DAY 8
Today is the day Olivia and Elijah return to Jackson Hole. They will be leaving a HUGE hole in our lives when they leave. We got up early to leave Uncle John’s in Dallas to get to Houston to catch our flight to Jackson. We have not decided if Olivia just doesn’t like shoes or she likes them so much we have to keep buying them. While she was here, we bought her 4 new pair but she is only returning to Jackson with 3 of the new pair cause she lost the flip flops we bought. From Dallas to Houston we stopped several times, once was a farmers market where we bought a pound of fresh cherries. Olivia and Grandpa ate them in about 10 minutes. Once we got to Houston, Grandma did the laundry and packed the bags, Grandpa packed his bag so he could be the escort and Elijah and Olivia watched a girl movie. Don’t tell anyone Elijah watched a girl movie after all, it did include a couple of guys and a bad woman and a flying dragon. We all sat together at the airport until they needed to board. Elijah, Olivia and Grandpa boarded the plane and Grandma (aka Betty Boop) drove home alone. For all the days they were here, no one including Grandma and Grandpa had any trouble falling asleep or staying asleep. We are already looking forward to next summer. We will have all sorts of new adventures to do, just give us a while to plan them.
Saturday, June 30, 2012
Friday, June 29, 2012
Elijan and Olivia visit Houston
Day 7
Today was 6 Flags over Texas and what a day it was! Grandpa cooked pancakes and we stopped at Walmart to buy Olivia some shoes and Grandma a couple blouses because we did not bring hers from Tomball. We arrived at the park about 10:30am. Our plan was to go to the back of the park and start with those rides the furthest from the entry gate first, but we had to stop at the restroom and get water and Grandma bought drinks for everyone that could be refilled free all day long. We went on the Space Shutte then on the Aquaman ride and got all wet. Next was Crazy Legs and after that was Canyon Blaster with the RoadRunner, then the Farris Wheel , next the Train, then the Log Flume ride, Bob Sled (Viper) ride, after that we did the Shock Wave and Olivia did not enjoy it much but Elijah rode it twice. We went to the Looney Toons Dance off which featured Bugs Bunny, Sylvester Cat, Tweety bird, & Daffy Duck. Somewhere in there we ate pizza for lunch and later on we ate dinner at the Panda Express and Elijah and Olivia learned how to eat with chopsticks. Uncle John and Grandpa rode the Superman drop and John screamed “like a girl” according to Grandma. We just missed the Clown show and we rode the swing, and gunslinger, and the “rodeo ride”. Yosemite Sam’s Texas Teacups was a favorite too. It would actually be much quicker to take a map of the park and point to the few rides they did NOT ride. All in all everybody had a great time and were very tired. Everyone showered as soon as we got home, we had cake and ice cream for Cecilia’s birthday, we sang a couple of times, she blew out her candles a couple of times and then it was time to go to bed.
Today was 6 Flags over Texas and what a day it was! Grandpa cooked pancakes and we stopped at Walmart to buy Olivia some shoes and Grandma a couple blouses because we did not bring hers from Tomball. We arrived at the park about 10:30am. Our plan was to go to the back of the park and start with those rides the furthest from the entry gate first, but we had to stop at the restroom and get water and Grandma bought drinks for everyone that could be refilled free all day long. We went on the Space Shutte then on the Aquaman ride and got all wet. Next was Crazy Legs and after that was Canyon Blaster with the RoadRunner, then the Farris Wheel , next the Train, then the Log Flume ride, Bob Sled (Viper) ride, after that we did the Shock Wave and Olivia did not enjoy it much but Elijah rode it twice. We went to the Looney Toons Dance off which featured Bugs Bunny, Sylvester Cat, Tweety bird, & Daffy Duck. Somewhere in there we ate pizza for lunch and later on we ate dinner at the Panda Express and Elijah and Olivia learned how to eat with chopsticks. Uncle John and Grandpa rode the Superman drop and John screamed “like a girl” according to Grandma. We just missed the Clown show and we rode the swing, and gunslinger, and the “rodeo ride”. Yosemite Sam’s Texas Teacups was a favorite too. It would actually be much quicker to take a map of the park and point to the few rides they did NOT ride. All in all everybody had a great time and were very tired. Everyone showered as soon as we got home, we had cake and ice cream for Cecilia’s birthday, we sang a couple of times, she blew out her candles a couple of times and then it was time to go to bed.
