Grandpa rocked him to sleep for us a few times, when we couldn't get him to settle down at Aunt Claire's. They also discovered that they speak the same language! When Grandpa Rick said, "Aaaaaaaaaa . . ." Kevin immediately responded, "Aaaaaaaaaaa.....ooo!"
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On their last Friday in Canada, Grandma Marty and Grandpa Rick came over to our house for supper, and to give the kids their birthday presents (since they would be leaving before the actual birthdays). Aunt Claire, Uncle Chuck, and Brigitte joined us, too. Grandma Marty made us lasagna for supper. Andrea wanted to help! So, first she helped Aunt Claire wash the romaine lettuce leaves for the salad, and rip them up, and put them in the salad bowl. Then, she helped Grandma Marty by sprinkling the cheese on top of the layers of meat and noodles. Andrea was a great helper!
Kevin wanted to help out too, but he's too little! So, we gave him some yummy rice cakes and let him watch the preparations from his high chair.
After dinner, Grandma Marty and Aunt Claire were trying to get Kevin to walk. He stands up with help, but he locks his legs, and doesn't bend them to walk! So, Aunt Claire helped Kevin stand up, and Grandma Marty went through her legs, grabbed Kevin's legs, and moved them up and down for him. I have never seen anything so ridiculous in my life--even Kevin was laughing!
Next, Grandma Marty gave Kevin his birthday present to open. He got so many nice clothes, and fun little toys to play with!
Andrea came in to admire Kevin's gifts, and see what she could play with.
Then, it was Andrea's turn to open her gifts.
The gift that quickly became Andrea's favourite is a "Dora's Dance Adventure" DVD. It comes with a Dora outfit she can wear, a little map she can dance on, maracas to shake, and the DVD. She insisted on wearing her Dora outfit to bed, and we have to do the DVD adventure at least 7 times a day (no exaggeration!).
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Yesterday, we went to Aunt Claire's to have our last visit with Grandma Marty and Grandpa Rick for this year. As usual, I ended up spending half the time in the pool with Andrea! At least she was making me laugh. She suddenly discovered that a stream of water comes down between your legs when you get out of the pool. This was absolutely mesmerizing to her. I explained that it's just dripping water, that comes off everyone when they get out of the pool. Oh, Andrea. She had to climb in and out of the pool 20 times in a row, just to stop and put her head between her legs, and watch the water stream down. I couldn't stop laughing. I tried to get it on video, but it's definitely a "You had to be there" situation!
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Meanwhile, Kevin and his buddy Grandpa Rick were sharing a cold one. Just kidding--Kevin was grabbing at it, and had his eye on Grandpa Rick every time he took a sip. Grandpa only let him chew on the lip of the bottle a bit. It probably felt good on Kevin's gums.
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I picked this picture to end with, because it's just so cute, and it sums up how we all feel when we get together. We may only get to spend a few days a year together, and maybe we only hang out around the pool and BBQ, have a few drinks, and talk each other's ears off, but that's what it's all about, isn't it? Family: reconnecting, sharing, and simply enjoying the time we can be together.
2 comments:
It looks like you had a great visit!!! Too bad they can't be more often!!!
what a great visit. Thanks for sharing.
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