Grandparents – Page 18

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Katie’s pool and pizza birthday party.

Posted on July 15, 2014 @ 7:16 pm by Jen — No Comments ↓

Unfortunately, Gramma Jean was sick so she didn’t make it to the party—and we didn’t get a group picture—but Grandpa David, Grauntie Marge, Grandma Marsha, Uncle Rob, Grannie Lin, and Papa were all there! Even our dear friend Paul stopped by!

He bonked his nose diving in the shallow water.

Katie was having a blast splashing EVERYONE. We kept trying to redirect her to splash Owen but she kept coming back to us.

Tom turned the water on and she stuck her foot right in!

She has no fear—she jumped right into Tom’s arms!

She loved daddy pushing her around the pool!

Owen was not comfortable in the big pool and stuck to the steps and the side of the pool. He would NOT go out any farther, even though we showed him it wasn’t any deeper AND Grannie promised to hold him tight. Eventually, after maybe 30 minutes, he FINALLY let go…and of course had fun racing with daddy and Katie!

And then it was time for the party! Grannie Lin and Papa bought all the plates/decorations, the cake and cupcakes, and the pizza—and brought Burger King crowns for both kids!

Grandpa David would put a cheeze ball on Tom’s beer and Katie would eat it off. We did this a handful of times.

Papa and Grannie had bought this scooter for Owen for his birthday but then they weren’t able to come visit…so they brought it now, but he’s just a bit over the recommended weight limit so it went to Katie instead. You can see she liked being pushed on it. 🙂

But then we let Owen try it, just to see if he’d like it and would maybe want a bigger scooter for himself. He did like it, and Katie took to running in front of him saying “WATCH OUT! WATCH OUT!” to clear his path. 🙂

Then it was back to the house where it wasn’t long before the kids were ready to crash. A good day!

Superhero Owen

Posted on July 15, 2014 @ 12:12 pm by Jen — No Comments ↓

Grauntie Marge got Owen a superhero cape and mask (that also come with a book) for our belated Len Christmas and he wanted to wear it this morning!

A Wet Day in Kalkaska

Posted on July 14, 2014 @ 7:28 pm by Jen — No Comments ↓

We took the kids to the Kalkaska Kaliseum for open swim. Owen was there last year (and I wasn’t) so this year we ALL went. 🙂 Grandma Marsha came to watch and Uncle Rob came with us in the afternoon (as did Papa and Grannie, who happened to be in Kalkaska meeting people for dinner).

Katie had no fear of the water and kept wanting to go into the 3′ deep section (which is, of course, over her head). She’d hang on to the edge or bounce up and down to keep her head above water. Or Tom would hold her and she’d do this. 🙂

Owen likes to float (he’s about two inches above the bottom here).

Back to Grandma Marsha’s for lunch…and a nap before the next open swim time.

Grannie and Papa were arriving and the kids were excited to see them!

Len Christmas in July

Posted on July 13, 2014 @ 9:28 pm by Jen — No Comments ↓

The family decided to have Christmas in July this year and the Besons hosted. It was a GORGEOUS Michigan summer day on the river spent with our AMAZING family! Timmy supplied about 32 different types of brats (okay, maybe only about 12) and we stuffed ourselves silly on them plus all the other good food everyone brought. A good time was had by all and I think we may officially be moving our holiday celebration to the summer from now on!

Owen was a bit shy at first, so he and Katie were both in Nick’s room playing by themselves.

Katie loved the boat. LOVED. LOVED!! She would have sat out there all day if we let her and kept wanting to go back.

Finally Owen wanted to play!

Owen is six months younger than Aubrey. I know, right?

Cousins Katie 2, Owen 5, Aubrey 6, Gracie 8, Nick 10, Alex 12, and Jess 15. We never actually got Owen back-to-back with Nick, but I think they were within a fraction of an inch of each other (with a five-year age difference). And Katie seems to be pretty close to Aubrey, who is four years older. I guess we really DO grow them big. 🙂

Last year:

Lisa B. made these AWESOME ladybug cupcakes for Katie’s birthday.

And these for Greg’s birthday. (I missed a pic of the ones for Aubrey’s birthday, but they were Frozen-themed.)

We did pretty good keeping track of Katie all day (when there’s so many people around, there’s always someone half watching) and then we failed right at the end. People were running around cleaning up and putting things away…and before I know it, Tom is carrying Katie back from the front yard. Apparently Katie was wandering down the driveway and Greg caught her and brought her back. Phew.

And before we knew it, it was time to head out. Katie didn’t make it to the end of the road before she fell asleep, and Owen lasted about 15 minutes.

