"Where's Grandpa Joe?"

On Thursday afternoon, we took the kids to Bagley Park in Hillsboro. It is a small, neighborhood park. Henry was fearless as usual on the super high slide. He decided to sleep on some of the equipment at some point. The Twins went on some slides together. They rode on a tire swing. Played on a merry-go-around (hand pushed kind). There was also a "car" to drive. We picked up a pizza on the way home. Had dinner on the deck. The kids took forever to go to sleep. Miss R was wound up. She was cute but in a super silly mood. If I hadn't been with her all day, I would have assumed someone gave her Jolt! cola. Perhaps olives make her giddy.

On Friday morning, we had breakfast. Henry and Miss R were cute in the living room. Henry gave Miss R a kiss on the cheek, which made her smile. I think that she kissed his forehead. At one point, I called my mom so that Henry could talk to her on the cell phone.

We went outside to play before packing up. Henry hit bubbles with his baseball bat. When Henry realized that Grandpa Joe had disappeared, he called out "Where's Grandpa Joe?" We went on a search through the green houses. He found Grandpa Joe tending to the plants. He thought that Grandpa Joe was "picking raspberries." The raspberry plants were in another green house. We found the plants. Miss R wanted some raspberries. I found a couple that were in picking condition and pleased to see that she actually ate them. Very rare for Miss R to eat fresh fruit.

We went back inside for a snack. The kids went down for a nap without too much commotion. Then, Jeff and I packed up our belongings and did some light cleaning. Our goal was to leave the place in as good a condition as we found it. I learned that Henry had discovered where Grandpa Joe kept cards in the living room. He played the first half of 52-card pick up with two decks and no pick up.

As we got ready to get into the cab (minivan), Miss R put out her arms for Grandpa Joe to hold her. The cab ride was warm. Miss R and Henry held hands in the car. When we got to the airport, Henry splayed on the ground as Jeff put together the car seats on the carry-on suitcases. He was very dirty when all was said and done. Miss R, by contrast, was very patient. We had a late lunch at a good deli. Henry had the opportunity to climb some things. On the airplane, Miss R was fine on the take off and fell asleep on me. Jeff kept Henry busy with books. Other than Miss R knocking over some water accidentally, the flight was rather uneventful. Henry got a little fussy, but his agitation was cured with The Sword and the Stone via my laptop. When Miss R woke up, I kept her entertained by showing her how to work the seat belts. The row behind us was empty so we sat back there together, and she practiced putting the seat belt together about 80 times. I was needed to unlatch it. We also looked out of the window and saw the Grand Canyon. All in all, the kids were as good as we could have possibly expected two toddlers to be.

We had flown to Portland on Alaska Airlines but returned on US Airways. Our car was in the terminal 2 parking lot; we arrived in terminal 4, which meant that we had to take our four suitcases, two car seats, and two kids on the shuttle bus. Somehow, we managed. Again, the kids were as good as we could have expected. When we got in the car, the kids were cranky. They didn't want to sit down, and we couldn't blame them. We kept our eyes open for a McD's with a play area but didn't see one. We figured that they were hungry again. Hungry kids = Grumpy kids. So we stopped by at the IHOP in Casa Grande. Henry got to eat pancakes for dinner. Miss R had a grilled cheese sandwich. She was irked that I tried to cut it into smaller pieces. She wanted to take control and tear the pieces herself (something that I'll keep in mind in the future).

We got back to the house after midnight. The kids were asleep.

On Saturday morning, Henry woke up happy. I think that he was pleased to be home. He hadn't said "go home" in a couple days, but I think that he missed the familiarity, although on one of the days he did say "Go home to Grandpa Joe's house" suggesting that Grandpa Joe's was becoming familiar.

I made the kids and Jeff pancakes (because one can't eat too many pancakes in a 24-hour period). Henry had almost three pancakes. They weren't huge pancakes, but he normally eats one. Maybe he is going through yet another growth spurt. We played around the house. Jeff noticed that Miss R can now turn off the lights in the living room; right before we left, she had learned to turn them off but didn't seem tall enough to turn them on. The kids had a much needed bath. I gave them a snack. We had planned to go to Grammy and Poppy's house, but the kids didn't get their naps until 1PM or so. Miss R didn't settle down until after 2:30-3PM. Jeff and Henry woke up at 5PM and found Miss R and I on the couch. Princess had cuddled into my side. I was very hungry not having eaten (I forgot to eat breakfast when I was making breakfast).

We met up with Grammy and Poppy at Swenson's. To entice Henry out of the house, I said the word "ice cream." That proved to be a motivating factor. We had a good meal. Henry ate more than he usually does for dinner. He rejected his frozen yogurt in favor of Grammy's praline sundae (I asked her to not give him the fudge sauce though; the last thing that we need to Henry on caffeinated foods).

We went over to Grammy and Poppy's house to pick up Roger. Roger missed us, but it was nice to see that he and Indiana are now good friends. They gave each other lots of kisses. We came home. Played in the living room. Henry practiced golf swing. Miss R sat by my side with her bottle. Then, it was time for bed for the kids. Jeff and I stayed up and watched a movie, which hasn't happened in a very long time.

Jeff mentioned that he thought it was good that we've given ourselves a couple days at home before jumping back to work. Today was a much needed jet lag recovery day. We should be back to normal tomorrow. Henry and Miss R are going to visit the Grammy and Poppy tomorrow. My parents say that their pool water is 90 degrees. At that temperature, I may even go swimming.