Boys Week

Last week was our yearly sleepover week with Roger and Luke.
We were really looking forward for their visit.
We had big plans for a visit to Papa's work for fishing or pool on Monday. Nope, the rain kept us inside playing Chutes and ladders and Garbage.

Luke wins

Tuesday turned out weather perfect.
Mike came home early from work and we head on over to Lords Park for the zoo and playground. The boys always want stories. I would tell them about my time in this park. Climbing trees, eating mulberries, playing in the creek, and of course the pool. They wanted to see it.

superman style

Both boys were very excited I would let them lay belly down. Apparently they can't do that at school. Opps - Sharen and I would spend hours that way on our swingset and we lived to tell!


We took a trip to "Grandmas Creek" and the boys being bigger and stronger ran up and down the creek with out me worrying about them falling and drowning. They of course were all wet, but nobody cared.

Wednesday was iffy so ran some errands and played around the house.
Mike and I watch Jeopardy everyday and the boys were intrigued.
They got very excited when we turned on the Game Show Network. games all day! Who Knew?
They wanted to watch it all the time.
Jeopardy was favorite, but they loved America Says (both were pretty good at it) and Card Sharks.
Wednesday afternoon Roger wanted to take a bike ride with Papa.
Mike said the path to the library was pretty smooth.
Luke and I drove over in the car and looked for some books to read waiting for Mike and Roger to show up.
Roger made the trip. 3.5 miles round trip.

As soon as Mike told him about the bike path around the pond he wanted to do it with him. It's 4 miles. Mike thought he needed a break so it was on the agenda for Thursday morning.

rest stop selfie

Lets take the long way home

Roger did not want to head home. I was getting worried so after an hour I finally called Mike and told him they had to turn around we were heading to the pool by 11. Roger rode another 7.3 miles.
Steve's mobile park has "Grandkids swim" from 11-1 and I thought they would have a good time.
They did!

papa and Roger

 It didn't take Roger long to make a friend and lost interest in the noodle and Papa.

Luke and Grandma

Luke needed his noodle to grab on. Next time I will listen to Mary and bring his floaty jacket.
Roger's best friend, Mason, was having a birthday party Thursday night so we go back into the city so he could go. Poor thing he had a really busy day and fell asleep in the car on the way in. He needed that power nap for his party at the trampoline park.


I had big plans to take them to Brookfield zoo to see the legoes on Friday so we brought Owen back out with us.
We were all so tired and the weather was not cooperating so we decided to go strawberry picking instead. When we left Elgin it looked ok. We got to Huntley and Kaboom. Rain and lightning.

drove right into this

We made it to Tom's garden, used their bathroom, posed for a picture in the big chair and headed home. Bummer...

had to stand to wet to sit

They spent the afternoon playing in the backyard.
When Mike was little he played Army - These boys played Star Wars/Avengers.


tree stump is a por

Then our week is over.
We had to wait till after Jeopardy before we take them home on Friday, to see if Avi (favorite) wins. He did...


It was fun to be with them and see how they are growing and changing.
Roger amazes me when he solves math problems in his head.
Luke who takes his health in stride and carries on like a trooper. He was very concerned when he saw a baby (small child) riding in a front seat.
Owen who wants to play with his older brothers and still be a kid. He tries very hard to keep up.
Don't get me wrong Mike and I were both tired at the end of the week. But VERY HAPPY.


How many popsicles can 3 boys eat?  Too many.....

Wood Splitting

We have had this pile of wood for 3 years. Just sitting there like a beaver dam in our backyard..
Every time we would talk about splitting it, we would find an excuse not too. Mostly because we have so much firewood and Mike and I didn't want to tackle it alone.
In steps Logan.
What a godsend this Grandson is.
Mike went over to Home Depot and rented a splitter early.
Logan showed up right after his early morning conditioning for football and we got to work.
After doing this a few times, Mike and I had a routine and Logan jumped right in - doing ALL the heavy lifting.

Logan lifted the logs unto the splitter

I had gotten a pretty good fire going and would clean up as they went, putting all the bark and debris in the firepit. Like I said this wood has been sitting for 3 years so the bark was falling off pretty good. Big Fire going. Which was still hot the next day.

I did help some with the splitter

After about 4.5 hours - we took a 1/2 hour lunch break - we got the pile split.

down to the last few

I am so glad we didn't take the trunk or the larger pieces. We had our hands full with just the smaller limbs. Pretty sure that this is our last time wood splitting.

Now we have a pile of split wood. Ha, at least it's split and I can stack it at my leisure.
Logan told me he would come back and help, because "That's what grandsons do."
I paid him well and told him I loved him.
Because that is what Grandmas do!!!

Logan Baseball

Logan's high school conference played against another conference in the Rockford area. It's a great chance for the boys to play on a professional size field (Rivets Stadium) and for some colleges to get a peek at them.
He played with the Junior (next year Sr.) team. There was 3 from his school that were asked to play.

That's Logan center holding the bat

Mike and I were both very excited to see him play.
Logan of course was catching.

His team won 4-1, but the experience was what mattered.

Commercial

Over spring break Bryan and Mary took the kids to Ashville for vacation. The boys were very excited to take an airplane ride - Just like Mommy and Daddy do when they travel for work.
They wanted to take a short ride just to see how the boys did.

All was well.
On the retrun trip they had a little time to kill at the airport.
The boys were watching the airplanes and Mary noticed that there were some men watching them. her first reaction was they were making too much noise.
Nope these guys were interested in putting them in a commercial they were filming for Allegiant airlines.
Bryan and Mary agreed to it - It was a great way to pass the hour wait.

And Action

Even Bryan got in the Act

No they didn't get paid. The had to sign a waiver for them to use their pictures, but the boys had a great time.
They even drew a crowd asking Mary (who was taking these pictures) if they were famous.
Well the commercial finally came out on You Tube.
Just like they say - It takes an hour to get a minute. In this case it's only 2 second and Luke is the only one who made it thru. Most of it is on the cutting room floor.

Here he is!! He is at the 19 second mark.
A 2 second close up. Seriously Don't' blink!
That's our Luke!!!

https://youtu.be/kKiwJOQAEb8