Grandma's Visit

Everytime Grandma comes to visit she knows she's in for a circus. This time we actually took her to the circus. All three of the boys entered a coloring contest in the newspaper and we won tickets! We couldn't pass it up, so we took Daniel out of school on Friday to go. Grandma had never been to the circus and aside from the deafening speakers, we had a wonderful time. Grandma got Daniel and Liam each a tiger stuffed animal and Caleb got an elephant.Before the real show started we watched the elephants and a few other animals outside. The boys were fascinated that the elephants were potty trained to unload into a huge bucket. Wow, I'm glad I don't have to clean up after that! A bathroom for 3 little boys is bad enough.

The show was amazing. Of course we loved the tiger tamer surrounded by about 10 tigers, and the elephants. The acrobats were incredible. But one of our favorite parts was a trampoline act. The brightly colored costumes and the perfectly orchestrated moves looked amazing almost like tropical fish on the coral reef.

It was a fun day. On the way home Daniel started asking when the Circus would be back in town again. Caleb and Liam didn't say so much....

Saturday we went to Daniel's soccer game. Before the game started Daniel's team did a team-building exercise where they had to run across the field all holding together. I got the picture while they still look like a team and before they started running over each other and tripping on those who were lagging behind. It was kind of funny. I wonder if 6-year-olds understood the message behind the task. It was entertaining to watch though. Daniel did a good job and it was fun to show Grandma how great he is. This is his first year playing in a bigger field with a whole team. It has been quite an adjustment to learn positions and the real rules to the game.

After soccer we headed to the park to watch the annual Air Show. This year didn't have as many of the big name flight teams, but it was still fun to watch. Inbetween the jets and planes, the boys had lots of fun cooling off in the water.

In the next picture Caleb was having fun in the sandbox. He reminds me of a bug stuck on its back.

When we got home we built an IKEA shelf for the living room. The boys were thrilled to get a new box that became their "boat".

On Sunday we went to church and my mom got to experience the chaos and disarray that come when you practice for the primary program for the first time. That afternoon we had the missionaries for dinner. We try to get them one Sunday each month so that hopefully our boys will see what good missionaries are grow up planning on serving their own missions. This time we were totally lucky. The dinner took a little longer than we'd hoped to cook so the missionaries pulled out an awesome object lesson for my boys to try out. It involved balancing nails in a house shape on one nail. Very impressive. It could be used to explain that all our teachings rest on the truthfulness of the Prophet Joseph Smith's experience, or to show the keystone of our religion. It was a good one. I hope my boys remember these experiences and bring great messages into others' homes (both member and nonmember).
As is tradition, the boys love cooking and especially making cookies with Grandma. This time the boys chose to make cyclops cookies (the peanut butter cookies with the hershey's kiss on top). It's amazing with so many little helpers that any of the cookies made it into the oven to be baked.

We all love our time with Grandma, but this time was especially fun for Caleb. He handed Grandma a light saber and said, "Follow me." Then he took off through the house and outside. Wherever he felt the force strong enough he paused to have a duel. Then he took off again, instructing Grandma to follow. He actually started calling Grandma "Grandma Asouka". Even in his prayers he blessed Grandma Asouka. That is quite an honor since Asouka is Caleb's favorite Star Wars character (from the Clone Wars--Anakin's padawan learner).

Grandma is such a great sport. The force was definitely strong with this one!

On Nathan's birthday we got up and made him pancakes. The boys couldn't wait to give him his presents (Star Wars legos and other legos). They also gave him the cards they made. (Daniel's said, "From the child who loves you most".) That night Grandma watched the boys so Nathan and I could have a night out.

While we were out Grandma made puppets with the boys. Daniel chose a penguin, Liam an alligator, and Caleb a puppy. They turned out really cute. Daniel has made a list (that fills every inch of a paper) of all of the puppets they still need to make. I guess Grandma will just have to move closer to us.
We had such a fun time with Grandma, but our time ran out before we fit in all of the things we'd hoped to do. We can't wait for Grandma to come visit again.