Sunday, March 21, 2010

Day At The Park Before The Overnighter

In spite of the fact that both Bruce and I are still not feeling great because of the cold/virus, on Saturday the Grands still wanted to come over and play with Grandma and Papa.  They had planned on another overnighter.  OK, that was fine as long as everyone knew we were still a bit under the weather and there could be germs!!

Stephanie brought them over just before lunch.  As soon as we got rid of her, we packed up a simple, quick picnic lunch and headed over to the Tumwater Historic Park not far from our RV.  Although it was a little cool outdoors, the sun was shining and it just felt good to be out.  Annie came along, too, so that made her happy.

(click on any photo for a larger view)

We ate lunch first.  PB and J for the girls.  At least they ate it on our whole wheat bread....with NO complaining.
After lunch the girls played on some of the playground equipment.  Zoey looked at those rings.  They sure looked high off the ground.


After close inspection, she decided to give them a try.  With a little help, she eventually made it across.


Mackenzie, being older and stronger, made it across the line of rings without any problems.

After getting bored with the playground, we decided to take a couple of very short trail walks.  Because we had Annie with us we could not walk for a long ways.  She doesn't have the stamina for it.  Here is one of the trails.

We saw a beautiful Mallard swimming in the pond.
At the end of our trail we could see Interstate 5 ahead and the bridge overcrossing on Capital Blvd. in Tumwater.

After going back to the RV, the girls played with the toys we keep on board.  We always have "issues" with who gets to do what and who is first....who gets to have the doll dressed in pink and who gets stuck with the doll dressed in white, and so on.  About a year ago I devised a little system for selecting who gets to be first, which seems to be working out well.  I got 2 large photo magnet frames and placed a photo of each girl in them.  Then I added the label My First Day to each photo.  When the girls come over we randomly select one of the two frames and it will then be that person's First Day.  We put that photo magnet on the refrigerator door as a reminder.   That means they get to open the door to the RV when we go out, feed Annie her dinner, help make up the bed for themselves by pushing the magic button on the sofa bed, and generally getting to be first with anything that day.  Of course, that also means they have to be first for taking a shower that night, too.  The next morning we switch the photo magnet out and the other Grand gets to be "first".  Not a perfect solution, but one that is working for these 2 anyway.  It helps keep Grandma sane.


We're going to Stephanie and Darin's for dinner tonight and will say our good-byes at that time.  Mondays are busy days for them and we are pulling out of Tumwater early on Tuesday morning.  We've been teaching the Grands how to play dominos and they want us to bring them over for another game or two.  We'll miss them while we are gone, but we will return in late June. 

Until next time.....so long for now!  (cough, cough, hack, hack, sniff, sniff)

9 comments:

Cindy said...

With 5 children they each had a day of the week.If it was their day they got to ride up front..get the mail..pick the tv show for the afternoon..they also had to carry out the trash..feed the goats..and say evening prayers. It sure helped me!! I will have to remember the magnet idea!!

Get to feeling better soon!!

Cindy

Ken and Nanette said...

That playground looks like something a big kid could enjoy too!

Hope you feel better soon!

Ken and Nanette

Unknown said...

I hope you feel better soon, we have a few germs going around here in Tennessee also. At least the weather is warming up. Seeing the sun always makes me feel better! Take care, Gail

Rick said...

That 'first day' and magnet idea is ingenious! The 'Grands' will remember those days at the park and the rings for the rest of their lives, I'm sure. Our 18 yr. old grand, Jessica, often brings up things that we did with her that we'd long forgotten! Hope those colds go soon!

Happytrails said...

What a nice picnic and I love that trail you all got to explore. I also like your system of who gets to go first. I will remember that just in case I ever have a "grand."

I know you all are getting excited about upcoming journey. Be sure to travel safely.

Hugs,
Gerri(http://freedom2roll.blogspot.com)

squawmama said...

What a wonderful time with your Granddaughters you had. And how smart to do the First Day it was a great idea... I'll remember that for my 4 year old twins... Sure do hope that your both are feeling better really soon... HAve fun & Travel Safe
Donna

Jerry and Suzy said...

Fun with the Grands! Yay! We are looking forward to a visit with our first Great Grand this summer. Unfortunately our trip to them has had to be cancelled, but they are coming here in August. Since there's only one so far, we don't have to worry about who's first - that'll be Darren.

Ali Workentin said...

What a great idea about the magnets and First Day. I may incorporate that when we are with our grandsons in October.

So sorry to hear that you are both still under the weather. Ron is slowly getting over his bronchitis and I have had laryngitis since Thursday. We are resting today and tomorrow before we start our new jobs on Wednesday.

As we drove thru Tumwater yesterday on our way from Blaine to Chehalis I did wonder where you guys were parked at.

Take care and looking forward to traveling with you as you go on your next trip.

Karyn-Lee said...

Sure sucks to be sick, hope you get better!

Looks like you had fun with the grands!

Parks can be fun for everyone!!!