Snips & snails & birthday tales

 I am a very happy Grammie.
 Our 3 oldest grandkids are here to visit.  This is the 2nd summer now they all 3 have got to come stay.
It's a little different this year than last because our 3 older "at home" kids are gone else-where visiting and we only have our youngest here.  Youngest, but she is nearly 10 in just a couple more weeks!
Having a 10 yr old around is a good combination with these other 3.  She's not too old to play with them, but old enough to read to them & help keep an eye on them. 

I wish I had a picture of them sitting in their chairs the other night before Bible study.  My sister walked in and said it looked like a scene from some years back.  Just a little Jeanne, Lynisha, Dalayna and Ryan sitting there!  I may have to re-stage it for a photo.

It's been busy days around here.  Hopefully fun ones for the kids too.  I have such wonderful memories of spending summers at my grandparents home, I hope my grandkids can look back on these years with as much enjoyment as I do my memories!  I wasn't fortunate enough to have cousins to spend my summers at my grandparents with, but I did have best friends that lived just down the street and that was a huge part of our enjoyment of spending time at Grandpa & Grandma's.

 Kyrie & Trey spent a  day  very impatiently by themselves before Kaela and Jessi got back here.

 They like to take their shoes off, but leave them on the trampoline & watch them bounce around while they jump.

 The front porch makes some nice shaded outside play for inside toys.

Thursday (June 30) was our first really really hot day and since I had a cleaning job, it worked out well for Leon to take the kids to the water park for some play time.  I met up with them later.

 They thought the swans were very interesting until one decided to get too close with what looked like the intention of taking a bite out of Trey!

 Then they ran pell mell back to the play ground.

 Doesn't this look like fun?  It's new since I'd been there last.  It's a pirate ship play ground with dolphins to ride. The kids thought it was pretty neat.  It spurred their imaginations but we didn't spend much time on it t, as it was so hot & the kids had been outside for long enough.

After getting ice cream cones, we headed home and the kids went to work baking me a birthday cake!
They didn't want me to watch or help, told me I should go take a bubble bath and a nap!  I wasn't quite brave enough to leave them totally on their own but I did stay out of the kitchen and gave the phone to Kaela with instructions to call her sister if she had questions!

 I couldn't resist taking some pictures tho....
We did have a funny moment when I overheard the phone call of "what do I do now" and I peeked in the kitchen and noticed that she was pouring the batter into the cake pans however she'd NOT added the cake mix in with the oil, water & eggs!!  Opps!!

 While the cake was cooling I went and took a nap while they decorated.  They wouldn't let me come down-stairs until they had it all done.

It was supper time, but we had cake and ice cream anyway--
after all, it's Grammies house, they're on vacation & we're making memories!