::grandma & boys::

Now it feels like forever ago, but just before Kathy left for home after Christmas we took a few pictures of her with the little boys.
And the little boys were even semi cooperative.


The littlest one even likes pictures. I get out the camera and he smiles SO big. Then he looks away of course.

These boys love their Grandma! And at this point she hadn't yet stayed with them alone for a long long weekend. Love was tested and it won out.

Here is a fun little series.


Max looks like his head might be flat.

If Grandma is going to pat Max's head then Sandy is going to too.

And then Sandy gets a head pat.

Inspiring yet another reciprocal head pat.

Awwwwwww.

Cuteness. That's all I can say.

::visits::

We were lucky enough to have Kris's parents here to visit for what was essentially a long weekend. They got here Saturday night and I took them to the airport on Wednesday morning. We had a great time. Kathy has been here before, but this was Ken's first time and we had fun showing him around.
Kris and Max took him up on a four wheeling drive in the Land Rover into the mountains where they saw wild turkeys and wore Ken right out. We took them to a delicious Mexican restaurant. We went to the Cowgirl grill where they got to enjoy the awesomeness of the ice cream baked potato. Kathy and I did a little shopping. Ken got to see the office and meet the people that we work with. We got to sing christmas carols--especially Max's current favorite "The 12 days of Christmas" over and over...

I think Kathy's favorite part was Sandy though. She said this was the oldest any of her grandbabies had ever been before she got to hold him. She made up for it though while she was here. The boy was always happily snuggled up in her arms.

I love this picture. Sandy was in heaven.


He has his eyes open so much more lately. It's very fun.

The bummer was that poor Ken had a work emergency come up just before they came out, and so he was stuck at his little makeshift workstation in our living room for a lot of time. But what would a visit from Ken be without a work emergency, really?

At least we have a bunch of computer stuff, so we could make sure he could get stuff done.

But he took a break long enough to play guitars with Max. Max is doing really well with his lessons, and so was able to play with Ken quite well. It was really fun to hear them play and sing together.



Max is lucky to have such a rich heritage of guitar playing and appreciation from both his Grandpas. We expect great things from him as far as guitars are concerned! At least we want him to be able to serenade girls in college...

Even Sandy got a little Grandpa time. Ken was holding him for me while I did something, and when I came back into the room this is what I saw:


It cracked me up. Lucky Grandpa--not everybody gets those special Sandy kisses.

We're so glad they came, and we'll have lots more to show and do next time they make it out here.
And if you want to see some more fun pictures, see Ken's post here.

::beach picnic with grandma::

We took Kathy to the beach so that we could have a picnic. We had to make up for her missing out on the summer beach fun.

The weather was so gorgeous the week while she was here, we were in short sleeves and sandals, and the beach was just perfect.
We took Sultan with us, because after Labor day dogs are finally allowed on the beach. We hadn't brought him there yet, so we thought this was a good opportunity to try.

We laid out a blanket and told Max to stay out of the water. Well, we took his shoes off and told him he could dip his toes in.

Hah.

Luckily along with lunch we were also smart enough to bring some extra clothes and a towel for Max. But really I figured it was going to be too cold and uncomfortable for him to want to get all soaked. Boy was I wrong!

The boys went and played football for a bit.





That was pretty fun.

Then we went on a little walk down the beach. Sultan and Max found a gross little estuary left over from a higher tide, and of course they both basically wallowed in it.

It didn't smell that great.
Max made some sort of art installation. I like it.






Kris climbed out on some rocks in the surf, and it really worried Sultan. Can you see him trying to get out there? He was really relieved when Kris came back.

Sultan was afraid of the surf. It was a first for him, and he couldn't figure out why the water kept coming and going. He would jump away whenever it got close.


Sultan was fun to have along except that he kept getting sandy and muddy and then running all over our blanket. That did not make me happy.
And any time he thought there was another dog around (which was more often than you'd think) he'd run away up over the hill out of sight, which I hate.
Even that was ok, but one time he brought a dog back with him. The dog seemed friendly enough. But of course they ran straight onto the blanket, where I was sitting, and started running around. THEN the other dog decided it was all upset and started to growl and attack Sultan. Basically right on top of me. I had to scramble out of the way. It was pretty uncool, and after that we sent Sultan back to the car. I don't like dogfights happening on top of me for some reason.

There was old dead crusty seaweed all over the beach. I guess nobody cleans it up after Labor day. It was fine except that it really hurt our feet to walk on it. It was really spikey. But guess who it didn't bother? Max!
Check it out.

He walked all over that stuff and didn't even blink. This must be why he can walk all over his toys when they're all over the floor and not even notice. I should be so lucky.

We ate, we lay in the sun for a while, then we got Max all cleaned up and changed and we went home.
It was great. We were so glad we went. It couldn't have been nicer.
I love the beach out here. I think it's my favorite part of Rhode Island for sure. And I'm guessing Max probably feels the same way.
We're still working to convince Sultan.

::grandma came, and then she left::

Isn't that how visits always go?


We're so glad she came, but we were really sad that she had to go back home. Max didn't understand why he had to go actually. I had to explain to him that Grandpa Ken wanted her to come back and keep him company. Well he didn't really feel that was necessary. But I told him he was just going to have to deal with it.

The weather all week was so nice. The temperature was cool but not cold, and the sun shone the whole time. We were very lucky. And we got to enjoy it.

We went on a few drives and had some outdoors fun. I'll post about those separately. Otherwise we hung out with Max, ate good food and played games. It was great.

We did some sewing on fun projects too.



I don't love this picture, so just focus on the apron, ok?

I always love when Kathy comes and helps me sew. I learn a little more every time.

We lucked out with an early christmas present:

Our horrible loud lame vacuum decided to kick the bucket right when Kathy showed up. So she got us a new one. It's so wonderful. It's so nice to use. I love it! And so does my son. He's been walking around with it quite a bit.

We introduced Grandma to the deliciousness of the Seven Stars Bakery, which is just down the street from our house. We made a couple of visits there. It's absolutely delicious.

Here's Max looking on as the goodies are split up.

The brownies are incredible.

Max agrees.


The day she left we tried to take a few fun pictures of each other. The ones of Max and I didn't work out so hot:

He's made of jello.

But the ones of Max and Grandma turned out adorable.

Because they're both so adorable.


We had such a wonderful time with Kathy here. We're so happy she came. It was pretty lonely the day after she left, but Max and I will get used to it.
She's just got to come back soon!