Who Needs Disney?

Don't you just love a hardware store?!!

Me too! 

Recently...

I had 3 of the munchimunchkins in Lowe's.

Do they ever outgrow the racing car shopping carts?

I hope not.

"MiMi! Are you sure these are free?"

"Look at me MiMi! Are you kidding me?

How many can I have?"

Within the last year,

I painted the kids room pink.

I wanted teal to go along with all the other teal in my house

but NO! Abi had to have pink.

 "MiMi, Pleeeeeeze let me have this color for my room!"

Educational reading materials while we wait for Pops.

I'm not kidding you.

This is late at night.

These kids were way passed their bedtimes 

and look how happy they are!

You just don't get that at Disney World!

Take my advice...

Take the kids to Lowe's.

Camp Stewart

 Before heading back to school,

we had our grandkids for a few days .

From the moment I found out they were coming.
I had been planning an exciting adventure.

So many plans, so little time.

I began by making lists and lists of ideas, 

places to go, food to eat 

and how to make each thing special for them.  

The challenge is the boy who a non-stop,
 always running 9 year old. 
The other extreme is a Miss Priss 

who is the baby and 5, 

who loves Barbie and snuggling.
The goal...
to make every one happy.

First and foremost,

every good party must have presents.

I filled a bag for each child.

I loved watching them dig through the bags 

about a second after they arrived.

I filled the bags with snacks, game books, toothbrushes,

and toys that I thought each of them would love.

I had Danielle cut out their monograms 

for new hair supplies.

I stocked the fridge.

I stocked the pantry.

Since I do not have enough extra rooms in the house,

I made a sleeping pallet for the girls.

I bought rectangle pool floats for mattresses.

I gathered every quilt I own to make it comfy.

It was like magic.

They all slept with me.

Ha!

On day 1

we had crafts. 

We painted zombies to hang around the house.

I was thinking of the boy

when I chose zombies.

He spent more time on his skateboard.

Us girls had a good time.

We designed and painted t-shirts the next day but apparently,

I was having so much fun that I forgot to get some pictures.

Duh!

We did our hair.

Sweetest thing

our Dani is.

Elijah made me a MiMi.

He has my heart.

We took the Ferry across the river for seafood.

Dani wanted fried fish.

She ordered chicken strips.

Go figure.

Kacey designed her shirt.

Mark came up with a scavenger hunt game.

He is so good at these things.

Thank you honey.

Here he is giving the instructions.

It was a close game but in the end,

Elijah was the winner.

We had several hours of fun by the pool.

I will tell you more in another blog.

It was so fun.

The key is to plan, plan, plan.

Mark always says, 

"if you fail to plan, plan to fail."

I think over planning is a good idea.

Watch for another episode of the fun we had

at Camp Stewart.

Until I see you again,

I'm going into my cocoon to recoup.

(google images)

Tampa Road Trip

On one of Mark's recent business trips to Tampa,

we decided to bring the girls with us.

I don't know who had more fun, the girls or this MiMi.

When we checked in,

they had a treasure box for kids to choose whatever they wanted.

What a great hotel!

The hotel was 8 stories and the inside was all open so you could see 

everywhere.

They enjoyed the freedom I gave them while I watched them roam around from floor to floor and especially the glass elevator.

We went shopping and I let them try on whatever clothes the wanted in TJMaxx for 2 hours.

Girls are so easy and fun. 

Abi HAD to have this Barbie.

Dani is such a great mother.

She got a new doll. 

She tended to her new baby every minute of the day.

The baby ate better than she did.

New goggles.

On our shopping day,

we also got hair cuts.

Talk about fun! 

I know it's a cliche 

but they are growing up way to quickly!!

What a gift I have been given!

In other news,

Enough already!!

Jacksonville Zoo

Abi took me to the zoo this week.

"MiMi, I want to see the long-neckers!"

Can you see the lion?

We had so much fun that we decided 

to bring the siblings the next day. 

The zoo currently is staging a dinosaur exhibit.

The dinosaurs exhibit is strategically placed 

in the zoo's swampy area. 

The realistic features do not disappoint.

From startling movements to alerting screeching sounds.

One surprising creature spews water at by passers.

Elijah was willing to protect his sisters.

Dani was quick to remind me that dinosaurs are extinct and these were just replica's. 

It ended on a lighter note

which allowed the kids to climb and see they were in fact, 

just replica's.

 The zoo has several places for the kids 

to jump, climb, slide and play.

It was a perfect week here in north Florida 

to make use of that seasonal zoo pass.

Hope you are having wonderful "zoo weather" 

wherever you may be.

Sweetest Grandkids

The Great Wolf Lodge

We spent two amazing days at The Great Wolf Lodge.

This all-inclusive hotel offers so many options 

to keep the kids busy and happy.

The main attraction is the water park.

While the weather is still cool outside,

this provides a great opportunity to play in the water.

Several water slides for kids of all ages.

The hot tub was perfect to warm up.

The lazy river is always fun.

Here's Kacey zooming out of the slide tunnel.

Abi is looking at the bucket spill over.

A close second in popularity is the Magi Quest game.

The game is basically a souped up scavenger hunt 

that is played throughout the whole hotel.

Eli & Kacey both had a wand.

Elijah recruited Pops.

It was obvious that he was having as much fun as them.

This was Elijah's second year and he advanced quite well.

Here he is checking his score.

Yeah Elijah!

There are people quite older than him playing this adventure.

  

Kacey was scoring well also.

Dani & Abi chose to get a 

little pampering at Scoops.

They are such girly girls.

The hotel schedules games and fun activities all throughout the day.

Karaoke anyone? 

Balloon animal fun.

Who doesn't love a glitter tattoo!

Two fun filled days

and four happy yungins

make for two happy grandparents.