A Visit With Great-Grama

On our last full day in the US we went to see Great-Grama again.

But first Lilli had to do Grama Kay's hair and nails. I just love Lilli's expression in this picture. She must have been explaining something to Grama Kay.

We took Great Grama to lunch at one of her favorite restaurants (and mine, too!). I forget the actual name of the place (I always refer to it as The Yellow Duck because there is a big yellow duck on the front of the building.) They have the BEST lemon chicken and crab rangoons that I have ever eaten! The kids did really well. I had brought a peanut butter sandwich for Lilli to eat (she was on a peanut butter sandwich food jag.) For Tipton we ordered sweet & sour chicken with the sauce on the side - so it was like eating chicken nuggets. They were both very well behaved.

After lunch we took Great-Grama back to Westminster so that she could rest. Dave and his Dad (aka Pappa) went out to buy a small (dorm) fridge to put in Great-Grama's room. Kay (aka Grama Kay) and I took the kids to Toys R Us. Kay wanted to buy them a treat to keep them occupied on the plane for the flight home. Tipton chose a handheld electronic Transformers video game. Lilli chose a little disney princess flip cell phone, with carrying case.

When we got back to Great-Grama's, Lilli made herself right at home... Kicking back in Great-Grama's chair and talking on her princess phone.

Great-Grama showed Tipton and Lilli the blanket that we had given her for Christmas the previous year. We had taken a photo of all of her Great-Grandchildren at Thanksgiving and had it made into a polar fleece blanket. She loves it and shows it to everyone who comes into her room.

Then Lilli and Great-Grama called each other on their cell phones. Great-Grama shows Lilli her cell phone.

Lilli shows Great-Grama the carrying case for her disney princess cell phone.

Then they dialed each other's phone numbers.

Then they talked and talked!

I love this picture of Lilli watching what Great-Grama is doing. Great-Grama shows Lilli how she turns off her cell phone after she's finished talking on it.


Here is a nice picture of the kids with Great-Grama.


And here is a silly picture of the kids with Great-Grama. I love how they are all laughing. They really did have a good time playing together that afternoon.



That evening we played out in the backyard/on the deck.

Lilli played with Pappa with the ribbon wand. In this picture Lilli is explaining to Pappa exactly what she wants him to do.

Pappa wrapped Lilli up in the ribbon, then "unwound" her.

Pappa talks to Cinderella on Lilli's princess phone.

It was a fun, relaxing evening.

Hi-Jacked!

The Tuesday before we left we 'borrowed' our nephew, Jack, for the day. Kay and I stopped by Jack's daycare and picked him up after Tipton's ortho appointment. We brought him home and Jack, Lilli and Tipton played upstairs while I fixed lunch.

After lunch Dave setup the elephant pool on the deck. Tipton's ortho doc and given me this stretch/meshy tape that we were able to use around the top of the xerosox sleeve. It worked! So Tipton could play in the pool without worrying about getting his cast wet!



Jack and Lilli ran around the deck for a bit before getting into the pool.

Unfortunately, Jack tripped. He hit the deck face first. I scooped him right up and saw that he had a split lip. I asked him "Do you know the best thing for a split lip?" He shook his head No. I said "Popsicles!" and his eyes lit up and he gave me a very brave smile.

We got out the bubbles again. This time Lilli had her swimsuit on, so I was able to get pictures of her with bubbles stuck all over.

I think Jack was having a good time.

When the kids were done with the pool we went inside to dry off. Jack had spilled juice on his shirt at lunch, so we let him wear one of Tipton's old sleeveless shirts. Jack loved it! He was very excited that his shoulders "poked out" of his shirt. The kids played upstairs for a bit longer. I read to them from one of the Nick, Jr magazines that Tipton and Lilli get. We went through and did all the little activities - find the differences pictures, mazes, etc.

Then it was time to go to the movies. I made some popcorn and packed some juice boxes in a tote bag. We loaded the kids into the car and headed for the theater. It was Jack's first time at a movie theater. We saw Wall-E. My kids really liked it. Jack liked it at first, but I think he was getting tired.

All three kids fell asleep in the car on the way to take Jack home.

Jack is such a good kid, it was nice to be able to give him a special day!

It's All Relatives

Once more over to Uncle John's house so that Tipton and Lilli could play with their cousins. Also, Grama and Papa had given Jack, Cam and Tru a playground for their birthdays, and it had been set up while we were in North Carolina. The kids were dying to try it out!

Tipton required a little climbing assistance from Daddy. (Hard to climb up a rope with one arm.)


Tipton and Jack on the double swing (that's Cam in the baby swing.)

Papa pushes Tru (left) and Cam (right) in the baby swings. Those boys are All About Papa!

Tipton and Jack played with the bubbles.

Lilli wanted to try out the big double swing, too.

Tipton goes solo on the double swing to see how high it can go.

Jack makes the motorcycle sounds as he rides his Harley Davidson big wheel around the back yard.

I tried to get some pictures of the adults, too. I don't know what Kay and John are talking about, but I love their expressions.

Lilli tossed out all of the cardboard bricks and then climbed inside the pop-up lion bin. She then popped up herself and "Roar-ed" at everyone.

Jack thought that looked like fun, so he had to try it, too.

Lilli is just so full of life! As Kay said, "She lives life to the fullest!"

Another picture of the adults: John, George and Kay. We watched the Olympics while the kids played in the next room.