Games with Papa

Posted on July 12, 2014 @ 7:22 pm by Jen — No Comments ↓

Pool and playset time at the hotel!l!

Posted on July 12, 2014 @ 1:07 pm by Jen — No Comments ↓

Papa and Grannie are staying at the Ramada so we took the kids over to play today!

And then it was time for the playset! She has NO fear—she climbed right up! She was a little wobbly and didn’t make it all the way to the top before daddy rushed in. 🙂

And someone was NOT tired and did NOT want to take a rest. We MADE him lay down…and this happened.

Fish hatchery and fishing!

Posted on July 11, 2014 @ 3:44 pm by Jen — No Comments ↓

We wanted to introduce Katie to the fish hatchery—and I wanted to see Owen enjoy it (since I didn’t go last year when Tom and Marsha took him)…so our big group came in and asked if we could all get in on the free family admission coupon my mom had…and the guy joked that we were a circus and I said YOU HAVE NO IDEA. 🙂 He let us all in for free, so we bought five bags of food and planned to take Owen fishing…

Katie was fascinated and REALLY wanted to go in the water—so someone had to keep a hand on her most of the time. Owen had fun, too, but couldn’t wait to go fishing!

Owen loved fishing—but who wouldn’t, when it only takes a matter of seconds to catch one! We let him catch five (you pay by the inch) and he had fun with each one!

Katie thought she wanted to see the fish…until she saw them and then that was it.

Owen thought he wanted to hold one…until Tom held one out. 🙂

The family—and Owen with his catch!

Katie’s first painted toes!

Posted on July 11, 2014 @ 10:58 am by Jen — No Comments ↓

I was painting my toenails so decided to do Katie’s, too, while she was sitting with Gramma getting her hair in pig tails. She sat fairly still (except the very first toe I did, where she jerked as soon as I touched her). Afterwards, she was VERY enthralled with it. 🙂

Owen’s first fireworks!

Posted on July 10, 2014 @ 8:26 pm by Jen — No Comments ↓

We have been wanting to try some low-key fireworks with Owen for awhile now and just haven’t gotten around to it. I’ve had sparklers for a year now—planning on using them on July 4th or after a party or something—but again, we just never got around to it. Until now.

We went to the local fireworks outlet and asked for the kiddie section and they were having a B1G1 free sale so we ended up with a bunch of little stuff.

And Owen LOVED it. LOVED IT. And everyone loved watching him! We only used half of the stuff tonight so we have one more night’s worth coming up. (And when I say a night’s worth, I mean about 10-15 minutes max, which includes sparkler time.) We made sure Katie was in bed so we could concentrate fully on Owen and not have to worry about Katie… She’ll be out for the second night.

The lady said the ones we got would go “telephone pole height” at most. She was right. 🙂

And I found my pooping dog! I had seen it on Facebook and loved it—and thought the kids would, too. I was thrilled they had it at the store! (And yes, Owen LOVED it.)

Happy 2nd Birthday, Katie—Part 2

Posted on July 10, 2014 @ 7:57 pm by Jen — No Comments ↓

We had planned to have Katie’s birthday party at the hotel like we did last year, but as it turned out, we could have had the party today since everyone was at the house! We will still have the pizza/pool party, but Gramma Jean still made a cake to celebrate her actual birthday!

This is the look we got after I stopped her from picking a chocolate chip off the cake before we all sat down.

Stripped down because she was covered in chocolate!

Fun in Gramma’s Back Yard

Posted on July 10, 2014 @ 5:23 pm by Jen — No Comments ↓

Potty break when dripping wet = going in the woods!

Excited to see Papa!

Posted on July 10, 2014 @ 2:45 pm by Jen — No Comments ↓

When we hit home from the movie, Papa and Grannie were waiting. Papa met us outside and Owen was super excited!

Happy 2nd Birthday, Katie!

Posted on July 10, 2014 @ 12:34 pm by Jen — No Comments ↓

And a TBT birthday along with today’s version, both taken in Gramma Jean’s back yard!

An awesome Lego case!

Posted on July 10, 2014 @ 9:47 am by Jen — No Comments ↓

Gramma Jean found this for Owen when they were in Florida earlier this year… HE LOVES IT! He filled it immediately with the few Legos that he brought.

Sitting with Gramma!

Posted on July 9, 2014 @ 8:25 pm by Jen — No Comments ↓

Burning off some energy

Posted on July 9, 2014 @ 7:05 pm by Jen — No Comments ↓

We let the kids run wild after being cooped up all day…and gramma gave the kids their own bats and balls.

