Overnight With The Grandkids

For the last three weekends, we've had K3 and Toad overnight on Fridays.  It was a conscious decision on our part, DH & I, to request time with invite the grandkids to come visit, since we've rarely seen them (on average, less than once a month) since DS1 moved his family into their own home in February 2016.  Fridays became the night of choice in reaction to an observation we'd made, and DD1 backed up (with a poor opinion of this person that she had actually known in high school) that on Friday nights while K2 was at work and DS1 was finishing his shift at his own job that K2 was just kind of leaving the kids with whomever of her friends was available to come to their house, usually a friend that is also from our little hometown and is about the age of DS2.  So, after discussing it amongst ourselves, DH & I asked if perhaps we could have the kids stay overnight with us the next Friday.  And, so far, that has turned into three Fridays in a row, with K2 actually inquiring this past Friday if we wanted to have the kids again.

I have to confess, having the kids overnight wipes me out, as I've all ready been in a frequent state of fatigue for many months, and neither one of them sleeps through the night.  Which means when they are here, I get a very fragmented night's sleep (and really feel like a zombie by the time they go home the next day).  But, it is nice to see them so often, and I also think that it is good for them to have regular contact with DH and I.  It's a much more structured environment and more attention than they typically get at home.

Since they've been helping me to cook dinner on Fridays (as much as a 4yo and 2yo can), and making pancakes seems to be the Saturday breakfast routine now, last week I sewed two aprons for them to keep here and wear when they help me cook.  Until then, I'd been trying to jerry-rig and pin up adult sized aprons when they requested to wear an apron 'like Grandma' during our cooking sessions.

just the right size aprons

This weekend, we got creative with our pancakes and made a few shaped like the head of Mickey Mouse. Needless to say, K3 and Toad were amazed that Grandma could make pancakes that weren't just circles!  (Even though it's really three circles in each pancake, LOL.)

Another activity that's become a 'must do' when they are here is put together puzzles.  They absolutely love getting out the puzzles and showing me how fast they can put the pieces together to make the picture.  (Little do they know they are building logic and problem solving skills, as well as improving fine motor skills!)

On Saturday, the kids were up with before the sun, and full of energy.  They were literally bouncing around while standing at the sliding door in the living room watching the sun rise above the trees. So, after making our Mickey Mouse pancakes and eating them with homemade maple syrup (which 3 weeks ago they insisted they didn't like but now they clamor to pour all over their pancakes), we got them bundled up against the cold air and took them outside.  Both DH and I wanted to walk through our woods and see what kind of damage Wednesday's prolonged high winds had done out there.  With the sun shining brightly in a beautiful blue sky, and the kids needing to run, 8:15 in the morning seemed like the perfect time for a walk to and through the woods!

running through the field to the woods road

We found several trees down across our road through the woods, and many others that were down but not on the road.  Each time we came to a tree across the road, we consulted K3 and Toad on how we were going to 'get through'.  Sometimes it was over the tree, sometimes it was under the tree, and sometimes it was a combination depending on how big you were and if you could fit through the branches!

uh-oh, tree leaning over the road

how should we get through now?

Toad went under

K3 went over

We also saw a couple of trees that, instead of blowing over, twisted off and broke up high.

Our walk and tree inspection took about an hour.  We returned to the house with faces red from the cold.  Two hours later, however, we decided to go to the woods again, DH armed with the chainsaw to cut up the trees that were blocking the road, and me with a thermos of hot chocolate and a box of crackers for a snack.  The kids ran and played in the woods, and also helped clean up sticks on the road, while DH sawed the trees into chunks and I stacked the cut wood on the edges of the road.  The kids thought it was great fun to not only play, but to eat and drink out in the woods.

first time drinking from a thermos lid 'cup'

Overall, it was a pretty fun time.  These two certain look like they enjoyed it.