Parks, Pianos and Patches

Gramma and Grampa noticed the fish are much bigger in Minneapolis; 

like the mosquitoes.

Seth likes to hold his own bottle.

He wants to be sure no one takes it away from him.

Nolan demonstrates his little man on the walkway to his log cabin.

Nolan attaches toys so Seth can see them.

He is very kind to his little brother.

Grampa took Nolan to the park for some "boy" fun.

Digging for gold.

Or whatever.

"Grampa, this balance beam is curved."

Nolan had Grampa push him on the swing for twenty minutes.

Grampa is allowed to feed Seth, 

but only if Nolan shares the chair with Grampa.

Nolan doesn't even stop to breathe, 

when drinking one of Gramma's smoothies.

Gramma and Grampa have squirrels looking in one window.

If we opened the window, we could pet him.

And our lady cardinal is still knocking on another window.

We have to be careful not to put Seth near the golf course.

In his camouflage, we might not find him back.

I think Seth looks a little like Eisenhower.

'One step, two steps, three ...."

Saturday, Nolan came back to play some more.

Grampa and Nolan went to try a new park.

"Hurry Grampa, I don't know if I can stop."

While there, they found a hot wheels another child had left behind.

Nolan loved it, since it had lots of electronics; 

including a radio that played music.

Snack had to be postponed,

so Nolan could play with the hot wheels,

and Grampa could push him for over thirty minutes on the swing.

"Grampa, I have an idea for Christmas."

Seth finds a chair his size at Gramma's.

When Mommy brought Nolan, he wasn't sure he wanted to stay.

After all, Daddy had brought him on Friday.

Nolan likes things to stay the same.

Gramma showed him she had prepared sweet potato hash browns for lunch.

And she showed him she had made baked beans to go with dinner.

Nolan was pleased, but not yet convinced.

"Dessert?"? he asked.

News from the California Gentlemen

Little Playmates by Chwatal

Gramma is so proud of how hard the boys and their parents work at their music.

Chant Arabe by Anonymous

I think Mommy and Daddy have to practice to keep up with their boys.

Grampa Piggie Spends Time as a Pirate

by Gramma

When Grampa Piggie was a little boy, he had a cute little sister, Aunt Piggie.  One night before going to bed, Aunt Piggie was wearing a robe.  The robe had a rope belt with a knot on the end.  She was spinning the belt over her head like a cowgirl, when Grampa Piggie walked into the living room.  He did not see Aunt Piggie spinning the rope.  Just as he came in the room, the knot of the belt hit him in his eye.  It hurt him a lot, so his mommy took him to the doctor.  

The doctor said his eye was hurt badly.  The doctor put a patch on both eyes.  The doctor did not want him to move his eye.  And if one eye moves, the other eye will move, too.  

His mother took him home and put him in his bed.  She kept his room dark, so his eyes did not move.  He spent two weeks in bed with his eyes patched.

After he was still for two weeks, they took off the patch from his good eye.  The eye that was hit still had the patch on for two more months.  In the end, Grampa's eye was saved and he can still see.

I asked Grampa Piggie if poor Aunt Piggie was upset by it.  He said, "Not that I could see."  I am sure she said she was sorry.  It may be why she went on to be a nurse.  She wanted to help more little boys feel well.

The moral of the story is "never swing anything, that could hit your brother in the eye.'

On the Move/Wheelies

Seth can now get up on all fours.

He's especially good at it, if he wants to reach something.

"Gramma, have you seen my pacifier?"

Seth likes his play table.
He gets so excited he stands up to play.

Grampa teaches Nolan how to crack a coconut.

First you have to poke the eyes with an awl and a hammer.

T/hen you drain the coconut water out.

Then you take a couple of swings with the hammer.

Gramma needs to figure out how to make her own coconut milk.

Once they got it cracked open, 

Nolan was a little worried.

"Grampa, was it supposed to break?"

Nolan insisted he wanted to give Seth a ride in the stroller.

Seth was okay with the idea.

"Don't you like my shirt"?

"My mommy sure does."

These legs are made for walking.

Gramma and Nolan are working on a new hairstyle.

You have to go with the natural curl.

Even our personalities are curly.

How to know if Nolan needs to use the bathroom...

He looks for bushes.

Grampa and Nolan are making sweet potato fries for dinner.

Nolan loves cooking with Grampa.

Especially the tasting part.

It's important to get the oil, garlic salt and rosemary evenly on the potatoes.

Nolan checks to see if they pass the test.

Grampa created a gluten free, dairy free carrot cake with coconut cream frosting.

We all thought it was delicious.

Nolan thinks Auntie Becca should try it, 

since her favorite cake is carrot cake.

Nolan is up to 24 piece puzzles.

He understands corners and edge pieces.

Gramma still needs to look at the picture on the box.

For our anniversary, we went out to eat at Philly G's.

Following a delicious dinner, Terry asked if I had noticed one of the 

french doors was hung upside down.  I had not.

I asked our waiter, how long the door had been like that.

And had anyone ever noticed.

He said they hung the doors seven years ago.  They were aware one was upside down,

but decided to leave it, because they didn't think anyone would ever notice.

