This year for Spring Break, we drove to Alabama to visit Grandpa and Grandma Brandt. My mom has suffered a lot this year with back pain, which means they hadn't been able to travel as much as previous years. So we thought we'd take advantage of Lila's week off of school to go visit them. We started the trip early and ate breakfast in the car. I rode in the back to help the kids with their food.
Lila was excited for the trip to begin (some of these pictures were taken on my phone, as you can tell with this one.)
I was a little concerned about how Piper would do eating in the car, but she held onto her plastic tray with one hand and ate with the other. She was a pro!
After breakfast, we busted out the travel bag. I pack different activities - books to read, coloring books, travel games, etc. They only see these on long trips, so they're usually excited about them. Of course, we also had videos to watch (which interested Wyatt more than books.)
Piper did really well in the car for so long. I think it helped that she now faces forward in her car seat. But, she was still excited to be able to move around a bit when we stopped for gas or to eat. Here she's finding fun things in the front seat.
We got to Grandma and Grandpa's house after dinner. Of course, one of the first things to do is check out all the toys. It was a blast from the past for me, as most of the toys were ones I played with when I was little. Do you recognize these, Janina?
One day we went down to my Dad's office. His coworkers wanted to see how the kids had grown. I snapped this picture of Lila in the yard before we left.
Lila and Wyatt wasted no time in finding the markers to draw on Grandpa's board. Piper thought it looked like fun too, but fortunately she couldn't quite reach!
On the way inside, Wyatt picked all the "flowers" in the grass by the building, so he carried this bouquet around the whole time.
Wearing Grandpa's hard hat.
Me and Piper in my dad's office.
After that, we stopped at the bowling alley on the army base to bowl a game. Lila and Wyatt both really enjoyed this. (It had been awhile since we bowled... the last time Wyatt was more interested in running around than bowling.)
They used this fun dinosaur slide to bowl. And the bumper rails :)
Grandpa had Piper duty. She wasn't willing to sit still for long, so she and Grandpa went on a tour all over the building. Ben and I bowled too. I would have taken a picture of the scoreboard but (1) the scores were not impressive and (2) the automated machine messed up once and our turns got mixed up so the scores weren't really accurate anyway.
Then Grandpa even let them play a game of skee ball. Lila had the hang of it, but I don't think she got any higher than the 20 pt. hole.
Back at home, we colored while Daddy and Piper took an afternoon nap.
Grandma colored too.
We also watched some Tom & Jerry cartoons. This was possibly the kids' favorite thing to do that week. It was fun to watch THEM watch the video... they giggled and laughed every time, no matter that they'd seen it five times already.
The weather got really nice and warm while we were there. Piper loves to be outside, so Grandpa put up a gate on the deck so she could roam around out there without us fearing she'd fall down the stairs.
"Whatcha got in there, Lila?"
Lila had some bird seed in an old butter tub, and she was sprinkling it down on the yard below.
Watching Wyatt down below (where the sand box was.)
One day Grandpa got out the riding lawn mower and gave the kids a ride.
Then one day we went to the Children's museum, which we'd never been to before. It was really nice!! The best part was Biscuit's Backyard - a room with all kinds of play stations for the kids. It was set up kind of like a little town with a front porch and garden (with veggies and flowers you could "pick"). There was also a chicken coop, where you could check under the chickens for eggs.
This was Wyatt's favorite part... the water trough full of rubber ducks and magnetic fish (with a fishing pole you could use to catch them). Next to that was Biscuit's dog house. You know Biscuit... the puppy in the early reader books!
Here was the barn where you could hoist the hay up to the loft (demonstrated by Ben). Next to the barn was Lily the Cow (which you could pretend to milk or climb on). In the middle of the room, where Grandpa is sitting, was a table with smaller toys and puzzles.
All of the kids loved the water, of course!
Daddy: "Let's race Lila. Ready, set... go!"
"Hey! Mine didn't even move!"
Lila thought that was pretty funny as you can tell.
Here Piper was trying to figure out how to push both carts.
Lila and Wyatt playing in the grocery store
And right next to that was a post office
Piper liked pushing the buttons on the cash register.
After 45 minutes, the employees force everyone to leave Biscuit's backyard for 15 minutes so they can sanitize everything. I think this is also the only way to get people to see the rest of the museum :) This wagon was right outside Biscuit's room.
Grandpa and Wyatt figured out how to make the large instruments play together.
In another room, we found some over-sized blocks. What are the big blocks for, you wonder?
Why, for the big kids of course!! :)
Yep, they had oversized tinker toys too.
Lila and I also caught the end of a story told by the talking tree (which I think the moving eyes and lips would have probably scared Piper, ha ha... she was still with the others at the blocks though).
Back at Grandma's house, Piper tries out all of her small chairs to find just the right one!
We decided it was warm enough to bring out the little water table.
It was a big hit.
Piper held her own with the big kids and made sure she didn't get squeezed out from the water fun.
Being the shortest - and closest to the water - she didn't take long to get all wet either!
One day we played with sidewalk chalk.
Grandpa offered to let the kids steer the lawnmower, but after climbing up, Wyatt changed his mind.
Lila didn't have any reservations though! She drove off with Grandpa for a short ride.
Meanwhile, Wyatt played in the sandbox. This picture sums up Wyatt right now: fist full of dandelions, big truck and a sandbox. Little boy heaven.
Our last morning there, Piper shared some of her Cheerios with Grandma while we were loading up the car.
Mmm, aren't they good, Grandma?
On the way home, there was more fun in the front seat when we stopped for gas.
And finally, one by one, they dropped off to sleep. George did double duty and helped prop up Wyatt's head.
