Visit with the Cousins

When we learned that Alisa and Greg (Andy's sister and her husband) were going to spend the summer in Park City, we were so excited for Caleb to spend time with his cousins. It happened this weekend when they came up to Boise for a visit. Thursday night we got together and went swimming at the hotel where they were staying and Caleb had a blast! It was pretty cold (it's been colder here lately) and then we went in to take baths and warm up. While we run on a late schedule, David and Mary are on a super early schedule. I couldn't relax because I kept worrying about how we were messing up their schedule. But Caleb and Andy had tons of fun. At the end Caleb and David were wrestling on the floor in their pjs. Nothing like cousins.

I didn't take any pictures because I was feeling very lazy about it, but Alisa took a bunch and when I get some I'll post pictures. (Thanks Alisa.) On Friday we went to Nampa to spend time with Grandma. The highlight was the sandbox where we should've let them stay and play so the grownups could relax, but I got this great idea to hose off the deck chairs with the kids. Mary wisely steers clear when her brother is in control of water and David and Caleb soaked themselves--especially Caleb. Again it wasn't super warm out so we had to come in and bring everyone inside while we put clothes in the dryer. Alisa had been resting since she had a cold. Grandma was contentedly enjoying knowing her favorite granddaughter, who she adores, was here visiting, and in come crazy, half-clothed children. Caleb's shoes had gotten wet so I didn't want him back outside. So much for a peaceful morning. Grandma kept asking Caleb where his shirt was, toys exploded in the living room, and the noise level rose by about ten notches. After Alisa and family left I asked Grandma if she enjoyed the morning and she just looked at me with big eyes and put her hands up in the air. It was a little much for her. I very much regretted ever disturbing their play in the sandbox.

After afternoon naps, we met at our house for dinner. Andy made his BBQ pizza and the crust was perfect (only it got a little charred on the BBQ). I swear I use the same recipe as Andy but my crusts never turn out quite as well. We also had grilled veggies and strawberry pie. Since our apartment is pretty crowded, we headed outside and ate on a picnic table by a stream running through the apartment property. While we were finishing preparing the dinner David and Caleb played garbage truck with the wheelbarrow and car and dumped little loads of toys throughout the house. It was just last night and this afternoon that we even started to clean everything up. It was pretty disastrous. :) Well, we did do the dishes Friday night, but there was flour spilled around the table where Caleb "helped" make pizza dough and lots of pans I had set out to dry that were still there until today.

After dinner Andy took Caleb and his sister and family up to see our new house while I worked on dishes and held a baby that really needed to sleep. (I was okay with that just for the record ;))

On Saturday we went to the zoo and it was a lot of fun. We left the sandbox and slide for the end and the kids happily played there while we visited and ate lunch. It was really nice. The weather was also so accommodating and it didn't rain until we got home. Then it poured. For around here it was pretty intense rain. I loved it! I love summer storms in the west. We also all fell asleep. A whole family nap. That rarely happens. In fact, I can't remember the last time it happened. Alisa had gone to stay with Grandma, Greg had taken the kids on an outing, and Janell was running errands. Grandma's hearing isn't that great and Alisa had lost her voice. She called us twice but we were all asleep. At least it wasn't the chaos of the day before. :) When we did wake up we met for dinner at the Hong Kong in downtown Nampa--a tradition for Alisa when visiting Nampa. Afterwards Andy helped the boys get soaked in the fountain across the street. David and Mary changed into pjs in the car and they headed back to Utah. I don't know if it was all everyone had anticipated, but I know Caleb had a good time with his cousins and we really enjoyed the time we got to talk with Alisa and Greg. We look forward to seeing them again sometime this summer.

Today

We were going to be early to church today. We have church at 9:30 and live about 5 minutes by car or 10 or so on foot--not very far--but are still late every Sunday because we are on a late to bed late to rise schedule. Today the alarm went off and I thought to myself, "I'll get up in just a minute," and sure enough 45 minutes later Andy woke me up and told me it was 8:30. We were all still in bed. We almost made it. Had it not been for a yummy fruit and waffle breakfast we would've made it. As it was we were about 10 minutes late.

Last night Caleb refused to take a bath. He also refused to wear pajamas so Andy dressed him in some CARS warm-ups with matching shirt. First thing this morning when Andy went in to get him he said that he wanted to keep his clothes on. So I played dress up with Annika in a really pretty sweater and foo-foo dress and Caleb wore Lightning McQueen warm-ups. During church Caleb is so loud. Most of the time it isn't even terribly irreverent behavior, it's just talking. Loudly. His voice carries so much I can hear him over the mic when I nurse Annika in the mothers' lounge. So I suppose that is irreverent. Today Adrienne's 6-month-old son started making noises. They were two pews in front of us and Caleb started saying, "Connor talking. Connor making noises. Connor noisy," quite loudly. Andy and I couldn't surpress our smiles it was just too funny. Then every time Connor would make another noise Caleb would talk about it. Then in places where it's appropriate to be noisy Caleb is totally quiet and just sits and observes. He's definately not a big crowd type. At the park he sits and watches or finds a place to park himself as he watches what's going on around him. Last night Andy took him to see the finishers coming in from the 70.3 ironman they had in Boise and tried to get Caleb to cheer--encouraging shouting when it's appropriate. No luck. But he wouldn't stop shouting in the car when Annika was trying to go to sleep...so goes parenting, huh?