Thursday, June 28, 2012
Elijah and Olivia visit Houston
Day 6
We slept in a little this morning, but finally got packed and off to Grand Prairie to Uncle John’s place about 10:30am. We stopped at Buckee’s for lunch and arrived at GP only to find Aunt LuLu had already left to pick up Cecilia from her preschool . After about 20 minutes, they returned and we quickly changed to go to the water park near their home. We played in the water park and ate bi...
We slept in a little this morning, but finally got packed and off to Grand Prairie to Uncle John’s place about 10:30am. We stopped at Buckee’s for lunch and arrived at GP only to find Aunt LuLu had already left to pick up Cecilia from her preschool . After about 20 minutes, they returned and we quickly changed to go to the water park near their home. We played in the water park and ate bi...
rthday cake until about 6pm when we left and stopped by Church’s fried chicken to pick up dinner then on to Aunt LuLu’s house for dinner. John had already left to do Bishop’s duties at the Church and so after showers we ate and watched some movies and finally John returned and we had family prayer and went to bed.
Wednesday, June 27, 2012
Elijah and Olivia visit Houston
DAY 5
I left to go to my doctor appointment at 7:45am the grandkids were still asleep and when I returned at about 9:15 they had just woken up and had breakfast. I left to pick up Christy, Luke and Liam for a trip to Austin to see a practitioner there who is helping all of us with our physical issues. When I return to Christy and Stu’s tonite about 7:15P, Elijah and Olivia were in a heated game with Uncle Stu on the Xbox or WII. (I don’t know the difference.) Shortly after I arrived, the pizza came, we ate pizza and headed home. The kids finished watching Madagascar 2, family prayer and to bed. They were both yawning during family prayer and went right to sleep. Grandpa took them downtown to the childrens museum today. I heard great things, but I’ll let grandpa give you the details.
I left to go to my doctor appointment at 7:45am the grandkids were still asleep and when I returned at about 9:15 they had just woken up and had breakfast. I left to pick up Christy, Luke and Liam for a trip to Austin to see a practitioner there who is helping all of us with our physical issues. When I return to Christy and Stu’s tonite about 7:15P, Elijah and Olivia were in a heated game with Uncle Stu on the Xbox or WII. (I don’t know the difference.) Shortly after I arrived, the pizza came, we ate pizza and headed home. The kids finished watching Madagascar 2, family prayer and to bed. They were both yawning during family prayer and went right to sleep. Grandpa took them downtown to the childrens museum today. I heard great things, but I’ll let grandpa give you the details.
Okay, Grandpa says: here’s my version of today’s events…
This morning Betty had to leave early for her skin cancer removal procedure, so I stayed at home with Olivia and Elijah. They were asleep in the queen size bed in the guest room. Suddenly, as I was working on my computer I felt a tug on my shoulder. I look around to and surprise! It was Olivia, the first one up (or at least so I thought). I asked her if the E man was up yet and she said he was reading in bed. I got them both a bowl of cereal and we had breakfast. Then as we started to watch Madagascar 2, Grandma Betty came home. She gave me the good news from the in-office surgery that the Dermatologist thought she got all the melanoma and quickly got ready to leave for Austin with Christy and the Twins.
Meanwhile we decided to finish Madagascar 2 later and got dressed and left for Baker Hughes. I showed Olivia and Elijah around the office where I work and introduced the youngest two “interns” to many of my co-workers. Some of them gave them candy. They were very polite and said “thank you” every time it was offered. After Baker Hughes, it was time for Lunch so we stopped at McDonalds and bought two happy meals. Elijah didn’t get the PokeMon toy that he wanted, but they didn’t have much to choose from. After lunch we headed off to the Children’s museum located in downtown Houston about an hour south of Tomball.
