Grandma Week 2012: Day 8, There's Only One ... Lagoon

I don't care how poor a man is; if he has family, he's rich.
–Dan Wilcox and Thad Mumford, "Identity Crisis," M*A*S*H

Today was the last day of Grandma Week for 2012. Most everyone started the day by going to the Brigham City Temple open house. Grasshopper had an school orientation this morning that we felt was important for him to attend, so LadyBug, Grasshopper and I went to the open house on Saturday, and made a quick trip home for Grasshopper's thing at school.

Then we met at Lagoon around midday.

{back row l to r: Jeremy, Julie, Miss Butterfly, Grasshopper, Mr. Bug, Elizabeth
front row l to r: Mantis, Cap'n Underpants, Roly Poly, LadyBug, Grandma}

What with all the fun things to do I don't think we were all together at one time to get a photo of the full group.

{Mark & Pixie}

Because of the varied activities and interests we split up into groups so that the little people could ride on the little people rides, and the crazy people could ride on the big scary rides and the sane people could ride on the more sensible rides. LadyBug is a die-hard roller coaster fan, just like her mom and grandma. She rode six of the nine coasters {only because we ran out of time}, including the incredibly intimidating Wicked {riders launch straight up a 110-foot tower at 41 mph and over the top of the first hill, which then makes a 180˚ turn and plummets straight back down. The ride continues through through steep valleys, high-banked turns, a half-pipe, and a heart-roll inversion, achieving speeds of up to 55 mph.} We laughed, we ate delicious-but-horrible-at-the-same-time amusement park fast food, we faced mortal peril and came out victors! It was an awesome day and an awesome way to end Grandma Week.

Thank you, mom, for a really fun week! I love you!

Grandma Week 2012: Day 7, A Day of Rest

We were a strange little band of characters trudging through life sharing diseases and toothpaste, coveting one another's desserts, hiding shampoo, borrowing money, locking each other out of our rooms, inflicting pain and kissing to heal it in the same instant, loving, laughing, defending, and trying to figure out the common thread that bound us all together. –Erma Bombeck

Usually we do Grandma Week earlier in the summer, but this year my brother, Andrew, was coming home from his two-year service mission for our church so my mom {the Grandma in charge of Grandma week} scheduled {most of} our activities after his return. As we do not have a paid clergy, our meetings consist of members teaching other members the truths of the Gospel of Jesus Christ and when you return from a mission you are often invited to speak in church about your experiences and the things you learned. Andrew and both of my parents were invited to speak in church and attending the meeting together was part of our scheduled activities.

We have one sister who lives just a few blocks from my mom and our brother and his kids live near enough that they don't need to sleep at my mom's. But another of my sisters lives a good 2½ hours away and we live an hour and 15 minutes away, so my mom has a full house for Grandma Week. We sleep on couches and floors, in bunk beds and on futons. Shower times are easily negotiated and everybody is reasonably comfortable. But since my mom's ward {congregation} meets at 9:00 am, and it is best to arrive showered and shaved, my sister put together a schedule that provided shower times for 12 people between 6:00 and 8:00 am. It was truly miraculous. Everyone had hot water and we were in our seats, washed, pressed, fed and relatively happy 10 minutes before services started. It was a wonderful meeting and we enjoyed being together. After church, we had a large pot-luck lunch, with ham and potato salad and lots of yummy desserts. The kids played and the adults talked and we had a really relaxing afternoon and evening.

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Attending the open house for the Brigham City LDS Temple is another of our activities. Grasshopper, LadyBug and I went on Saturday night and the rest of the group are going on Monday, so it seemed to fit better between the two days, in this post.

Temples are beautiful, sacred places. They are not open to the public, or even to all members of The Church, except for the few weeks after construction and prior to being put into service. Anyone wishing to view the temple may attend the open house.



Read more about Temples

Grandma Week 2012: Day 6, Corn Dogs and the Air Force Museum with Grandpa

Rejoice with your family in the beautiful land of life!
–Albert Einstein

Aren't Saturday mornings wonderful? Saturday during Grandma Week is no exception. There's plenty of time to read the news.

