Grandma and Grandpa Time

Well we feel spoiled! We got to have Paul's Mom here just last month, then this week my Mom and Dad came to stay for several days. We had such a wonderful time together, and packed a lot in! The first day was spent warming up to each other, although that didn't take long...

 

We all went to Benjamin's baseball game together...

 ...and it was a late night for some. Luckily, Peter had Grandma there to catch him before he nodded off on the bleachers.

 Benjamin loved playing catcher. The next day, Grandpa got to join me as a volunteer in Benjamin's class. We had a great time!

 

We tackled a few projects around the house, like the bathroom sink that still hasn't been reinstalled since the new basement floor went in. My Mom also donned her wonder-woman cape and PAINTED MY KITCHEN. I thought that was pretty heroic of her! It's now a nice soothing bluish-gray, instead of the egg yolk yellow it's been since before we moved in almost five years ago. I love it!

The boys got to read books with Grandma, who also happens to be a super story teller. Speaking of stories, we just so happened to bump into a certain sister missionary at the temple one night. I may or may not have been responsible for this "chance" meeting (although we made sure to get permission first!). :)

We played tourists a little with Grandma and Grandpa and visited the Cohokia Mounds.

Somehow in living here all this time, we've never been up to the top of the arch. My Mom and Dad decided to fix that too.

We climbed aboard the wonka-vator, which was really just a futuristic looking pod that creaked and bumped all the way up and around to the top, making us all a little nervous! You could watch out the little door at the interior of the arch on the way up.

Once at the top, we hung out in a little airport terminal-looking room, and looked out the windows. Benjamin immediately found the Cardinal's Stadium.

Peter looked out the other direction and spotted boats along the Mississippi...

...and of course got silly with Grandpa.

It was very cool being way up there!

Later that evening, we headed over to our city's annual vehicle fair, which was slightly underwhelming compared to previous years. Still fun, but hardly the same impressive array of all things mobile.

 

Nora especially loved the tractors.

 

What is a visit to St. Louis without a trip to the Science Center? Pretty boring, if you ask my kids. That was their one request to do with Grandma and Grandpa while they were in town. My Dad, who is recovering from knee surgery, sucked in his pride a little and got a wheel chair for this particular outing. The kids certainly didn't mind!

 Nora was coding in binary to get the miniature train to run. :)

After the Science Center, Grandma and Grandpa treated us to lunch at a favorite place of ours that's down town. We watched the root beer bottling machine while we waited. YUM.

The last day was Sunday, so we took them to church with us. My Mom even joined me in the nursery for the last hour to get a taste of what I do.

Benjamin and Grandpa really bonded on this trip. It was sweet to see that relationship strengthen.

We all enjoyed having them, and were sad to see them go. Benjamin's first words when they left for the airport were "I wish Grandma and Grandpa could be my parents and that I could keep my toys and bunk beds and basement." Yeah, that would be pretty awesome!