What Happens at Grandma's House Stays at Grandma's.....

....unless Grandma has a blog. Last week started off with a big smile from C as she finally got her rolling backpack (or luggage as she calls it). She and her mom (my daughter) came for lunch and to drop off her big sister for a visit. C hasn't stayed overnight here yet, maybe next year when she is 5.

 The week was full of: international spies with their corresponding weapons, potions (no empty spice shaker jar, flower petal, fruit, dish washing liquid was safe), "Grandma....", sweet treats, noise, parks, photo ops, imaginations in use, TV, books, crafts, and FUN! One day we made cake pops; they had fun decorating and eating the cake donut holes. I picked up the BABYCAKES cake pop maker ($2) at the thrift store a day or 2 before A's visit.

these 2 grands got along just perfect

 One day A and I packed a picnic lunch and went to tour the Bookworm Gardens at UW Sheboygan. The garden is geared toward younger children but we certainly enjoyed it. There are several different gardens and sculptures with a storybook theme and all are encouraged to interact with the displays (no wading in the fish pond though). Books are stashed all over the area for reading.

The Magic School bus was just one of the areas, children can go inside to drive the bus. Other themes were: Horton Hatches an Egg, The Three Little Pigs, The Tale of Peter Rabbit, Little House in the Big Woods, and many more. I didn't post a lot of photos because I realize that everyone is not as enthralled with my grandchildren as I am.....really????

Of course we did some girly things too. I found this pretty gold nail polish on clearance and painted her nails for her. I really like the gold color and if I had nails I'd try it on myself. It's Grammy Gold from Wet & Wild, found it at Walgreen's.  

pretty, young, unlined hands

There were some lazy TV times. Grandson J had borrowed a Johnny Test dvd from the library and they both love him....so......

I spotted some melted crayon art in a magazine and since found out that it is all the rage. I have lots of crayons, picked up a canvas at the thrift store, and own a hair dryer so we were all set. A decided to give this to her mom (her birthday was Saturday). I really love it! She also worked on her small scrapbook that she started last winter when she stayed with us. Another scrapbooking granddaughter :-)!!! She wants scrapbook supplies for Christmas and I have a head start on that. She made a birthday card for mom too (I think mom lets her stay here the week before her birthday so A can make something????) A is very creative and into the arts: she's taking an advanced dance class, reads a variety of books, has a favorite classical music piece, is a peacemaker, doesn't like being the middle child, and loves to make art and craft projects. 

Melted crayon art

 One afternoon I took my 2 grandsons and A to the local aquatic center.....the following day was the last day it was open. We all had a lot of fun; whether it was going down the water slide (yes-I did) or playing in the sand area (no-I did not).

 I found a recipe for home made ice cream in the August issue of Woman's Day magazine, so we had to make it.

No Fuss Ice Cream

• 2 cups heavy cream
• one 14oz can sweetened condensed milk
• 1-1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract

Beat everything until stiff peaks form (3-5 minutes). Transfer into a loaf pan, cover and freeze until firm (at least 8 hours). Good for up to 2 weeks.

As you can see we added mini chocolate chips to ours. The kids loved it. It was fun and easy to make. Just think of what other things you could add to it-fruit would be fantastic.

These are only SOME of the things we did last week. We had someplace to go every day, it was almost too busy. Some days I had 2 and sometimes 3 kids here. They slept in the tent twice and all of them got along perfectly.....I loved it...I try to have whomever wants to spend a few days here come to visit (once they are potty trained), but it sure is nice to have the house quiet and to ourselves again. Remember, I'm an introverted homebody!