When we arrived at the museum, Olivia and Elijah each received some stickers and an ATM card from the Bank of KidTropolis. The way it works is you get a $20 credit in your account to begin with then to earn more you have to work in one of the “stores” in KidTropolis. There is a restaurant, a Bank, a grocery store, a Vet, a bike shop, an art shop, and some other establishments. You earn a paycheck and you can deposit the money to your ATM account or you can get cash which can be spent at the businesses.
Olivia did a little stint as a waitress but then spent most of her time shopping in the grocery store and then as a check-out cashier in the grocery store. Elijah enjoyed “stocking” the shelves with the groceries. I had quite a difficult time prying them out of there, they really enjoyed working, which kind of surprised me, they really took their responsibilities quite seriously. In fact Olivia complained that she was “bullied” out of her cashiering position by a mean old lady.
They also enjoyed playing on the power tower quite a bit. They played tag and climbed from the bottom to the top and back and forth several times. Then we went to the bottom floor where Olivia made a parachute and tested it in a vertical clear plastic wind tunnel. Elijah tried to make a Lego car that would go down a steep track without crashing but, alas, it always seemed to break up before it went all the way. I think everyone had a good time and then we drove back to Uncle Stuart’s place, ordered Pizza and Grandpa Bob went to Scouts while everyone else played Wii games and when Betty arrived she brought Elijah and Olivia back home and we watched the remainder of Madagascar 2 and read a story, had family prayer and off to bed.
This morning Betty had to leave early for her skin cancer removal procedure, so I stayed at home with Olivia and Elijah. They were asleep in the queen size bed in the guest room. Suddenly, as I was working on my computer I felt a tug on my shoulder. I look around to and surprise! It was Olivia, the first one up (or at least so I thought). I asked her if the E man was up yet and she said he was reading in bed. I got them both a bowl of cereal and we had breakfast. Then as we started to watch Madagascar 2, Grandma Betty came home. She gave me the good news from the in-office surgery that the Dermatologist thought she got all the melanoma and quickly got ready to leave for Austin with Christy and the Twins.
Meanwhile we decided to finish Madagascar 2 later and got dressed and left for Baker Hughes. I showed Olivia and Elijah around the office where I work and introduced the youngest two “interns” to many of my co-workers. Some of them gave them candy. They were very polite and said “thank you” every time it was offered. After Baker Hughes, it was time for Lunch so we stopped at McDonalds and bought two happy meals. Elijah didn’t get the PokeMon toy that he wanted, but they didn’t have much to choose from. After lunch we headed off to the Children’s museum located in downtown Houston about an hour south of Tomball.
When we arrived at the museum, Olivia and Elijah each received some stickers and an ATM card from the Bank of KidTropolis. The way it works is you get a $20 credit in your account to begin with then to earn more you have to work in one of the “stores” in KidTropolis. There is a restaurant, a Bank, a grocery store, a Vet, a bike shop, an art shop, and some other establishments. You earn a paycheck and you can deposit the money to your ATM account or you can get cash which can be spent at the businesses.
Olivia did a little stint as a waitress but then spent most of her time shopping in the grocery store and then as a check-out cashier in the grocery store. Elijah enjoyed “stocking” the shelves with the groceries. I had quite a difficult time prying them out of there, they really enjoyed working, which kind of surprised me, they really took their responsibilities quite seriously. In fact Olivia complained that she was “bullied” out of her cashiering position by a mean old lady.
