Sounds like a fun weekend doesn't it?! This weekend, we went to Tim's parents' house - Grandpa & Grandma N. I'm not sure if they were quite prepared for the chaos that we brought with us but they were great sports about it.
We left out early afternoon on Friday to head down - picking Cole up from school early and Eli had stayed home with us (Tim took him to the dr for a check up). They were both excited for the adventure ahead and to get to Grandpa & Grandma's house. We had a pretty good drive down - short naps, lot of snacks and one potty / stretch break. Friday night, Grandpa grilled burgers and hot dogs and we just hung out around the house. Tim & I ended up splitting bed duty with the boys - he slept with Cole in the sunroom and I slept with Eli in Grandpa's den. It's a good thing we did that because there was a massive storm Friday night - thunder and lightning extreme. Eli woke up scared and upset during it (I was a little worried myself about all the booming) so we snuggled the storm out. Thankfully, the boys slept until a reasonable hour Saturday (I mean after 6:30am).
Saturday was a super fun day. The big plan was to go with Grandma to see Elmo at a local specialty store for story time. Lots of kids were there and our boys loved exploring all the treasures that the store offered. Story time turned into Song and Dance time and the boys had fun. After, we were able to say hi to Elmo and get our picture made. Cole loved Elmo until it was time to go up to him. Then he decided he didn't want anything to do with him. Eli surprised me that he gave Elmo a big ole hug. Cole took a great nap when we got back to Grandma's house but Eli didn't want to. He hung out, played and watched some tv while Cole napped. Saturday night, Grandma made yummy pot roast for dinner - Tim & I loved it but the boys opted for chicken nuggets, no surprise there! Saturday night sleeping was much better than Friday - still had a little rain but no big storms. Eli, having had no nap, fell asleep laying on me watching Mickey Mouse.
Today, we went to the Aquarium. The boys had a blast looking at all the fish. Cole ran all over from tank to tank telling us it was "fishy"s - he was so cute. Eli loved checking it all out and took particular interest in a few things (I'll illustrate through photos below). My favorite animals were the otters. Both boys liked looking at them - they were just so fun, doing backflips for us and swimming right in front of where we were. We also got to see the divers in the ocean tank. That was very cool. One diver had a microphone and was able to talk to the audience about the animals in the tank. After a while, Cole wanted snacks but he wanted to have them in the stroller. So I put him in - he has never asked to get in the stroller before - and it wasn't long before he was asleep. He wore his little legs out. We finished our aquarium trip with a visit to the museum gift shop, Cole got a fun book and Eli got a rubber snake (that he then named Ryan after his best buddy). Back to Grandma's for lunch and then we packed it up to head home. The boys did pretty well on the drive back. Eli was wound up and loud at first but then he crashed and settled down.
It was a great visit. I'm sure Grandpa & Grandma were glad to have the noise for the weekend but also glad to go back to some quiet. Tim and I were both ready for a little quiet tonight!
Headed to Grandma's
Saturday morning, Cole LOVED eating oranges. Ok, he really sucked the juice out and handed me the rest. =)
Clapping and dancing with Elmo
Elmo Sing and Dance time
See how not-happy Cole was. Eli however loved Elmo.
Big hugs!
Both boys are all about their Grandpas. I imagine Cole had just seen Grandpa in this picture, shouted "Pop Pop" and ran toward him. And Eli, all weekend, would look at Grandpa and say "I love you Grandpa". So sweet!
Yes Mom, I'm cute and I know it.
Bubbles
Touchdown! Cole was pooped after Elmo.
Eli showed Grandpa the program from Monster Jam and told him all the truck names.
Watching a little tv
This cracked me up - notice Eli's shoes.
A little outside kickball time
Hanging with Buddha - couldn't get Cole to sit with him. He was too busy trying, like Eli, to push things in the water.
This morning, they were fixing a puzzle together.
Headed to the aquarium.
Ribbit!
My favorite, the otters!
This is a great shot of Tim and Cole. I told Tim that he'd better watch out b/c he actually might start smiling for pictures soon. He's getting better at them. =)
Looking for otters
Cole found him a frog buddy too.
Turtles - always a fond spot in our life for turtles.
Family shot with our new crocodile friend
The diver to the right of the picture was talking to us.
Cole the hermit crab
An Eli hermit crab (something happened with the setting on my camera, it's blurry)
And a Daddy hermit crab
The time we spent at this touch tank was amazing. The volunteer told Eli all about horseshoe crabs. Eli listened, asked him questions, touched one and later, even picked a plastic one up in the gift shop and showed me where his mouth is. I couldn't believe he listened to the guy and remembered some of it.
I always love photos of Eli holding our hands. Here he & Grandma are headed to find something to look at.
They found lobsters. Eli loved looking at them.
He must have spent 5-10 minutes watching the two in this tank.
Cool jellyfish
I had to include this picture because of the one in this post
Big mouth
They had a fun exhibit of fake creatures where the kids could touch. Eli (and I) thought this hammerhead shark was cool
Giddy up Turtle
Back at Grandpa's - checking out things in his shop
Cole trying to throw the football to Grandpa - he and Eli are both built like football players!
Love Grandpa & Grandma N! Thanks for the fun weekend.
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