A Trip Home (As told by Addy)

I know I haven't done an entry in a while, but I've been busy growing up. It's hard work learning to walk and talk and eat good food and torment my brother and sister and make messes and all the other things I've been filling my days with. But, my Mom is pretty swamped right now with all of the holidays, birthdays, and end of the semester stuff. She was a little slow getting to the end of our trip, so I thought it was time for me to get back in the groove and help her out with an entry. So, here it is!
On our final part of our trip to the Midwest, we thought we'd better stop in and see my Mom's family, especially since we were in the same state and all. We didn't have long to visit, because after all, Cole had already missed about a week of school, but it was a good visit.
Grandma and Grandpa use woodburning stoves to keep their house really warm in the winter, so as soon as we got there, Grandpa taught Cole to start a fire so he could keep the house warm.
Then, (I think in an attempt to win me over early on in the trip) Grandma and Grandpa took us to Chuck E. Cheese. How can you not have fun there?!
I'm pretty sure the mission was accomplished on winning me over. They couldn't wipe the silly grin off my face if they tried!
Emily doesn't have to be taken anywhere to be won over though. She loves to go to Grandma's house to read all of her books and do all of her puzzles. Grandma has more books and puzzles than anyone I've ever seen. I think she may even have more books than the library. (And I would know I've pulled a lot of those off the shelves in my time!)
Emily and Cole even talked Grandpa into reading to them while they ate. I don't think they really got much eating in though!
I even got to sleep in the crib that has been in the family forever. Apparently Grandpa fixed it up so it's safe to sleep in again. I gave it the jump test. It seemed pretty sturdy to me! He must have done a good job!
I haven't been around him a ton, but I'm pretty sure that my Grandpa is a little crazy. One morning I stumbled into the kitchen half asleep and discovered that Grandpa was throwing pancakes to Cole and Em.
Cole was a little apprehensive at first, but after a minute, he thought it was awesome! He was the picture of concentration though as he tried to make sure those pancakes landed on his plate.
Emily tried catching them with the straight-leg butt out technique.
It wasn't very effective though. Thankfully Dad was ready with a backup plate, so the pancake never hit the floor!
Victory!
Then, we went to a place that has gigantic bouncy slides, and Grandpa showed up in a sports coat and slacks. Who does that anway?! (Like I said, he's either a little crazy or really fun. I haven't quite figured that out yet!)
It didn't stop him though, he and Grandma both went down the slides. They even raced through the obstacle course, but I won't tell you who won!
Aunt Shari came too. She brought my cousins Logan, Ally, and Brady with her. I've decided they are also a little crazy. Maybe it runs in the family! Thankfully my Mom missed out on that family craziness though.
Even cousin Brady is a little strange. He insisted on putting this on and having his picture taken. He called it a coat, but it looks an awful lot like a dress to me.
Logan became a human swing at one point. I don't even want to know how that happened!
Aunt Shari took a big group down the slide all at one time.
It ended in a big pile of giggles!
Then we had a head-first contest to see who was brave enough to go down head first.
Aunt Shari was.
Emily was.
Cousin Ally was.
Cousin Brady went down, but not head first!Me neither!
Cole loved the obstacle course. He and Logan perfected going airborne there.
As for me, I really liked the room they made just for kids my size.
They had blow up toys for us to play with.
Small slides for us.
And even a dog that makes me look like I have a very long tongue!
All that sliding and jumping made us so tired and thirsty that we needed some Icees to cool us off.
Then we finished off the day with some family trips down the slide.
Here's one of my Mom just to prove that she was there and she is fun...sometimes!
And a group slide by the whole family!
What a fun day!
Finally, since we don't make it back there much, we squished in a visit to see Great-Grandma Shull.
We love her lots, but only get to see her about twice a year when we visit. Don't we make a sweet looking group? If only you knew the truth!
I've decided that Grandma and Grandpa are ok! I can't wait until we can go visit them again! We love you and miss you Grandpa and Grandma!