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. 💚

One-derful Birthday Boy

Last month, my baby boy turned one. I guess it was about time. A lot of the baby about him is fading away and he looks and acts more boyish every day. It isn't easy for me to mentally push that precious first year of his life into the past because he is almost certainly the baby of my babies, but it is also incredibly gratifying to contemplate how much he has grown and how much joy he has brought to our family these past 13 months.

When Wylie woke up on his birthday, he probably didn't know the day was different from any other. But for our family, it was both a sentimental and celebratory day, and we had a lot of activities planned specifically around our special birthday boy. After breakfast, it was time for a photo shoot.

With each of our children, I have chosen a photo of them at age one to display in our home. I am not sure how that tradition started--perhaps it was the picture of 12-month old Ramona beaming in a field of daffodils that inspired me to try to capture that blissful innocence in her younger siblings at the same stage of life. It is such a sweet age--still small enough to cuddle, but old enough to delight us with their emerging personalities. After snapping a huge number of photos in our backyard and going back to review them, this was my favorite of Wylie, and the one that will go up on the wall with similar ones of his sisters:

There were several other pictures that I also enjoyed:

Below is Wylie with a little red truck that actually used to belong to me. Apparently, as a child I asked for a red truck for Christmas one year. I'm glad I get to pass it on to my little boy.

Forest's mother came to visit that week and helped us celebrate. Wylie loved walking around as Grandma held him up.

Not long after picture time, it was time to start preparing for Wylie's party. Ramona made a birthday banner for him that we hung over a doorway.

Mika decorated a balloon.

I decorated a cake. (Nothing too fancy around here--I just wrote his name on it and stuck a toy fire truck on top!)

Forest came home from work with a balloon to surprise our boy. He loved waving the string around and watching it swing back and forth. Now it was time to party!

Once lunch was finished, we began overwhelming Wylie with birthday gifts. 

 The gift he kept coming back to was probably the light saber toothbrush that lit up and made noises.

After present time, we all gathered for some cake. Wylie brought his magic wand with him.

 Ramona helped him blow out his candle.

Here is the documentation of Wylie digging into that chocolate cake:

Our birthday boy had just a little bit more play time after he got cleaned up from his cake . . .

. . . and then he went down for an afternoon nap. While he was sleeping, we played with his new toys. Hopefully he didn't mind.

Once he got up from his nap, he got right back to playing again.

 Wylie got his birthday plate in the mail later day, decorated by Teresa.

Then he got to play some more in the backyard, where he continued to be photographed.

Dear Wylie,

    We are so blessed to have you as part of our family. Every day you remind us how exciting and wonderful life can be. When you were born, you brought some of heaven with you into our home. Now I hope to keep it here as often as possible to help remind you where you came from and who you have the potential to become. As your mother, it is thrilling to watch you learn new things and accumulate new skills. Here are some of the things I hope to remember about you, at age one:

Your huge gap-tooth grin completely melts my heart (adjective "huge" applies to both the gap and the grin). Sometimes that gap is just the right size for inadvertent whistling (I have never heard a baby whistle until I met you!) You have an explosive firecracker laugh that brightens the mood of any room you may be in. Often it is your sisters who draw that laugh out of your little lungs. They adore you and so enjoy entertaining you.

I love the way you kiss my chin and rest your face against mine when you are ready to snuggle. In your more mischievous moments, you steal my glasses right off of my face--you are so quick I can't avoid your little hands. You find a way to turn most objects into either a drumstick or drum, and your favorite past time is opening and closing doors.

Your first word was "dada." You finally say "mama" now but for a long time the equivalent was simply an insistent whimper. You still make that sound sometimes, and when I hear it I know you are asking for some mama time. You also like to say "yeah" and "yuh-ess!" I guess it is just a matter of time before you learn how to say "NO," but I still haven't heard you utter that word up to this point. Since you turned one, you started saying "Deeh!" for "drink."

You will take a few steps but your real talent is doing squats. When you get excited, you pop up from squatting position and raise both arms in the air triumphantly.

You are wonderful. And you will always be my baby.

Love
Mommy