Providence Time

Gregg had a few days of work in Colorado at the end of August, so we did what we often do when he is away and escaped to Grandma's house.  He left Sunday (the 27th) after church.  We hung out at home that evening, and planned to go to our usual Monday morning library day and then head up to Cache Valley after story/craft/snack time was over.  Plans changed when our friend Treasa texted me Monday morning to invite us to Kangaroo Zoo for an impromptu birthday celebration for her little two-year-old, Preston.  Callie loves that place, so I knew she'd be all for it.  And I figured Sam would have fun, too, after a few minutes of warm up.  We played there for about an hour and then hopped in the car and drove to Logan where we met Megan for her (belated) birthday lunch at Fredrico's.  After our "special lunch" (what Callie called the Lunch Specials - a personal pizza, salad, and garlic bread - we each ordered), we dropped Megan off at a lab and drove to Maple Springs Retirement Home in North Logan to visit my Thornley grandparents in their new apartment.  They treated us to ice cream in the dining room before we headed off to my parents' house in Providence, where we visited with my mom and dad and Kylie and Megan about my cousin's wedding that my Dad had been to that weekend and Kylie's first day teaching and Megan's first day of school.  That evening we played some croquet in the backyard with a beautiful sunset as the backdrop.  And Gregg and I celebrated our seventh anniversary via FaceTime.  Aaaah, the romance.

I spy a Sammy in a bounce house.

Whee!

Bouncin' buddies.

bonus video!

upside down sliding

He was quite possessive of this bouncy
ball.  He was also really tired at this point, so
just sat on a bright orange couch instead of bouncing.

Medium slide!  So brave!

Ice cream treats with Grandpa and Grandma Thornley.

Summer sunset + croquet.

Anniversary date on the couch.

Sure do love this guy.

Seven years.  And not even a little bit itchy.

On Tuesday morning we met up with my good friend, Christine, and her boys, Zachary and Timothy, at Ryan's Place Park, just about mile from my parent's house.  We had fun on the awesome playground there and then drove onto the Island to check out Christine's new house that is under major renovation (basically the only original thing left from the 1960s home they bought is the brick on the outside).  It's been a long, stressful, expensive project, but when it's done (soon!), I think she and her family will be very happy there for a long time.  We headed back to Grandma's house for lunch and nap/quiet time.  When Sam woke up, we headed to Hyrum to visit Heather's new house and play with her and Grace at their nearby splash pad.  My mom met up with us there after work and then we headed back to Providence for dinner and cousin time while the dads/uncles hauled an old organ and piano out of my grandparents' basement to their new homes (organ -> my parents' basement, piano -> Heather's living room).

Timmy and Sammy playing the chimes.

Callie and Zachy riding a dino.

Sam was not a huge fan of the spraying and
splashing.

After dinner popsicles with cousins!

Everyone loves 'em.

Sunset in Edwards.

Gregg sent me these from the Battle Mountain
soccer game he was watching that evening.

We had a little downtime on Wednesday morning, so the kiddos got baths (oh, how they needed them!).  We then met up with my good friend and former coworker, Marcy, and her girls, Greta and Tabitha, at another park, very similar in style to Ryan's Place.  This one was near the temple, called Whittier Park.  We had fun playing there for a while and then headed back to home base for lunch and naps (Cal actually napped, too, tired girl!).  It was then that I found out Gregg's Grandma Gallagher was not expected to live long and his mom was on her way back from Ohio.  So we made a new plan to leave Providence after dinner and head to Salt Lake where Gregg would leave his mom's car at his sister Heather's house and we'd pick him up there.  Sam woke up before Callie did (we actually had to wake her up, super tired girl!), so he and I played with big trucks on the front porch till my mom got home and Cal woke up.  Then we trekked north to Hyde Park to visit my Elwood grandparents.  He got to play with even more trucks there.  And we got to visit with Shelly, Evy, and Bradley, too.  It was while we were here that we learned that Gregg's grandma had passed away.  We solidified our plans to meet up with Gregg and then headed back to Providence for the most delicious dinner known to late summer goodness: bacon, egg and tomato sandwiches, zucchini from the garden, watermelon, peaches and blackberries, cukes, and corn on the cob.  My mouth is still watering!  The kids got into jammies and we said our goodbyes, ending another marvelous stay at the Elwood Casa in Providence (I'm still trying not to say Logan when I refer to visiting my parents, since Callie gets upset and says, "where will we stay in Logan?!").

Bath times are the best times.

Callie wanted a "bun like Meggy's" as a hairdo
this morning.

Whittier Park fun.

These trucks came from my Grandpa's house -
I think they belonged to my uncles when they
were little boys.

Sam thought they were the coolest things ever.
The boy loves trucks.

This bin at my Elwood grandparents' house
is also a big hit.  He's working on lining them all
up in a huge row - I wish I would have gotten a
picture of his final set up.  It was pretty impressive.

Garden bounty after a visit to the Valley.  Cukes, zucchini, tomatoes,
peppers, watermlon and beans from my mom's garden.  Corn and
apples from my Elwood grandparents.  If we would have remembered
to stop, we could have had eggplant and beets from my Thornley
grandparents' garden, but we totally spaced it on our way home.  Bummer.
Cal said this was her favorite part of our stay - harvest time!