{Roly Poly}

No hurry to get dressed.

{Dogpile top to bottom: Miss Butterfly, Andrew, Grasshopper, Mantis, LadyBug}

And once the chores are done, Grandpa takes the kids to do some of his favorite things.

{Top: Miss Butterfly
Bottom Left: Grasshopper, Mantis, Grandpa, Mouse
Bottom Right: LadyBug, Julie, Roly Poly, Cap'n Underpants}

My dad loves hot dogs, especially ones bought at the gas station C-store. Today he treated all the grand kids to a gas station corn dog picnic, followed by a visit to the Air Force Museum.

After checking out all the cool historical Air Force stuff, they got to make rockets at the Aerospace Center for Education and launch them off.

{Center l to r: Grasshopper, Miss Butterfly, LadyBug with Instructor Larry who did a terrific job, Mantis, Lizard Boy, Cap'n Underpants and Instructor Larry again, Mouse, Roly Poly
Bottom l to r: Grandpa, Lizard Boy, Roly Poly, Mouse, LadyBug, Miss Butterfly, Mantis, Grasshopper, Cap'n Underpants}

Grandma Week 2012: Day 5, Bumper Cars, Bowling & the Aquatic Center Do-Over

Family: A social unit where the father is concerned with parking space, the children with outer space, and the mother with closet space. –Evan Esar

Today we went to a fun center. All the attractions are 99 cents during the summer. We started out with bumper cars. We had two more people than they had bumper cars, so we split into groups; big kids and little kids. It was super fun!

{l to r: Cap'n Underpants, Mouse, Mantis, Roly Poly}

Then we went bowling. Someone put on her flip-flops and forgot to bring socks. She had to buy a pair from the vending machine. At least they were stripey and cute.

{My new vending machine socks. Turns out they were lucky; I got two strikes, a spare and bowled a 103! Wohoo!}

Quote of the day:
Andrew, age [a few days short of] 21
So, Jill, I see you brought your own bowling ball.

{Grandma, Jill, Andrew}

Roly Poly took his bowling seriously. I think he bowled an 86.

{I asked Roly Poly about his socks. His reply: "They're Boise State."}

After bowling and lunch, we we went to our favorite indoor/outdoor aquatic center. We attempted a swim day during part 1 of our Grandma Week this year, but it was a bust. The management was gracious enough to issue us free admission for a return trip.

Quote of the day #2
Lizard Boy, age 7
I was three dollars [to get in] but now I'm free dollars.

{Lizard Boy}

Swim day is LadyBug's favorite. I love that smile!

{Roly Poly, LadyBug, Andrew}

{Andrew, Grasshopper}

Quote of the day #3
Mouse, age 5
After borrowing Andrew's swim goggles and exploring the underwater world . . .
From my observation of goggles, mom's feet are not touching the ground.

Grandma Week 2012: Day 4, Bouncy House and Crafts

When you look at your life, the greatest happinesses are family happinesses. –Joyce Brothers

My mom is so cool. She rented a bouncy house for the day.

Expected delivery time was approximately 7:00 am. Miss Butterfly and LadyBug were up before then, waiting to be the first kids in the bounce house. It wasn't delivered until about 20 after and by then all the kids were awake and waiting. When they got word that it had arrived, there was a stampede up the stairs from the basement and a delighted squeal of, Eeeeee! Bouncy! was heard from Roly Poly as they all went out the door.

{Miss Butterfly}

{Cap'n Underpants & Miss Butterfly}

{Miss Butterfly & Mantis}

During the hottest part of the day, we came inside for crafts. The kids ate about a hundred freezer pops, did fuse bead art and wove bracelets from parachute cording.

{l to r: Roly Poly, Mantis, Lizard Boy & Mouse}

Quote of the Day:
Pixie, age 4
While trying to get her fuse beads in exactly the right place . . .
It looks like I'm going to have to do this the hard way.