Grammy's visit

There is a distinct possibility that I'm so behind on my blogging that I might never catch up! I have so many photos and so many fun things to tell you all about that I'm a bit overwhelmed. Some recent travel and subsequent computer difficulties have kept me from blogging lately and I was starting to go through withdrawal! The photos in this post are from my Mom's visit back in September. After we got home from Gulf Shores, Mom stayed with us for another four days. I was so glad to have her "back in my real life." My mom is so gracious to watch my kids while she's here so that I can run the errands that are impossible otherwise. She just loves playing with her grandkids. Maura was so excited to see Grammy this visit. She knew that when Grammy got here, we were going to the beach, so those two event were intertwined in her mind. I was really worried that she'd get upset when we didn't immediately head to the beach after picking Grammy up, but she was so excited to see Grammy that I needn't have worried.

Grammy was definitely the hero for the week. She played with and read to Maura to her little heart's content. I could do nothing right for Maura all week--Grammy was the only possible person in the house who could do things for her. It was a little hard to be pushed off my pedestal for the week, but I survived!
Grammy and Maura playing butterflies outside. Maura loves these two little butterflies and plays almost exclusively with them while outside.
My beautiful girl. I'm enjoying the recent development of Maura occasionally wanting to pose for photos. After two and a half years of chasing her down for pictures, it's nice to have her request to take one every once in awhile. Usually it's when I'm photographing Tristan. Speaking of that sweet man...He's loving his Exersaucer these days. He still gets a little excited and out of control sometimes and goes wobbling back and forth like a punching bag, but most of the time he's in control.
He thinks that his mommy is hilarious!

Ohh, the van. My poor vehicle will never be the same. Mom and I drove through Alabama at the height of Lovebug season. The air was absolutely filled with these bugs and our van probably caught every one in a ten mile radius. Leave it to two weary well travelled women with two children to NOT think about immediately getting them washed off. Big mistake.
The night after we returned from the beach, Brent headed out to attempt to scrub them off. Of course Maura was dying to help.
She got to "hold" the hose with daddy and try to squirt the bugs off.
They scrubbed and scrubbed and scrubbed, but to no avail. We're taking the car tomorrow to have it detailed, but I'm not optimistic that the paint isn't completely destroyed. Oh well, I always did want a different color van--I guess I might get my wish after all.

Here's the video of the car washing escapade. Maura, at least, was having fun!

Mom and I decided to take the kids to Monkey Joe's on Wednesday. I had promised Maura that we'd go back but thought it was impossible to do on my own since she still needs lots of help on the obstacles. Grammy came along to help out with Tristan.
We all climbed into the bouncy castle for some fun. Tristan loved watching Maura and I bounce.
Maura was fascinated with the ambulance ride. It was really lame and hardly moved and had no lights, but she thought it was fantastic. I dug through my pockets and came up with fifty cents to let her ride and she loved it. Later on, she found a nickel and a penny inside one of the bouncy houses. Before I even realized what happened, she tore out of the castle, ran over to the ambulance and deposited the money inside for another ride. I bit the bullet and broke a ten dollar bill to make up the difference and let her ride again.
Sitting on a turtle in the toddler area. Incidentally, this was the only really safe area in the place. Just as we arrived, so did a bus full of special ed kids. They were huge and clumsy and not very aware, so I had to be really careful with Maura. Luckily she loved this area.
Tristan did NOT love the toddler area. He was in no mood to bounce on the side. He needed a nap!

My daredevil! She took the slides headfirst, which I later realized was against the rules!

This is Maura having a ball!
Tristan luckily took a nap with Grammy, so he was good to go for later fun.
We rounded out our day with a trip to Burger King and the playground castle. Rapunzel, Rapunzel!
Unfortunately Grammy had to leave on Thursday, but we tried not to be too sad, since we would be seeing her in a week in Pennsylvania. Thanks, Grammy, for a great visit!
I just had to include this photo because it was too darn cute. It features Maura's first attempt at jewelery making. She made this cool ziti necklace all by herself! What a talented girl!