They also enjoyed playing on the power tower quite a bit. They played tag and climbed from the bottom to the top and back and forth several times. Then we went to the bottom floor where Olivia made a parachute and tested it in a vertical clear plastic wind tunnel. Elijah tried to make a Lego car that would go down a steep track without crashing but, alas, it always seemed to break up before it went all the way. I think everyone had a good time and then we drove back to Uncle Stuart’s place, ordered Pizza and Grandpa Bob went to Scouts while everyone else played Wii games and when Betty arrived she brought Elijah and Olivia back home and we watched the remainder of Madagascar 2 and read a story, had family prayer and off to bed.
Monday, June 25, 2012
Elijah and Olivia visit Houston
DAY 3
Got a rather slow start today. Grandpa is slow but thorough. He wanted to make sure we had everything we needed for our excursion to Galveston. So, he and Elijah worked on getting the car ready and Olivia worked on putting all the stuff back in her suitcase she had scattered all over the house. I got the food, clothes, etc we needed and we headed out about 10:30 for Galveston. The
Got a rather slow start today. Grandpa is slow but thorough. He wanted to make sure we had everything we needed for our excursion to Galveston. So, he and Elijah worked on getting the car ready and Olivia worked on putting all the stuff back in her suitcase she had scattered all over the house. I got the food, clothes, etc we needed and we headed out about 10:30 for Galveston. The
ride down was fun, we sang, they colored, grandpa told stories about his childhood and the grandkids talked about school, friends and other things important to 7 and 10 year olds. We arrived in Galveston too early to check into our hotel so we decided to ride the ferry over to Boliver Island. We waited far longer than the childrens patience would permit, but once we were on, they got to feed the birds. They used about a half loaf of bread feeding the birds. Elijah demonstrated for Olivia how to hold a large piece of bread in the air and the birds would take it from your hand. Olivia was sure the bird that took her bread took a bite out of her finger. She started to cry but upon further investigation we discovered there was not a mark on her finger. Then she was fine. On the trip back from Boliver Island grandpa and the children decided to take the stairs up top and enjoy the view and feed the birds from there. During the ferry we had to wait in the middle of the channel for a very large ocean vessel to pass us. As it passed, the people standing on the front of the ferry got splashed by the wave created by the ship. We headed to our hotel and checked in. They had an indoor pool so grandpa and the kids swam while I set things up in the room and went to get some lunch/midafternoon meal. After we ate and they finished swimming in the pool, about 5:30p, we were ready to head to the beach. The waves were really pretty high for Galveston and they enjoyed themselves jumping over the waves, using other people boards to ride the waves and making designs in the sand. At about 7:30, Elijah was bitten by a jelly fish. It stung for about 20 minutes and then it was all over. He was really hurting for a while. As soon as it happened, we packed up and headed back to the hotel where the chlorine water helped to sooth the pain. We let them swim as long as they wanted to, which turned out to be about 10P. We came back to the room and microwaved some corndogs we had gotten at the store and had ice cream and cookies while they watched the rest of the Betty Boop cartoons. Then brushed teeth and to bed. Grandpa bought our tickets for Six Flags over Texas before he came to bed. PS..grandpa bought them their own board for the beach tomorrow.
Sunday, June 24, 2012
Elijah and Olivia visit Houston
DAY 2
Today we woke up to grandpa making waffles with chocolate milk and homemade syrup. Then quickly dressed and headed to church. The grandkids enjoyed Primary. Olivia got to witness a young lady misbehaving during class and sharing time. She was appalled! For lunch we had barbeque with baked beans. Olivia had tuna sandwich. After lunch, we watched the original Broadway version of Peter Pan starring Mary Martin. They loved it. Grandpa says he remembers loving it as a kid when his parents let him watch it on Sunday afternoon. It is one of the things he was able to get from the dissolution of his parents things. He was extremely happy that Elijah and Olivia enjoyed it as much as he did. After the movie was over, we went to Uncle Stuart and Aunt Christy’s house. Four grandchildren in one room, I can begin to understand what heaven must feel like. Elijah and Olivia played X-box and WII until they were both tired. Grandpa took his Miata so Olivia rode with him to Uncle Stuart’s and Elijah rode home with him. Neither was excited to ride with me but I don’t have the cool convertible. When Olivia and I drove up to our house, grandpa had Elijah behind the wheel of the Miata. Elijah drove it to the end of the street and back. He was very excited. For dinner Elijah ate 2 grilled cheese sandwiches and Olivia had a bowl of soup. Grandpa had grilled cheese and soup. Grandpa calls me Betty Boop sometimes so the grandkids wanted to know why. Well, ofcourse, grandpa has some old cartoon clips with Betty Boop and he showed them. The grandkids got a real kick out of them. Then it was off to pj’s, bedtime stories and sleep. Just as they were getting in their pj’s Olivia began to cry saying she missed her mom. So we used that magical Skype to help calm her and she went right to sleep after a short visit. Tomorrow we leave for Galveston for two days to enjoy all the sights, sounds and beach.