Pretty in post-bath pink PJs

Posted on May 20, 2014 @ 6:00 pm by Jen — 1 Comment ↓

Ballerina PJs from Gramma Jean (if I recall correctly).

In mom’s dress with mom’s matching doll!

Posted on May 3, 2014 @ 10:17 am by Jen — 5 Comments ↓

Grauntie Marge made this dress and doll for me when I was about Katie’s age. (Well, she actually made matching ones for my cousins Lisa and Lori, too.)

I figured I’d better get Katie in it before she outgrows it and the moment is lost forever… Of course, the bonnet has been misplaced—this whole time I thought it was with the dress (at one time it was, but we’ve been moving it around for almost 15 years now so I’m impressed we still have these parts)—and I didn’t have the first clue where to start looking…so it was just the dress and doll. Then, because I wasn’t thinking clearly, her hair was still wet and therefore looks kinda scraggly and not very cute. And of course she wasn’t the best at sitting still.

There’s no way to match the professional picture taken of me in the same dress with the same doll, but I may at least try again—there’s still enough wiggle room in the dress to try again within the next month or two. She did love the doll, though!

Sibling Fun + Happy Birthday Grandma Marsha

Posted on April 27, 2014 @ 11:05 am by Jen — No Comments ↓

Then Katie wanted up.

They don’t always get along. 🙂

But he can be so good with her.

Then Skyping with Grandma Marsha for her birthday!

And singing!

Pretty in pink

Posted on April 22, 2014 @ 11:30 am by Jen — No Comments ↓

Happy Easter 2014!

Posted on April 20, 2014 @ 7:39 am by Jen — No Comments ↓

So Owen was up early with Tom as usual and told Tom that there was an R2-D2 downstairs. That’s one of the “eggs” we hid, and Tom knew he hadn’t been downstairs so was perplexed as to how he knew about it. So he had a talk with him about lying. But Owen claimed he wasn’t lying so Tom finally said “Okay, show me.” And Owen took him to the landing which overlooks the entryway…and part of the toy room where Katie’s changing station is…where Tom had, in fact, placed an R2-D2 on the corner in plain sight!! Mr. Eagle Eyes strikes again!!

Then, surprisingly, when we headed downstairs, he completely missed the egg on the windowsill on the landing…Katie actually saw it as she was coming down (in video).

Owen sharing his eggs with Katie because we warned him not to grab all the eggs before she could see them!

He loved the R2-D2 containers!

She found about three eggs and then she was done—she was opening them and eating the candy as fast as she could!

We tried to get a double bunny ear picture but it wasn’t happening. This was all we got. 🙂

She wanted her bubbles right away!

Dinosaur apron from Grannie Lin!

Chocolate bunny and Lego from Grandma Marsha and Uncle Rob!

Some of the eggs had barrettes and hair ties for Katie! She’s putting one on her wrist here.

Owen REALLY LOVED his chick!

Both kids ate a package of the Despicable Me gummies Grandma Marsha sent!

“Open please daddy?”

Now watch me as I try to shove all four eggs in my mouth at once!

This is daddy laughing at how piggy Katie is being.

A full mouth!

“Bunny!!!”

The aftermath!

You can see her hoarding her Robins Eggs. 🙂

Overall it was a great success! I think they missed a few eggs so they’ll find them throughout the day. And while candy and chocolate was their pre-breakfast snack, they didn’t do too badly!

Easter baskets and eggs

Posted on April 19, 2014 @ 9:15 pm by Jen — No Comments ↓

Thanks to the grandparents, I didn’t have to buy much (we had the baskets and I bought bubbles—everything else is from grandmas)! No, our kids aren’t spoiled! 😉 The only bad part is the eggs are hidden inside since it’s rainy.

Thank you, Papa!

Posted on April 16, 2014 @ 5:30 pm by Jen — No Comments ↓

The cookies were appreciated by all!

(The rest of the package is being saved until Easter!

Cool new warm jacket

Posted on April 1, 2014 @ 7:30 am by Jen — No Comments ↓

Grannie Lin sent a cool new jacket for Owen. It’s a much better fit than the one I found to replace the one that busted a zipper.

Introducing Owen to Yoda

Posted on March 29, 2014 @ 1:05 pm by Jen — No Comments ↓

Grandma Marsha gave Owen this stuffed Yoda a loooong time ago, and we put it away because he had no idea who Yoda even was. But with all his playing Lego Star Wars and watching the movies with daddy…he now definitely knows who Yoda is. And I found him while going through Owen’s closet today…so we decided to just give it to him!