October expedition: The North Pole

As you likely deduced if you saw yesterday's photo, our family made the highly anticipated trek to the North Pole last week. What a jolly time it was! So much to see and do, including a ride or two with Bubby down the Peppermint Candy Cane Slide I waxed once upon a time.

This slideshow was a casualty of my site makeover but you can find it in my Brag Book: NORTH POLE — 2011.

After the delightful outing, I've decided October is definitely the best time to visit the North Pole. Not only is the early autumn weather perfect for an afternoon halfway up Pikes Peak, the aspens on the hillsides all around are just beginning to change, lines for the rides are non-existent, and Santa has plenty of time for long visits plus strolls throughout the park during his breaks—which meant we ran into the Big Guy on several occasions, and each time he remembered Bubby by name.

I'm so thankful for the holiday-themed expedition with my very most favorite people. 'Twas a memorably festive occasion, indeed.

Today's question:

What percentage of your holiday shopping have you completed...or considered?

3 ways Pinterest made Gramma awesome

Simple, inexpensive ideas I found on Pinterest that convinced Bubby of Gramma's awesomeness:

Shaving cream bath paints.

Cardboard ramps for his cars.

<photo of Bubby in the tub with glow sticks removed by Lisa because perverts flocked to it>

Glow sticks in the bath tub.

Today's question:

Do you prefer taking baths or taking showers?

What Gramma has learned so far

We're a little over halfway through the visit with Bubby, Baby Mac, and Megan, and there's quite a bit this grandma has learned in just the few days we've had together so far:

1. Amusement park rides really are not a thing of Gramma's past, as she's willing to ride anything and everything her grandson wants to go on, no matter how high or scary or rickety it may be. As long as said grandson is the right height, of course.

2. That said, three in a row is definitely Gramma's limit for rides that go round and round and round and round...riding or watching.

3. Bribery and providing dipping and covering options of any and every sort—from ketchup to chocolate to peanut butter, syrup, and more—will not make a child eat if he or she doesn't want to eat.

4. Driving 45 minutes and paying $.55 per pound for a warty pumpkin picked from the field really is worth it after all.

5. Gramma is willing to fork out $.50 to squish a penny and have it marked with a tourist stamp.

6. Baby GloWorms aren't just for babies.

7. When a child sneezes in the hot tub while sharing it with Gramma, said Gramma is not above using her bare hand to clear the child's face of green snot before it lands in the water, no matter how squeamish and disgusted she previously would have been by such a thing.

8. Sometimes schedules don't matter at all.

9. Sometimes a clear floor, bath tub, kitchen counter, couch, and bed don't matter at all, especially when it's boys' toys and baby stuff keeping things cluttered.

10. Sometimes stats, emails, tweets, status updates, and Klout don't matter at all, either, especially when it's boys and baby matters keeping Gramma from the computer.

Today's fill-in-the-blank:

What I've learned so far this week is ______________.

This post linked to Grandparent's Say It Saturday.

Wherein Gramma wears out her grandsons

Yesterday was the first full day of Bubby and Baby Mac's visit to Gramma and PawDad's. Travel doing what it does to folks both young and old, I didn't plan a whole lot for us to do on Monday so the boys would have plenty of time to recover and be well rested for the fun scheduled for the duration of their visit.

So we took it easy Monday...or so I thought.

After our one and only outing for the day—a trip to the mall play area where Mommy showed off her sweeties to the mother of the boys (now nearly young men) she babysat for many years—this was the condition of the little travelers in Gramma's back seat once we arrived home:

Wonder what shape the boys will be in after today's surely exhausting visit to the North Pole.

Today's question:

Are you a morning person or a night owl?

Words, regurgitated

Today is my first full day visiting with Baby Mac, Bubby, and Megan and playing Gramma, so I figured I'd take the easy way out for the day and simply re-run my posts from last week. All of them...except the Grilled Grandma and those from Saturday and Sunday. Only in different form.

So here ya go—last week's posts regurgitated, by way of Wordle:

I'll have fresh words for you tomorrow. I promise.

Today's question:

What else from last week will repeat for you this week?