Relaxing with Grammy & Papa

During Jason's second trip away (his mission trip to Manitoba), the boys and I spent only the first half of the time on our own. We were VERY happy to welcome Papa and Grammy for the second half of Jason's absence. Jaden and Cody doodled a special welcome picture for Grammy and Papa on our easel whiteboard.

Since the plane came in late at night, the boys didn't get to see Grammy and Papa until the morning. (Thankfully, my gracious neighbor came over to listen for the boys so that I didn't have to drag them to the airport with me!) Each morning, Cody and Jaden were ready to play right away and would ask for "Papa" and "Gamy" as soon as they got up. Papa read the boys a bunch of stories...

...and Grammy let the boys introduce their stuffed animals to her. The boys (and Mommy, too!) loved that Papa and Grammy were ready and willing to play early in the morning, even while still in their PJs.

Cody and Jaden didn't have any problems at all warming right up to their grandparents. They loved driving their cars up and down Papa's chest,

listening to Papa read,

and teaching Grammy and Papa how to play our favorite Roll and Play game.

"Pat your head 7 times"

"Clap 8 times"

Then, Cody and Jaden wanted to show Papa their playset. (Grammy had already seen it over the boys' birthday celebration weekend.) The boys' current favorite is spending time on the swings. 

Cody and Jaden will both continually say "high, high, high" immediately after getting into the swing, so HIGH we go! This picture makes me laugh... it completely looks like both boys are horizontal and ready to fall out of their swings. But, it's just how they like it!

During Grammy and Papa's visit, we started the HUGE project of staining our playset. Grammy did some painting, but primarily we nominated her to be Jaden and Cody's playmate while Mommy and Papa worked. (I'm pretty sure that Grammy had the tougher job!) On two different days, Grammy spent several hours in a row watching both boys on her own-- talk about an experienced grandma of twins! She kept them so well entertained and happy. Grammy took the boys on a wagon ride,

fed them a snack and read their devotions,

and read them  lots and LOTS of stories. Just recently, the boys have started showing much more willingness to sit for longer stories-- yay!

Probably the boys' favorite activity that they did with Grammy was to create enormous toy piles.

I'm not exactly sure what inspired this activity, but Cody and Jaden took basically every toy out of their upstairs toy baskets and piled them all on the loveseat.

The final product... ta-da! Actually, by doing this activity, the boys uncovered quite a few long-lost & forgotten toys, too.

As you can tell, the boys loved their extended time with Grammy! Jaden showed his affection and thankfulness by "beeping" Grammy's nose...

and by giving her big hugs! :)

Of course, the boys enjoyed every minute with Papa, too! He did a great job of making them giggle and thinking of fun new ways to play.

Papa took the boys for a walk around the neighborhood, too.

Jaden and Cody also liked learning about the computer from Papa. Sometimes he'd show them a few sports highlights, but most often, he'd take them to our family blog to look at pictures and videos of themselves. This, of course, kept Jaden and Cody very entertained!

During the week, Cody and Jaden acquired a few new toys. First of all, toy dinosaurs! Grammy had stuffed this set of dinosaurs (a generous gift from an Immanuel church member) into her suitcase. The boys were VERY excited!

Then, we hit up a few garage sales over the weekend and scored this awesome John Deere digger (complete with pedals and a working lever to move the digger) for only $5. We're still learning how to share this exciting new toy. :)

Finally, Grammy had spent tons of time at home making our boys a set of family popsicle sticks, like she had created for Abby earlier this summer. Aren't these super cute? The sticks are even different for guys and girls!

Cody and Jaden really enjoy playing with these sticks and can identify every family member correctly! Thanks, Mom, for all the time you spent making this thoughtful activity!

At the very end of Grammy and Papa's visit, we welcomed Daddy back home... to stay! Since Jason's birthday was during his Manitoba visit, we took one evening to have a belated celebration.

Grammy put together a very tasty cherry cobbler (with cherries that she had frozen and packed with her on the plane-- they were still frozen by the time she arrived!). Jaden and Cody, now candle-blowing experts, loved helping Daddy with his birthday candles.

What a GREAT time we all had playing and relaxing with Grammy and Papa. Mommy, in particular, appreciated the "reinforcement team" (as Papa liked to call it). Grammy and Papa were awesome playmates, amazing helpers, and caring & patient grandparents. Thank you, thank you for your visit and for all of this nice playtime!