All in all, it was a good day.

North Carolina - Part 2

Our last day in North Carolina...

The kids and I went to the Durham Museum of Life and Science with Milli and Niall.

Tipton was very excited to see all of the crystals and gems (a lingering effect of his obsession with Crash Bandicoot...)

I don't remember what Lilli was looking at, but I love the expression on her face!

Lilli's favorite books are the Fancy Nancy books, including Bonjour Butterfly. So Lilli was thrilled to get to go to the butterfly house!

We went straight to the kids' doctor appoinments after the museum. Tipton's hearing was checked and I now know for certain that he is just ignoring me when I ask him to clean his room - his hearing is fine. Both kids are doing well. Tipton had grown an inch and a half since his last checkup in November!! (And I strongly believe that it all happened the first week of July.) The doctor did not recommend taking any sort of drastic measures to curb Lilli of her thumb sucking. So for now we are hoping that she will stop on her own. (I am hoping that going to school five days a week will keep her hands so busy that she doesn't have time to suck her thumb. I am also counting on good old peer pressure to do it's job.)

After the doctor visit we headed over to the Killmeyer's for dinner. The kids had a great time palying together. Tipton hung out with Mark and they discussed pokemon. Mark recently had a Pokemon themed birthday party - Tipton was soooo impressed/jealous of all of Marks cards. Lilli hung out with Leanne and Karen. They did all sorts of 'girlie' things that Lilli never gets to do with Tipton. It was a schoolnight for the Killmeyer kids, so after dinner they had baths. Lilli wanted one, too. At one point Chris yelled downstairs "Jenn, if Lilli isn't the next kid in the tub we're going to have a big problem!" So of course she got to have a bath, too. And as usual, I forgot to take pictures until we were ready to walk out the door. So once again I have a picture of the Killmeyer kids in their pajamas!

Mark, Tipton, Karen, Lilli and Leanne.

Me and Amy - I promised myself I'd actually get pictures of MY friends on this trip, too!

The next morning we packed the van and headed back for VA. Towards the end of the drive the kids were getting kind or restless. Lilli decided to entertain us all with a puppet show... using her socks as puppets.

Tipton may look sweet and innocent, but we had to separate the van seats because he kept poking her.

It was a really quick trip to North Carolina. Sadly, we weren't able to see all of our friends. I would say that next time we will plan better, but I had it all planned out to begin with. Sometimes things just happen - life (and broken arms) get in the way!

North Carolina

On the 5th of August we loaded up the car and went to Tipton's ortho appointment. They took some x-rays and gave him a new cast. They still didn't have the orange color that he wanted, so he got another glow-in-the-dark cast. Then we ate lunch at Chick-Fil-A, then got back in the car and drove down to North Carolina. We went straight to the restaurant where we were meeting our friends, Jo, Milli, John, Rowan and Niall. It was sooooo good to see our friends! From there we checked into our hotel and pretty much went straight to sleep.

The next day Dave ran a few errands in the morning while the kids and I hung out in the hotel room (they got to watch cartoons - in English!) Then we met up with Milli and her youngest son, Niall at the Morrisville Outlet Mall. (Niall is Lilli's age. Rowan is Tipton's age - he was in school.) We did some major shopping at the Carter's outlet store - got pants for Tipton and some long sleeved shirts for Lilli, as well as indoor school shoes for both kiddos. Then Dave and the kids and I met Dave's friends Tim and Carmita for lunch at Bojangles. Mmmmm - Bojangles fried chicken! From there we made a quick trip back to the hotel so that the kids could try on all the clothes I'd just bought. (Didn't want to fly back to Sweden and find out the pants were the wrong size.) Then we went over to my friend, Lisa's house. She was throwing a party/playdate in our honor. Several of my SuperMommy friends (and their children) were there. The kids had a great time! Lilli found a Spiderman costume and wore it pretty much the entire time we were there.

I love that you can see her smiling through the mask.

Tipton and Rowan hung out together. Rowan is wearing the shirt that we gave him for his birthday.

Tipton also played with Nicolas (Lisa's son.)
From left to right: Natalie (Lisa's daughter), Abby (Amy P's youngest daughter), Tipton, Rowan and Jake (Amy Ps son) all playing cars.

I just love Lilli's expression in this picture. She was giving us her 'Serious' face.

I love her expression here, too. She's making the 'flying noise' sound effects for the airplane she's holding.

Superheroes! Spiderman (Lilli), Power Ranger (Rowan) and Darth Vader (Jake.) Okay, so Darth Vader isn't really a superhero...

At one point Nicolas was asking everyone "Do you want to play a fun new card game called Uno?" New card game. ha ha ha. Startign bottom center and working clockwise: Nicolas (Lisa's son), Mike (Lisa's husband), Natalie (Lisa's daughter), Tipton, Mary (Amy Ps oldest daughter - you can't really see her, though) Lilli, Rowan.

I had meant to get a picture of my with all of my friends, but half of them had left before I remembered. But here I am with three of my really good friends from North Carolina! Lisa, Milli, Amy P and me.

Then we tried to get a picture with all of the remaining children. Like nailing jello to a tree.

Left to right, Top row: Abby, Natalie. Middle row: Jake, Niall (also wearing the shirt we gave him for his birthday.) Bottom row: Mary, Lilli, Tipton, Rowan, Nicolas.