Grandma T Came To Visit Us!

June 17th at 5 am in the early morning, which I am not a morning person, we picked up my mom, aka Grandma T, from the Detroit Airport. She came to stay with us for two whole weeks and we couldn't be happier. Tyson has had the countdown until she came for the past 3 weeks. We made him a little calendar which he put smiley stickers on when each day was finished. And we would then count down the weeks and days until Grandma T came. When she came to visit us on the island I had the days all planned out, but this time it was Tyson who had everything planned out. He was taking her to Chuck E Cheese, the mall to see the "big crocodile", the movie of "Kung Fu Panda", the big waterfall "Niagara Falls", the library, the park and pool and to church. And we did all of that and more. Tyson took Grandma T to the mall the first day she was here and he persuaded her to take him for a ride on the merry-go-round. (better her than me, I would throw up for sure. Funny thing is, she was a little green after it was all over. HA HA HA)We took an afternoon and headed down south of Auburn Hills to see the temple. Vaughn sees it everyday he goes to work, it is on the way for him. It is a small temple, not like the ones in Utah, but still just as beautiful. I have missed seeing temples.Even though I am sitting I can't hide the "belly" anymore. Here I am in front of the temple by the beautiful landscaped grounds.What a cute little family I have. I know I am biased, but I have the two most handsome boys around.We had to take mom on our daily walks. Although I am unable to walk the 2 miles I was doing when I first got here with Jenny, I can still walk 1 to 1 1/2 miles. On this particular day it was rather cold. Cold in June, crazy huh? The lake in the background is part of the apartment's property. There are usually ducks, cranes and swans there. Tyson calls it "Crocodile Lake." We made several trips to the little park just up the street from us. Tyson loved showing off for Grandma T. He just learned how to walk up and down this jungle gym all by himself a few days before she came. It makes my heart flutter, nervous I guess. I just am expecting a broken bone any day now.Grandma T is so much fun. She taught Tyson how to roll down the hill. He was covered in grass. Such a boy!I know, look at me cook. It is a rare thing. LOL. I conned my mom into teaching me how to make strawberry jam. We were going to pick fresh strawberries, but got rained out, so we went to Wal-mart and bought us some. Tyson enjoyed placing the strawberries in the blender and counting them as he did so. The fruits of our labors. My first batch of strawberry jam. It is yummy if I do say so myself. Thanks mom for teaching me this trick of the trade.I also had her help me refinish an end table I have been wanting to do this for a long time. It has a brother table that I refinished 5 years earlier, and I am now just getting to the second one. I know, I know, a bit long, but hey at least I am getting it done. The lacker on it was very thick and took a long time to sand off. The wood underneath was gorgeous. The finished product. I love how it turned out and we even got new handles to match the ones on the brother table. I am so glad to have this project over. Thanks again mom!Tyson was showered with presents from Grandma T. He received lots of books, clothes and this wonderful umbrella. He wanted an umbrella to have when it rains, and it rains here a lot.Another gift was this little tent. Tyson wanted to sleep in it until it was time to actually go to sleep. That didn't last long. So we use it to watch movies in. He likes that idea a whole lot better.We took a day and went down to the Henry Ford Museum. This was seriously the coolest museum I have ever been to. Tyson even enjoyed it. Not only did it have tons of old, neat cars, it showed the history of the car industry and many other industries.Tyson loved this old car. Mainly because it looked liked "Lizzy" from "Cars" the movie.The Train exhibit of the museum was awesome. This train was HUGE!!! I have never seen such a big train. The engine part alone was the length of 2 school buses. No joke! Vaughn loved the gun exhibit. Tyson wanted to take one home. He is already becoming both of his grandpas boy.There was a part of the museum that was dedicated to all the technologies of the past and future. This was the 80's part of the exhibit. If were born in the 80's, you remember playing with the "Speak and Spell." I had one. It was funny to see the toys from my past and mom's past.Tyson loved the hot dog mobile. This is a model of the airplane that the Wright Brothers flew. The history in this museum was so very cool. We spent most of the day there.Tyson couldn't wait to take Grandma T to see Chuck E Cheese. He went nuts when he saw "Big Chucker Cheese" as he calls him. He had to grab Grandma T and get a picture.Tyson played every game twice, and rode every ride three times.Grandma T and Tyson playing Air Hockey. It was a close game.

With each trip to Chuck E Cheese comes a prize from the tickets Tyson wins at the games. This time he had some help from Vaughn and I. We must have played 20 games of Skee ball to win him these funny glasses. HA HA HA This is just one week with Grandma T.......there is more to come.