Missing Daddy

A few weeks ago Brandon came home and said there was a work thing in Belgium in May that he thought he was going to and then said he also needed to go to India again.  I told him that he was already half way there, he might as well do both while he was close (well kind of close!).  It just so happened that these two trips came on the back side of a conference in Vegas.  He was in Vegas for four days, home for one night, time to pack a bigger suitcase and he was off for the next two weeks.

We had a great weekend with him before he left.  We went up to the square and enjoyed a special treat. Even though you can't really see the joy from their expressions in the picture, we were having a perfect little family day!

We are so fortunate to have capabilities to FaceTime, so we will get to talk some.  Although as soon as he walked out the door for Vegas Elizabeth asked if we could FaceTime with him.  So when daddy left Thursday, he told her that he would call when he could, but it may not be everyday.

I am confident the time will fly by.  We have a lot of things planned and as long as the weather is nice we can waste a day (or two...or three) away playing outside with no problem!! Which leads into the following...I initially referred to this as "Summer Knees"-

Grant on the left, with a Woody band-aid - Elizabeth's on the right with Mickey

however, I will be lucky if Brandon can find a spot to kiss Grant when he gets home!  We were out playing and Elizabeth attempted to kick a soccer ball on the sidewalk, but ended up falling over the top of it (grace in motion) and skinned her knee.  There was hardly any blood, but I had to take her inside because you would have thought she lost a limb!  As I am making a fuss over her I notice Grant tugging at his shorts.  I pull up his shorts to reveal a very bloody knee!  I say something like, "Oh buddy, that is much worse than Elizabeth's knee, come here and I will fix you up too."  Elizabeth pipes up, "Oh no, mine is much much worse than Grant's!"  No honey, it's just your drama!

Ok, so it was just the knees...really just Grant's knee and then he took his ride on trike to the end of the drive way and after I asked him to come out of the street he gets stuck on the gutter/driveway lip and goes over the top of the trike and busts his chin.

Then he fell down and scraped his elbow.

Then his other elbow.

The funniest part is that he rides Elizabeth's scooter that she got for Christmas.  And when I say ride, I mean, I foot on, I foot pushing or holding one foot up to coast.  He rides it better than Elizabeth was two months ago!  My mom witnessed this and said we had to get him a helmet and she was absolutely right!  He is really good about letting me put it on him, but he has yet to get a boo-boo from a scooter incident!  So the one night that Brandon was home we take him out into the driveway after dinner so the kids can show off their new tricks.  We stand there just laughing at Grant on this scooter, it looks so unnatural for a toddler to be on a scooter.  Brandon said it best when he said it reminded him of a commercial where a squirrel rides a jet ski!

But now that he has mastered the scooter, he thinks he is ready for a big boy bike!  I think you better learn to peddle first big guy!!

Other things we have been doing to stay busy...

Fizzy Art

Fizzy art, in case you want to try this at home for HOURS of entertainment, is a dish full of baking soda and cups of vinegar with food dye.  You then use medicine droppers to squirt/drop the vinegar into the dish for great fizziness fun!

Sidewalk Paint

Tuesday morning it was just beautiful and still cool out...a perfect morning for staining the deck!! Elizabeth wanted to help.  I was not grooving on this idea, so I racked my Pinterst boards and found a recipe for sidewalk paint.  Perfect!  Equal parts cornstarch and water, with a little food coloring and you have outdoor paint!  Well this only kept Grant entertained for so long.  He soon found water and dirt and his "all-boy" side emerged in true spirit.

The shadows are bad on his face, but there was mud there too!  It was a perfect time for me to be done!  The kids were so well behaved while I knocked out the staining that I promised them a trip to the zoo and Pops was able to join us.  The trip was completed with ice cream!

Elizabeth had a big milestone this week.  She rode her bike to the park!  I rode beside or behind her with Grant in the bike trailer.  We were going so slow it was hard for me to keep my balance, but we made it the park for a picnic with our friends!  The way back may have even been slower because Grant fell asleep!  If we go the short way to park, part of it doesn't have a sidewalk.  I really wanted her to be on  the sidewalk the whole time, but we would have never made it!  This is what I sounded like the whole time, "Good job Elizabeth!  Keep peddling!  Stay to the side of the road! Keep peddling!  Go girl go! You are doing great!"  repeat a hundred times!

An impromptu party with the neighbors left someone exhausted!!

One week down, two to go. We have a day trip with my Grandma Briggs planned, a trip to a few new zoos and maybe even an overnight trip!  We miss daddy, but we are doing great!