Today we woke up to grandpa making waffles with chocolate milk and homemade syrup. Then quickly dressed and headed to church. The grandkids enjoyed Primary. Olivia got to witness a young lady misbehaving during class and sharing time. She was appalled! For lunch we had barbeque with baked beans. Olivia had tuna sandwich. After lunch, we watched the original Broadway version of Peter Pan starring Mary Martin. They loved it. Grandpa says he remembers loving it as a kid when his parents let him watch it on Sunday afternoon. It is one of the things he was able to get from the dissolution of his parents things. He was extremely happy that Elijah and Olivia enjoyed it as much as he did. After the movie was over, we went to Uncle Stuart and Aunt Christy’s house. Four grandchildren in one room, I can begin to understand what heaven must feel like. Elijah and Olivia played X-box and WII until they were both tired. Grandpa took his Miata so Olivia rode with him to Uncle Stuart’s and Elijah rode home with him. Neither was excited to ride with me but I don’t have the cool convertible. When Olivia and I drove up to our house, grandpa had Elijah behind the wheel of the Miata. Elijah drove it to the end of the street and back. He was very excited. For dinner Elijah ate 2 grilled cheese sandwiches and Olivia had a bowl of soup. Grandpa had grilled cheese and soup. Grandpa calls me Betty Boop sometimes so the grandkids wanted to know why. Well, ofcourse, grandpa has some old cartoon clips with Betty Boop and he showed them. The grandkids got a real kick out of them. Then it was off to pj’s, bedtime stories and sleep. Just as they were getting in their pj’s Olivia began to cry saying she missed her mom. So we used that magical Skype to help calm her and she went right to sleep after a short visit. Tomorrow we leave for Galveston for two days to enjoy all the sights, sounds and beach.
Saturday, June 23, 2012
Elijah and Olivia visit Houston
First day with the grandkids has come to a close for them at least. Elijah (10) and Olivia (7) arrived today about noon. We spent some time at the airport cause the airline put their bags on the wrong carousel. By the time we found the luggage and got the car, we were all hungry. We went to the Potato Patch also known as the “Throwd Rolls” restaurant. They throw hot rolls and hot muffins at
you the entire time you are there if you want them and they give you all the okra and fried green tomatoes you can eat. Elijah missed his first roll but not the next 2 and he never missed any of the muffins. So by the time our food came we loaded it into take home containers for dinner. We got home at 3P and Robert took the grandkids swimming at the Sowers’ home. They have a great pool with waterfall and slide. I stayed home cause I had a massage. They had great fun swimming and arrived home just as I was finishing up my client. So we warmed up the left over lunch, ate and headed off shopping. We are going to the beach at Galveston for a couple of days and we needed some snacks, juice boxes and water. As we went through the store the grandkids saw other things they “needed”. At the checkout, Robert looked at me like I had lost my mind when the cashier said almost $200. But we have what we need for our excursion. We headed home, had Blue Bell ice-cream, brushed teeth and Robert told them a bedtime story. All is quiet. Grandkids are the best little humans God ever gives us. I am exhausted and happy so night all.
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