Indoor Play

During our Albuquerque visit, our main outings were simply to church and the playground. With the large group of us, it was much easier and more relaxing just to stay home and enjoy one another's company. We easily found enough to do to keep ourselves occupied. Grammy & Papa's place was one active household!

Sometimes, we came up with our own activities-- like Jaden and Abby's game of Follow the Leader,

or the frequent game of Ring Around the Rosy,

or (our boys' favorite) Tackle Cousin Ian! Ian was such a good sport about allowing his brother and little cousins climb all over him and knock him down. He giggled right along with them and let the little boys tackle him over and over again. What a great cousin!

Other times, the young toddlers got into a bit of mischief-- making a BIG mess in Grammy's kitchen,

uncovering the stash of remotes and using them to turn on the TV,

or pulling out objects (some of them very large & heavy) from the kitchen pantry.

Caught red-handed! 

(Do either of these faces look guilty to you??)

Grammy and Papa had also set up their home with a variety of toys and kid-friendly activities. Our boys loved playing in this old playhouse-- one that dated all the way back to Kim, Amy & Andrew's childhood. The three Walquist siblings enjoyed reminiscing about their time spent in this cardboard house.

Cody

Jaden

Ian, Ryan, Aunt Amy

The marble track, made by Great-Grandpa Sylvester, was also a big hit.

Little Abby showed Uncle Jason how to fill the bus with marbles, too.

Playing games on this car mat never got old.

Sometimes, say the little ones, it's just as much fun to chew on the cars. :)

Ian took Aunt Amy on an imaginary tour of all the car mat's stopping points and gave her some good bargains on a few car purchases.

Of course, bouncing on the horse Trigger was also a household favorite.

Other days, our time was spent making our own music on the piano,

playing with balls and balloons,

watching old Disney cartoons,

creating some original artwork with the boys' new dot painters (Thanks Uncle Matt & Aunt Kim for the great new gift! And thanks, Ryan, for demonstrating how to use them!),

and, of course, lots and lots of reading!

What did the adults do to pass the time when the kids were sleeping or occupied with other adults? Well, when we weren't cooking in the kitchen...

...we enjoyed visiting and playing as many games as we could. Our favorites this year were Stone Age, Anomia, Spot It, and (pictured below) Greed. 

Ian was an instant success at Greed. He was an amazing roller and handily beat ALL of the adults playing against him. Way to go, Dice-Man Ian! :)

As you can tell, boredom was never an issue at Grammy & Papa's house! Their home was a constant buzz of energy-- smiling, laughing, screaming, running, climbing, crying, playing... you name it! :)

 We were so thankful for Grammy & Papa's great hosting, as well as their patient attitudes with all the needy little ones. It was definitely an adventurous Christmas and a joy to be together! We love you all, Walquist family!