Making Memories with Grandma

We live in Colorado. All of the grandparents reside in Illinois. The physical distance between Colorado and Illinois inevitably means our children spend less time with their grandparents than they would if we lived closer to them. Since we have moved out West, we usually only see them about once or twice a year. 

Where the quantity of time with grandparents may be lacking, we try to make amends with quality--as much as possible. Ideally, yes, we would just have more time together. But since we don't, my hope is that the kids will at least remember the fun things they did when grandparents came to visit.

Often my parents or in-laws see me struggle to plan outings while they are here, and they feel bad (as much as I wish I could make it look easy, packing up our entire family to go anywhere is almost always challenging). They will say, "You don't have to do this just because I am here," insisting that I should not have to entertain them. But it's more than just entertaining guests and showing visitors a good time in Colorado. It's attempting to make memories that will last within the minds of my children, and trying to make those memories as happy as possible.

Grandma came to visit us at the beginning of June, and this is what we did while she was here:

Grandma tried to teach Wylie how to walk.

She also played a "Dory Sea Search" game with Ramona, Mika, and Paula.

The Saturday after Wylie's birthday, we drove to Rocky Mountain Nation Park to see Alberta Falls. A lot of other people had the same idea, so the park was crowded, and there was a long line to get on the bus to the trail head . . . 

. . . but we eventually got to start hiking. Or sleeping, in Wylie's case.

 There was still some snow along the trail.

When we reached the falls, the water was gushing at full force. The sight was definitely worth all the effort to get there.

 Hiking success!

On Sunday, we took some before-church photos in various combinations of "us:"

That afternoon, Grandma discovered a large owl perched in our maple tree. We kept going out to check on it, and Forest was able to get some pictures of our backyard visitor. It stared right back at us with its huge, round eyes.

 I'm not sure Wylie ever saw our feathered friend, but he was happy to play with his car on the patio.

Monday was Zoo day. Both Paula and Wylie caught some naps on the way down to Denver.

Hopefully the extra rest helped them feel more refreshed once we arrived. Here is Wylie, ready to see some animals in the stroller:

And Mika, ready to go with her zoo map:

 Lego lion:

 Real lion:

 Zebras:

Giraffes--we especially loved the baby giraffe, Dobby:

Peacocks were everywhere:

Ramona did a great imitation of one:

 Polar Bears:

Paula checking the map:

Snack break:

Photo in front of an Okapi--half zebra, half horse:

 Penguins:

 Birds:

 Hippo:

 Elephant:

 Elephant show:

Fish and reptiles:

After seeing all of these animals, we went to the nearby city park for a picnic lunch. Wylie fell asleep in the car again and woke up sweaty but ready to eat.

The girls got some time on the playground:

After lunch we stopped for ice cream. It was a welcome chance to cool off!

Tuesday was Wylie's 12-month doctor check-up. He got a bunch of measurements (he is definitely growing!) and several shots, too.

After Wylie got poked in the legs, we took Ramona to get poked in the ears lobes. She has been wanting to get her ears pierced for a long time! She did great in the piercing chair and was so excited to get those earrings.

 She also used some birthday money to pick out a dolphin necklace.

All the kids playing UNO together--kind of. You can see Wylie is being blocked from the actual game:

All the girls with Grandma after she took them to the neighborhood pool (which gave me a chance to clean up a water leak in the basement--yay!)

We packed a lot of fun into that week with Grandma. Hope the kids remember some of it. 💚