Puzzle and Tea Party

 One last surprise for Grammy's last day.

And a tea party of course.

Photoshoot with Grammy

Bathrobes and Smiles

Who's Having More Fun?

Grammy & Simeon

Family Game Night

Family Game Night

The girls played Qwirkle while Simeon watched.

After the game Simeon and Grammy had a good time playing tug of war.

Adley and Cana moved on to video games with Daddy, a rare treat.

Happy Thanksgiving!

We have much to be thankful for.

Next year we'll look for a turkey with three turkey legs!

Cookies with Grammy

Decorated sugar cookies?

Yes please!

Grammy Games

Grammy came to play - and play she did. 

The object of this game is to listen while each of the objects is dropped into the glass jar.  Then the girls put on the blindfolds while Grammy drops the objects again and they guess which item was dropped.  Adley was very adept and guessed each item correctly.  She was also quick to point out that Grammy should take a turn wearing the blindfold.  Fun times.

Thanksgiving Feast

Annual Thanksgiving Feast

performed by 

the Wampanoag (the first grade class)

the Pilgrims (the kindergarten class)

and 6 turkeys (6 kindergartners including Adley)

The feast was largely a musical peppered with short speeches on each side that told the story of the first Thanksgiving. After the two groups integrated they came together to share a meal, exchange gifts and they even performed a Wampanoag dance together (Adley's favorite).  Adley and her crew had their own turkey songs and dramatic scenes as one by one each turkey was taken down. 

After the show we enjoyed walking around the sets which were created by the students as they learned about this history.  They also provided a feast of snacks inspired by Thanksgiving fare.

 Our little turkey with her gobbler.

All dressed up and ready to go! 

Posing with the art projects she helped make.

We have it all on video and we're already looking forward to next year!

Bath Time

Not sure how she did it but Grammy was able to help Simeon get over his aversion to bath time.  He used to cry as soon as he touched the water and scream if I turned on the faucet or tried to wash his hair.  

This I know: she had a lot of help!

He doesn't look convinced in these photos but he was thoroughly enjoying bath time by the time Grammy had to go home.

Thanks Grammy!

Simeon and buttons!

Simeon's latest fascination is with the remote control, or phone or anything else with buttons.  So we brought out the alphabet "computer."  The girls love this toy.  When GrandMary first bought it there were games and music.  I've tried to fix it but its had a rough life.  Fortunately, its perfect for a 7 month old to punch buttons to his hearts content.  This was his first reaction.  BUTTONS!

"Really, you'll let me play with it!"

"BUTTONS!"

Nebulizer

Seasonal allergies are common at our house.  The nebulizer gets daily use by all three.  Cana doesn't like sitting still for the breathing treatment but her sister graciously offered to help her.  

Paka's Last Night

We miss you Paka!

Looking back its hard to believe how much we packed into a week's visit.  Of course, we have photos of playing at home, the Veterans Day Program, Children's Museum, Block Night, Starved Rock and making tamales.  What's missing is all the cooking Grammy did, including a full Thanksgiving dinner, tea parties, musical chairs, going bowling, a date night for Mom & Dad while Grammy & Paka babysat, and Grammy went to help at Adley's school in the library and the art classroom.

Wow!  What a week.  Thank you!

Brother and Sister time

 I wonder what he's thinking.

Simeon

Cana

Cutest Smile

Simeon & Grammy

Tamale Making

 Pork and Chile

Masa

and plenty of help

 makes lots of tamales.

We ate some that night and ended up with 96 in the freezer. Awesome!

Paka and Simeon

Starved Rock

At the top of Starved Rock - possibly one of Adley's favorite places.

Her all time favorite is to stay at the lodge and swim in the kids pool but the hike during nice weather is great too.

Our first visit to the park with Grammy and Paka. 

We happened to be at the top of the rock at sunset.

The saddled fish at the lodge - just stopping for a quick photo before continuing on our tour. 

This chair was new.

Front lobby love. 

We had a great day at the park.  We left a bit late due to a doctor's visit for Simeon, but were still able to walk to the top and around the lodge before it got dark.  On the way home we stopped for dinner at Chili's. Cana kept asking for Caputo's.  And I thought the kids were hard to please!