I think Grampa wanted to offer to fix the door for them.

Look at how the glass panels DON'T match.

Check out the how the frame is wider at the top of one door and the bottom of the other.

Fortunately, they take more pride in their food than in their restaurant.

News from the California Gentlemen

This is Gramma skyping a piano lesson with the boys.

I'm projected onto their big screen TV, so I'm larger than life.

It's my favorite time of the week.

I think I have finally found a way to get Ryan Joseph to practice again.

The gentlemen went to the motorcycle races.

It's a good idea to protect their Suzuki ears.

These look like Iowa motorcycles.

Wheelies

by Gramma

Gramma Mousie and her sister, Auntie Mousie, used to ride motorcycles.  They lived in a town with lots of hills.  In the summer, they rode the motorcycle up and down the hills, so they did not have to walk.  Sometimes they both rode the motorcycle at the same time.

Auntie Mousie gave Gramma Mousie rides to work.  Gramma Mousie worked at a park with kids.  She helped them play ball and games.  

One time Auntie Mousie and Gramma Mousie went to McDonald's to get dinner.  They had the food in two big bags.  Gramma Mousie was driving the motorcycle and Auntie Mousie was in back.  Auntie Mousie was holding the bags.  

To get home, they had to ride up a big hill.  On the way up the hill, Gramma Mousie shifted and the motorcycle did a wheelie.  Poor Auntie Mousie slid off the back.  She still had the two bags of food in her arms.  She was so mad at Gramma Mousie, she decided to walk up the hill to the house.  The two bags of food were saved, thanks to Auntie Mousie.  She even saved the french fries.

Gentlemen's Sleepover

Nolan and Grampa transformed our activity center into Seth's size.

First they made it smaller.

Then they realized Seth is not that small,

and resized it again for a bigger baby.

Thank you Grampa and Nolan.  

See my happy feet.

Nolan helped Grampa blow up the pool.  

He blew up one of the pillow seats.  

Grampa asked if he wanted to do the next one.

Nolan responded, "No, Pa do it."

Nolan is in charge of filling the pool.

It's easier to do from inside the pool.

Surf's up for the first time this summer.

Then Grampa moved the umbrella so Nolan could enjoy the pool without being burned.

I wanted to get a picture of Seth's cute t-shirt.

I had to work quick.

Ensembles don't last long with Seth.

Grampa wants a t-shirt to match Seth's.

Seth's beginning to eat carrots.

Changing his diaper, I could not get the orange off.

Even Nolan commented on his favorite color showing up on Seth's bottom.

Next diaper change, the color had disappeared.

Those diapers draw all moisture away from the skin and into the diaper.

Nolan likes to be very clean.

Inside and out.

Seth is looking forward to more carrots.

It seems Seth has learned to blow his carrots as he eats them.

Grampa is a seasoned problem solver.

He feeds him from behind his chair.

Nolan has decided to check out Seth's chair.

Grampa told him, "We don't know how you got there,

but ask us for help getting down."

How many Grammas have Beethoven and Bach action figures to play with?

How many grandsons love Beethoven as much as their Gramma?

Nolan is fixing Gramma's treadmill with a hammer and a saw.

Hopefully, she will survive her next interval training session.

Grampa and Nolan make one of their trips to Home Depot.

They're installing a new pump into our fountain.

Seth is asleep, but he hasn't let go of the ring on his bouncy seat.

Grampa and Nolan at 6:00 AM Sunday morning.

They must be trying to think of something to fix.

Nolan and Seth stayed overnight.

When Nolan realized the bedtime book was over, 

he said, "Drink."

Grampa asked what he would like to drink and he responded, 

"Water."

After one swallow, he said, "Juice."

After a swallow of juice he said, "Milk."

Then he was out of requests, so he went to bed.

Who will get to that remote first?

From the California Gentlemen

I've heard that chlorine in the water can turn your hair green

Perhaps they need filtered water.

Sir Paddy

Chapter 2

by Gramma

Sir Paddy was a good dog for Aunt Becky and me.  When we were little he let us ride him.  When we got a little bigger, he pulled us on roller skates (the kind with a key).

He liked to be with us.  We used to go with us to my grandmother's house all the time.  Her house was just down the hill from our house.  My great-grandmother's house was up the street.  One day we went in the car to my grandmother's house, because it was hard for Jeff to walk that far.  When we got out of the car, we saw Paddy running down the street to be with us. 

My grandmother gave him a snack.  She called them "fetch smears."  They were made with lard smeared on bread.  Then we tossed the bread in the air.  Paddy could catch the fetch smear and eat it in one bite.

When we went home, the car was too small for Paddy and us.  My mom said, "Paddy will run home."  Paddy was running fast to keep up with the car.  My mom did not think he was as fast as the car.  Then we felt the car bump and I saw Paddy roll over.  I told my mom she hit Paddy.  She did not think so and kept driving.  He got up and shook his head.  When we got home, we saw Paddy walking up the hill.  He had a tire track on the top of his head.  It was good we had a little car.  He was still ok.