Camp life

While Rob was off at camp this week, Janie and I spent three days being spoiled silly by Grandma and Grandpa. Some highlights:

1. Girly road trip. We left the city and drove through the country pointing out cows and barns and hay and windmills. Every overpass was a 'tunnel' and we let out a squeal as we drove through each one. If we went too long without a tunnel, Janie would declare "We need more tunnels!" and I would totally agree. We rocked out to Ariel and Thomas and Mary Poppins and Mickey Mouse.

2. Vintage toys. It sooo pains me to refer to my childhood toys as vintage. Maybe I should use the word classic. But it really doesn't matter what I call them because Janie found them to be nothing but fun. Take a look at the photos above, then imagine about 20 or 100 of them. And then imagine the playhouse, school, preschool, playground, bus, helicopter, cars, swing set, merry-go-round, tables, chairs, beds, cribs and a desk. Then you will know Janie's version of heaven on earth. Hours and hours she played with these.

3. Outdoor adventure. Being a condo-dwelling family we really don't know the joy that is a backyard. It was really quite shocking. I mean, normally, if we want some outdoor fun, we have to get dressed, find our shoes, apply sunscreen, gather sippy cups and snacks, make sure there is a diaper in the diaper bag, go out the front door, down the stairs, to the carport, load up the car, drive off to the park, unload, play, play, play, encourage toddler to play some more since we went to all this effort, load up the car, drive home, carry tired toddler up the stairs, then collapse on the couch and watch a Thomas the Train movie because we're so exhausted.

But at my parent's house, we could just walk out the back door and play. That was it. Like I said, shocking. And Janie had a blast exploring this cool space - sitting in the hammock, riding a tricycle, making music with Grandpa's wind chimes and just generally running around like a happy toddler.

4. Zoo-fari. We spent one morning at a local zoo. Monkeys - yeah! Sea lions - boo! A certain mom thought that a certain toddler would enjoy watching the feeding of the sea lions. A certain mom did not anticipate the fact that the trainers of said sea lions would ask them to sit up, roll over and make extremely loud barking noises before handing over the fish already. As a certain mom should have predicted, a certain toddler was NOT OKAY with the extremely loud barking sea lions. But other than that, our morning at the zoo and surrounding gardens was a hugely fun.

5. Another Grandma. Janie and I were lucky enough to spend some time with Rob's mom, Karen, in her cool store Queen Mab's. Janie and Grandma spent time playing chase and peek-a-boo around the racks of clothing, trying on purple feather boas, blowing bubbles, playing with a tea set, and exploring all the sparkly wonderful-ness of the store. And we only broke one thing!

6. New Food. Janie tried two new foods! Hello - an actual miracle! Her favorite meal was a picnic breakfast out on the patio. And of course she loved making silly faces with Grandpa during our time at the table. Plus - my mom's cooking? Yummy!!

Since our return home Janie has asked over and over to "go again to Grandma's house." All in all, it was a wonderful couple of days. I'm so thankful for everyone's generosity and the happy memories that were made.