The Grandma Seymour Report (a photo journey part 2)

So on Friday night Doug and Grandma Seymour and Sparky went to a Clippers game. Grandma Seymour LOVES baseball and although she couldn't really see the game, she was happy just to be there.

As you can see, Sparky had everything a boy needs. A ball game and a rootbeer.

On Saturday we headed up to Kirtland for a little church history tour. (Kirtland is located up near Cleveland and is an imporant location in our church's history.) Doug's mom was absolutely thrilled at the prospect and so we packed a lunch, threw everyone in the car and set off for an adventure. The first site we stopped at was the Kirtland Temple and while the rest of the family was in watching the introductory movie, Tiger decided that he had had enough of sitting down and being confined and so he and I walked around a bit to get some of his wiggles out. Tiger particularly liked the piles of rocks that lined the visitor's center. The kids especially liked walking around the well-kept grounds.

Next we headed over to the other part of Kirtland. This historical part of Kirtland is actually owned by our church and it was amazing the difference we all felt as soon as we entered the visitor's center (Tiger even sat through the movie this time). After the movie, our first stop was the Newell K. Whitney store.

The sister missionaries who were giving us the tour were very nice and very informative and they really added to the specialness of the location. I also like the fact that they were perfectly fine with the kids being curious and touching things. I was afraid that the kids would get bored, but they absolutely loved it all. O.K., Sparky and KK loved it all. Tiger was a little terror and ran around like a mad man the whole time pretending to be a ferocious bear and growling at everything.

Here are the kids in the Whitney's home and here is a picture of the Mill.

Unfortunately we had to leave a bit early because Tiger had just had it and could go no more, and Grandma Seymour was wilting as well. Sparky and KK were really upsdet by this, but we promised them that we would come back again soon. Promising them dinner at Cracker Barrel helped ease the sting as well. There is nothing like a huge plate of pancakes to cheer these kids up.

Did Tiger fall asleep on the way home like he was supposed to? Why no he didn't, but KK did. It was definitely a good day.

The Grandma Seymour Report (A photo journey part 1)

Doug's mom is currently visiting us from New Zealand. This is very exciting because we haven't seen her since Sparky was 9 months old which means that she has actually never met KK or Tiger. I know that it was a huge effort to get her back to the states and we are so glad that we were able to bring her to Ohio to visit us. The first day she got here we went out to dinner at a Chinese restaurant. It was yummy and I must say that the children were amazingly well behaved.

After dinner Grandma Seymour was exhausted after a long day of travel and so we took her back to my parent's house where she is sleeping while she is here. I am so grateful that my parents were able to have Grandma Seymour stay with them because I don't know how we would have gotten her up and down all of our stairs every day.

The next day of her visit we headed to the Zoo. It was a gorgeous day with a wonderful breeze and we really had a great time. It would have been perfect if KK's shoes hadn't been hurting her so bad toward the end that Doug and I had to take turns carrying her. After the Zoo we headed to Der Dutchman for a late lunch/early dinner. Then, that night the kids had their swimming lessons and so Grandma was happy to go along to watch the kids splash around. This was of course followed by a trip out for ice cream.

Here we are waiting in line to see the new baby elephant. Tiger loves elephants and was quite excited at the prospect of seeing one.

Tiger also liked riding on Grandma Seymour's lap in the wheelchair. Here he is looking at pictures on Grandma's camera. KK was also quite excited to see the elephant and wanted her picture taken with this cute statue.

Sparky on the other hand did not want to see the elephant. Why, you ask? We have no idea. I think he is having premature teenage moodiness. Moving on, here is a picture of the baby elephant and his mommy.

Once we got inside the exhibit, this was Tiger's reaction upon seeing the elephants. He proceeded to freak out, screaming and crying and clinging to me for dear life so he and I quickly left. The funny thing is that he keeps talking about the baby elephant and the elephant mommy as if they are dear friends.

Here we have some very exciting pictures of Sparky and KK at swimming lessons.

Today has been a pretty laid back kind of day. One highlight of the day was our trip to Walmart so that Grandma Seymour could buy the kids some presents. The kids were happy to oblige and really had a lot of fun picking out some special toys from Grandma. Grandma also got to watch the kids jump on the trampoline.

So that is the end of this report. Actually Doug, Sparky, and Grandma Seymour are at a Clippers baseball game right now and so hopefully I will have some pictures to post of that tomorrow.