The GRANDEST Grandparents

We were so excited to have both of our parents here for a visit the past 2 weeks! Ethan was thrilled to see Papa Jonsin, Gramma Karen, Papa Peters and Grommy Tommy (not sure why he has a British accent when saying her name). It is quite a mouthful for him to mention all four of them in the same sentence (which he does all the time now). At first we thought he might be confused at having 2 grandpas and grandmas around - but nope, he just thought it was a bigger party and loves all 4 of them!

We all had such a great visit! It is hard to live so many miles away and not get to visit as frequently as we would like - so we really had to pack in the fun and take advantage of every minute while they were here! Here are a few highlights!

Bowling:

Ethan was so proud of his bowling shoes, Clark scored an almost personal record of 176, and my mom and I were thoroughly entertained by the Senior League bowling next to us - they were awesome (the lady with the hot pink capris with the black fringe around the legs was a personal favorite).

Park:

Anytime we asked Ethan what he wanted to do he said, "park peez."

Learning a new trick from Grammy Tammy.

Caden's first slide.

Does this look dangerous to you? All I can say is it is a good thing Papa Peters has cat-like reflexes!

Lots of Play Time:

Ethan tucked Grandpa in and 40 seconds later said, "time to wake up Papa Peters." No time for napping around here!

Indianola National Balloon Classic:

On Saturday night we braved the crazy traffic and drove to Indianola for the hot-air balloon festival. We got there right in time as all of the balloons started the mass ascension. It was almost whimsical to see the balloons floating over the beautiful green Iowa fields.

We loved watching this giant jack in the box take flight. It went right over our heads.

After the balloons Ethan enjoyed the kiddie play area, especially the barrel train.

After going through this inflatable train Ethan was excited to see his grandparents! Before any of us could stop him he ran back and went through the train backwards, just getting the most out of his ticket I suppose.

Dinner at the Iowa Machine Shed (twice):
Besides having good food, this restaurant is a fun experience! We took a tractor wagon ride around the parking lot, admired the old tractors and farming equipment, and enjoyed the variety of bacon paraphernalia in the gift shop (who knew you could buy bacon flavored chapstick).

Learning about tractors from the expert.

Heritage Carousel:

I'm pretty sure Ethan had more fun taking a shower and playing in the gutter run off at the edge of the carousel, it doesn't take much to please this kid.

Iowa Cubs Baseball Game:

Grandpa caught this T-shirt for Ethan (much to the dismay of the woman pictured by Ethan's feet - she really thought she had it).

It's hard to watch a baseball game when this little grinner is around.

We LOVE our parents! I think it is so much fun to see our parents love our kids and see our kids adore their grandparents.

This little boy felt like the King of World for the last 2 weeks!

Thanks so much for coming, we miss you all!