Week At Grandma's!

We have been telling the kids for a couple years now that they would get to stay a whole week at Ga-Ga and Pa's when Michael and I go to Hawaii in 2019 for our 20th wedding anniversary. Then we planned this remodel and that time frame moved up a bit. We got to Ga-Ga & Pa's on the 3rd and we all stayed the night. 

Shortly after getting to Ga-Ga's we heard the ice cream man. The kids were so excited! 

Jack got a Sonic the Hedgehog Popsicle that had two gumballs. Zeke and Owen got the super sour rocket....as you can see by Owen's face! Ella got a rainbow snowcone. They were for sure starting this week off on a good note! 

The next day was the 4th of July...I blogged about that separately. 

Tuesday was a stay at home and lounge around day since the 4th was such an active day.  

On Wednesday they got up and were out of the house early so they could get to Northwest Trek. It's crazy that I've lived in Washington since I was 5 and I've never gone to Northwest Trek. 

Ga-Ga ended up purchasing the deluxe household pass for both Northwest Trek and The Point Defiance Zoo and Aquarium. We are going to have loads of fun using those! 

Let the adventure begin! 

Standing in line to get their tickets! 

I'm thinking Ga-Ga had them "buddy up" since Zeke and Jack are buddies and...

Owen and Ella are buddies! 

Whenever we say 'buddy up" the kids know to hold each others hands...it's come in handy a lot! 

My friend Christina had told me that the play area at NW Trek was out of this world awesome. From these pictures I can tell why she says that! 

So many fun things to climb! 

Love the cute little stream! 

Ella really must have liked the rope area! 

So many things to explore! 

Last year we went to the Tacoma Nature Center and Owen loved pumping water at that play area as well. That play area was very similar to this only a lot smaller! 

Cute beaver! 

Wilderness explorers!!! 

Waiting for the tram to take them around.

Pa got some great pictures of the animals! 

I have heard that some times it can be disappointing because all the animals are hiding, but that was definitely not the case! 

I bet because they went earlier in the day that helped a lot. 

Zeke was very excited to tell me all about the white tail deer...although in these pictures it looks more like they have white bottoms instead of tails. 

When Michael talked to the kids on the phone he was trying to find out if they were in an open sided vehicle or not. I don't know if he just wasn't being clear enough or if the kids just didn't understand how to explain it to us. 

Selfie! 

The kids saw lots of buffalo last year in Yellowstone so it was fun that they got to see them here as well. Not sure how zoomed in this picture is though! 

Probably pretty zoomed since I think that's the same buffalo out in the field! 

I wonder if any of the kids said....Look it's a Dodge Ram! 

The lake looks so pretty! 

The weather looks like it was just perfect for them! 

Photo op!

Time for lunch! 

I'm so excited that the kids got to have such a fun day and I can't wait to go back with them. It will be so fun for them to know things that we don't! 

Ga-Ga didn't want to be too busy while the kids were with them. Pa was after all still recovering from surgery. So they planned on having a stay at home day every other day. 

On Thursday they stayed at home and just had fun there. 

We had packed all the kids riding toys so they could get out of the house and burn off some of their energy! 

Since we've been doing the remodel most of their riding toys had been put in the basement so it was really nice that they go to use them. 

Of course they took advantage of the backyard as well. 

The truck sandbox is honestly on it's last leg. It has not weathered well, but at the same time it is almost 8 years old. 

When it came to sleeping Zeke slept on a pallet on the floor in the kids playroom upstairs. 

Jack slept on the twin hide-a-bed in the playroom aka the Paw Patrol bed because of the sheets on the bed!  

Owen slept in the queen bed in the lighthouse room.

And so did Ella. Ella does not like being alone at Ga-Ga & Pa's house. She drives Owen nuts though so the last night of the their stay the sleeping arrangements got changed...Owen was by himself in the lighthouse room, Jack slept by himself in the wedding room and Ella slept on the floor in the playroom and Zeke slept on the Paw Patrol bed. For goodness sake! 

  

Of course when they are at Ga-Ga's house it's Ga-Ga's rules so they very rarely hear the word, "No". They got to watch TV, play on Ga-Ga's tablet, play on the computer and eat Popsicle and cookies as much as they wanted. That's what Ga-Ga & Pa's are for right! 

Friday was another adventure day. They had originally planned to take the kids to the zoo.....they had bought the annual pass after all. But...the weather didn't cooperate so they decided indoor fun would be a better option. 

The bigger kids love these places, but Zeke can still be a bit apprehensive. 

Jack and Owen are full steam ahead though! 

Zeke did climb all the way to the top of the slide and then started crying his head off. One of the workers there went and rescued him! 

Not only did they have slides, but they had obstacle courses as well! So much fun!!!! 

This used to be the toy at The Commons Mall by our house. The kids were so sad when they took it out. I'm not sure if it's the exact one, but it looks just like it. I really dislike when they change things like that for something "better". 

Ga-Ga said that the kids went through all their dollars playing on the arcade games! 

Racing games are so fun!

Our kids know that we will not pay for them to have birthday parties outside our house. It's just not something we want to budget for. I love planning parties and I feel like I do a good job making them memorable. With that being said we do want them to have one big birthday at a party place of some sort. So each child will get to choose where they would like to go with a few friends for their 10th birthday. Owen loves games so much we are already planning on having his birthday party at Game Works in Seattle come January. He's going to have a blast!!! 

If I remember right Ga-Ga said they paid for 90 minutes of playtime and the kids ended up playing for 70 minutes.

All that playing works up an appetite so it was off to MCD's! 

Pa was just amazed that after playing non-stop for 70 minutes they still had energy to play on the MCD's toys! 

They love the dinosaur MCD's in Puyallup! 

Cheeseburgers & Nuggets! 

Photo proof that Pa actually ate MCD's! 

After that they still needed a treat so DQ was where it was at! Can you say spoiled rotten!!! 

Sunday was a lazy day! 

I'm sure they were a bit tuckered out from all the excitement they'd been having! 

That and the fact that even though we put towels in the windows to block the sun they never ever sleep in at Ga-Ga & Pa's!

Earlier in the week the kids had had pancakes for breakfast, but they were the frozen kind so on Sunday they got Pa's homemade Flap Jacks! Owen got a giant smiley face pancake! 

Jack got a bear pancake! 

Pa was supposed to make Ella Minnie Mouse, but instead of putting a bow in her hair he made her have a bowtie! Oops! 

Zeke also got a bear pancake! 

Time for more riding! 

Ga-Ga & Pa live right outside a cul-de-sac so very few people drive by their house. In fact Pa said that one time they were out there literally not one car drove by! I wish that's how our house was! 

On Sunday afternoon the Kuch kids came over to play for a bit! 

Cute lumps on a log! 

Ella loves those girls! 

We got to their house right when the kids were sitting down for dinner. We came in the house quietly and then roared to surprise them. The kids were happy to see us! They had to tell us all sorts of stuff that happened. 

Sometime during the week...I'm thinking when they went to the Super Jump Zone because it's inside the mall....they bought all the kids new shoes. Pa wanted to get pictures of their shoes so he had them prop their foot up on the island in the kitchen. 

Ella got Twinkle Toes Sketchers that light up!!! 

Jack got red Nike's of course!!! 

Owen got Kylo Ren Star Wars shoes! 

Zeke got the cutest Vans tennis shoes! 

Pa went out and got KFC for us adults to eat for dinner. While I was chatting with Mom and Dad about the kids' week and the progress we made on the remodel Michael was busy packing the van with all the kids stuff. Then it was time to head out. My kids are so blessed to have such wonderful grandparents that love them so much!