A Week with the Grandchildren

"Are we there yet?" is perhaps the most annoying phrase uttered by all children everywhere. 

On Saturday Ray and I were surprised to hear ourselves repeating, "Are they here yet?" I guess the tables have turned, so to speak. We could not figure out why it took so long for Audrey and family to get to our house.

Audrey and Joseph left Saturday to go to Florida for the shuttle launch. Their children are staying here with us.

Here's what we've done so far:

Saturday

Ray took Audrey and Joseph to the airport, I took the Elizabeth to get a haircut:

Elizabeth

 The boys played on the slide conveniently located in the haircut place:

Matthew and Austin

 After the haircut we came home and got ready for our family Halloween party:

Elizabeth, Matthew (Construction worker), Austin (Cowboy)

Austin - Cowboy, Matthew - Construction Worker, Madeleine - Soccer Player

When we got home Elizabeth began screaming and pulling on her feet. When I took off her pajamas, she had a straight pin sticking into her feet, between her toes. Do not ask me how in the world that got there, but it did. I took it out, and all was well.

Everyone slept through the night. 

Sunday
Church. I had Elizabeth with me because she has a runny nose. Too bad, because she loves the nursery. She fell asleep during Relief Society, and slept through Sunday School. We survived Sacrament meeting.

Family dinner was the usual wonderful circus with all the grandchildren together. I put the kids to bed, but guess who didn't want to go to sleep? Austin and Elizabeth ended up in our bed for another hour. Once they fell asleep, Ray moved them into their beds. 

Everyone slept through the night.

Monday

Up and out the door. I took the kids to the Bean Museum at BYU. I drove down to Orem, and Debra, Madeleine, Diane, Beth and Rachel joined us. We played tetris with the car seats to fit them all in the two cars and off we went.

As we pulled up to the Bean Museum, we heard the fire alarm go off. People came out of the building. Beth said, "It's probably just a drill, it will be done in 15 minutes or so." Here we are waiting:

Rachel, Elizabeth, Madeleine, Diane, Matthew, Austin

That's all six of the grandchildren together, and most likely the only time in their lives so far that they've all looked at the camera at the same time. It was the very first picture we took. I may have to frame it.

While we were waiting, a fire truck showed up.

 More waiting.

Rachel, Elizabeth, Matthew, Austin

Rachel, Elizabeth

Finally, we got the all clear, and in we went. Luckily there was no one else in the museum, although our children made it sound as if there were a record crowd in there. Austin pointed out the various animals. Among otheres there were a jackal, bison, and oryx (and he doesn't read - he just knew them by sight). Like father, like son.

In a brief moment of calm, we snapped this picture:

Matthew, Rachel, Diane, Austin, Elizabeth, Madeleine

  Here's a slightly more accurate picture of the outing:

Matthew, Rachel, Diane, Austin, Elizabeth, Madeleine

We stopped at McDonald's and picked up lunch on the way home. We've had an afternoon of playing with cars, playing outside with large sticks (where do they find them?), and resting for about one and half seconds together on the hammock.

I'm off to get dinner.

Please let them sleep through the night.